Sometimes you arrive in a place so jaw droppingly amazing that your eyes can’t take it all in, your photos don’t do it justice and your brain hurts from trying to capture it all to memory. Machu Picchu is one of these places.
We left Aguas Caliente early in the morning to join the already growing queue of tourists eagerly waiting for the buses to take us up to the renowned landmark. As we showed our passport and tickets for entry we raced to the iconic photo point knowing that later in the morning this place would be swarming with visitors clogging up the best shots.
A tour guide was included in our ticket price which was great to find out all the Inca history, how this place was discovered by the real Indiana jones back in 1911, and weird sacrifices and rituals that were meant to have taken place here. The older I get the more interested in history I find myself, as well as frustrated I didn’t pay more attention when I was back in school snoring on my desk!
We were told it has a climate of its own so to be prepared for any weather, which we found to be true after freezing in thick jumpers in the morning then practically undressing and hastily applying sun lotion a few hours later. On our way out we spotted a guy taking passports and imprinting a Machu Picchu stamp in there! Pretty cool.
We decided to walk back down to the town and followed the trail in thick humid jungle stepping down large boulders drenched in sweat at the end! Luckily we had a change of dry clothes and celebrated with a much needed cold drink before catching the train back to Cusco chatting the whole way home about how lucky we are.
Planning a trip to Machu Picchu? Here is what you need to know:
- The only toilets are before the main entrance gate as well as a café, lockers and refreshments.
- Water is really expensive here so make sure you pack a bottle or two before arriving
- The first bus leaves Aguas Caliente at 5.30am and people start queuing for this from 4am! You can always walk up and down which takes roughly an hour.
- It is open every day of the year and welcomes 4,000 people per day
- Machu Picchu mountain you need to have started your 1 hour steep trek before 11am as it is closed off after this time.
- If you want to trek up Wayna Picchu mountain you need to have booked this over 2 months in advance as they only let 400 people a day experience this due to its steepness and difficulty level!
