Whirlwind Machu Picchu Trip: 4 de Agosto 2008
I woke early this Monday with excitement about venturing to Machu Picchu. It felt like a holiday. There are a couple of ways to do the adventure to Machu Picchu. Basically, you can walk there (and by walk I mean hike through the Sacred Valley for days) or you can take a train. As for the hiking option, one can either take the popular Inca trail, a 4-day trek, or one of a few alternative trails, which take anywhere from 2 to 7 days. For the Inca trail, you have to reserve a pass up to eight months in advance. Being a lover of good hikes, I always envisioned arrival to Machu Picchu would be by foot; but, alas, since my trip was totally unplanned and I had only a few days in the Sacred Valley, the only option was to go by train. While not my personal ideal, I cannot complain because I still had the opportunity to visit this amazing place. Yey me!
So Jamie and I took advantage of our free breakfast at the hotel (consisting of coffee, mate de coco, orange juice, a piece of white bread and one single slice of cheese) and headed out for the 15 minute walk to the train station. We arrived at the station at 7:15 am, hoping to hop on one of the few trains leaving between 8 and 10. The train from Cuzco takes about 4 hours, so this would put us into Aguas Calientes (the little town which serves as the base to Machu Picchu) in the late morning/ early afternoon. Sounded simple enough.
In Peru….getting there is…90% of the battle…
Alas, Peru always seems have plans different from what you have envisioned. We met with a long line at the train station. After about 20 minutes, we arrived at the front of this line only to have to take a number and wait some more. It took over THREE hours for them to get to our number. We didn’t understand how on earth it could take so freaking long just to purchase a train ticket. But so it goes in Peru. During this long wait, we also discovered that of the 8 or so trains departing for Aguas Calientes daily, only two leave from Cuzco. The majority of them leave from Ollantaytambo…which is 1.5 hours by taxi away from Cuzco. Yikes. We were also learning that many of the trains were filling up fast and that we might not even be able to go at all. This was a long three hours.
Jamie was getting a bit discouraged and stressed out by the whole endeavor, thinking our chances of getting there were slim to none. I had decided early in the morning that I was going to find a way to Machu Picchu that day no matter what it took, so I remained calm and convinced that it would work out one way or another. I was going to let nothing get me stressed out or upset this day. It was my special day, one I’d been dreaming about for years. It was going to be good, dammit. Haha…
So we finally made it to the front of the line at about 1045 and sat with the woman to discuss our options. Fortunately, we still had a change to take the1230 train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas. This would work only if we left by taxi for Ollantaytambo right away. Then, we could take a 10 pm train back to Ollantaytambo and still have the long taxi ride back to Cuzco. So we had option 1: about 8 hours of travel for 3 hours at Machu Picchu or… option 2: not go at all. Though this arrangement was less than ideal, we chose the long journey and planned to make the best of it. We bought the tickets and booked out the door to find a taxi that would take us the long journey to the train station. This was a bit of a challenge as well, since most taxi drivers wanted to charge us an arm and a leg to get there or refused to take us that distance at all. We finally found Alfredo, a nice Cusqueno man, who was willing to take us through the Sacred Valley for an acceptable price. I was excited!
As we entered into the Sacred Valley, we were treated to gorgeous views of the landscape all about us. Though it was the dry season and most of the hills were brown, every curve of the bumpy dirt road brought with it new and even more breathtaking scenery. We were snapping pictures out the windows every few seconds at some massive mountains or cluster of animals we passed on the road. The scenery only got better as we boarded the train and headed towards Aguas Calientes.
We finally arrived and ran around the little town to buy our entrance ticket for Machu Picchu and reserve a spot on the bus which would take us up there. We made it onto the bus without a second to spare and arrived at the entrance to Machu Picchu a little before 3pm. (So it took us only 8 hours and hundreds of soles to get there…)
It was worth it.
As anyone who has been there or even seen pictures would attest to, Machu Picchu is mystical, magical and mind-blowing. I don’t even know if I have words to justice to what I saw. Simply, it was one of the most beautiful natural places I’ve ever seen.
It was my happy day indeed! I was there! I could hardly believe it!
Jamie and I started out by taking a small hike away from the ruins to check out the site of an old Incan drawbridge and to gain some aerial perspectives of Machu Picchu itself. After this, we explored the ruins themselves. The late afternoon brought with it the sun, bathing the ruins and the green green mountains in an almost surreal light. It was divine. Later in the afternoon is an optimal time to explore Machu Picchu methinks. The crowds have already come and gone and the weather seems to change drastically enough to get a new feel for the place.
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