Machu Picchu – The grand finale of my trip in South America
Just two days before flying to Europe I made it to Machu Picchu, the iconic Inca citadel nestled in the Peruvian mountains. I had seen it in pictures. I had heard about it. I had heard it was touristy, crowded, overrated… so I didn’t have any expectations. But seeing it was amazing. It’s spectacular. I was happy I came. The end of my trip couldn’t be better. I was very lucky with the weather. Amazing!
If you want to visit Machu Picchu, there are a couple of things you need to know. Visiting this place requires some planning as it is super popular with tourists. The number of visitors is limited to 2500 a day. And it gets booked quickly. So it’s better to book a ticket in advance. In addition, the number of people that can visit Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu, the two mountains overlooking the historical site, is also limited to 400 people.
I didn’t know this and I don’t plan much when travelling. So when I finally wanted to buy a ticket I could hardly find any. Certainly not for the following day. Also, I wanted to be there early in the morning. There were tickets available for Sunday 7 AM. But it was just two days before flying out of Peru and I was over a thousand kilometres from Lima, the place of departure.
If I was going to visit Machu Picchu on Sunday it meant I had to fly from Cusco to Lima on Tuesday morning only to catch the international flight a few hours later. If you ask me, it was a bit risky but it’s exactly what happened.
I bought a ticket for 7 AM to visit Machu Picchu (6 AM tickets were sold out). Tickets for the two mountains were sold out, too. So I could only visit the main site which I was fine with. And so I visited Machu Picchu on Sunday two days before leaving Peru.
There are only two ways to get to Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu Pueblo), which is the town just below the historical site. You either take a train or you walk. The tourist trains are fairly expensive so I went for walking. When it comes to walking you can join a tour and hike the famous Inca Trail which again needs to be booked weeks or months in advance and is quite expensive, too. Alternatively, you can do what I did.
Machu Picchu is normally visited from Cusco which is a the nearest major city and also a popular tourist destination. First, you take a van/minibus from Cusco to the Hidroelectrica located near the town of Santa Theresa. This takes approximately 7 hours and you leave Cusco early in the morning. Once you reach Hidroelectrica you walk around 10 kilometres to Aguas Calientes. It’s an easy trail along the railway track and the Urubamba river. It takes 2 to 3 hours to reach the town.
You can spend the following day exploring Machu Picchu. You can either take a bus from Aguas Calientes or alternatively, you can hike. A hiker that I am, I hiked. If you have an early morning ticket like I did, you need to get up early. I think I got up at around 4 am. Tickets are also checked at the bottom of the mountain and there was quite a queue. You than hike along 1.5 km long trail. It’s quite a hike because it’s steep as the altitude difference is 450 metres. Once at the top, you need to wait.
Depending on how much time you spend at Machu Picchu you can leave for Cusco on the same day or ideally the following day. The vans leave from Hidroelectrica at 2 pm and you need some 2 to 3 hours to get there. I spent hours exploring the place so I wouldn’t have managed to catch the van on the same day. I left the following day.
What you also need to take into account is that some paths at the site are one way paths and once you get to certain points you won’t be allowed back. So take your time and enjoy the views before going further.
