Day 64 & 65: Machu Picchu

(Sorry for the hiatus, wifi was really erratic in Peru. Anyway, on to the blog posts.)

The morning after arriving in Cusco, it was off to Aguas Calientes. To get there, we had to catch our train from Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley. From Cusco, we took a colectivo to Ollantaytambo. Colectivos are vans that can accommodate about 12-15 passengers, and are popular means of transport between the towns in the province. We headed to Pavitos street in Cusco where most all the colectivos leave from. It's not hard to find a van; as soon as we got off the taxi there were about a dozen men in our face asking if we needed a colectivo. The ride to Ollantaytambo was about an hour and a half long and cost us S/.10 (about US$3.5).

In Ollantaytambo we picked up our tickets at the ticket booths, and then we were told that we were only allowed to bring a bag of 5 kg each on the train! So we ended up leaving our backpacks in the secure luggage storage at the ticket station, and just took our over night bags to Machu Picchu. It was really weird though because when we got to the train station, we saw all the other travelers with huge maletas (but in the end, we were glad we didn't bring our backpacks with us because we didn't need them anyway, and it was easier to move around with small bags).

Markets in Ollantaytambo

The train was pretty nice; very comfortable seats and they served us snacks and drinks. At first we were wondering how the locals moved around because the train tickets were pretty expensive. Later on we realized that there was another train (tren local) that was less nice and only for Peruvians.

The train ride was another hour and a half, and then we were finally in Aguas Calientes. Aguas Calientes is the nearest town to Machu Picchu; in fact it's also called Machu Picchu Pueblo (Machu Picchu Town). Aguas Calientes got its name from the nearby natural hot baths (which were destroyed but have since been rebuilt).

Right outside the train station was the artisanal market which we checked out first. Very pretty stuff, but the prices were really high (since it was in Machu Picchu).

We weren't sure where our hostel was, but we had the address in hand and asked at the tourist information center. It was pretty easy to find and get to as Aguas Calientes is a really small town. After checking in we walked around the town. It's very catered towards the tourists (many shops selling handicrafts, restaurants with menu turísticos, etc.) but it had quite some charm to it. It's also really cool because you're literally surrounded by the mountains.

We had an early dinner and an early night and the next day, we were up at 4am. We had breakfast at our hostel at 4:30 and then walked to the bus station. We were there by 5am and there was already quite a line. The buses started leaving at 5:30 and we were on a bus at 5:40. The ride up was about 20 minutes, and there were more long lines at the entrance of Machu Picchu (which opens at 6am).

The line at 6am

And there we were at Machu Picchu!

We (and everyone else) were up early since we wanted to catch the sunrise. Unfortunately it was pretty foggy that day. We still got some really great views and pictures. :)

An alpaca!

We decided to check out the Inka Bridge first since it was a bit far off.

It was quite a hike...

...and this was it. Haha. You couldn't even go on it (not that I would've; it looks scary).

On our way back, it started to rain (light rain, thankfully). We decided to go to Intipunku (Sun Gate) next since it was also far, so that by the time we made it back to the main ruins, it would hopefully be sunnier.

It was a reaaaaaally long trek

Foggy Sun Gate

Our view on our way back from Sun Gate. The roads seen below are the ones the bus passes. Some people even hike from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu. The trail is about 8km long and takes 1-2hrs. Most people that hike do it so they can be the first ones in line to Machu Picchu.