Macchu Picchu: a small guide.

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Macchu Picchu with my friends. 

When you think about Peru the first thing that comes to mind is quite obviously the Macchu Picchu and I now understand why. If you ever find yourself in Peru you’ll encounter many times, and by many times I mean MANY TIMES, Inca ruins. And to be honest when you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. To make a long story short, most of them were built for either: an Inca prince or king, for some kind of ritual or to battle against the Spanish. And even though these ruins are absolutely mind blowing, as in “how the hell did they manage to bring these enormous rocks this high up?”, the Incas weren’t the most creative in an architectural sense. Not much innovation in their different constructions, simply on an artistic sense. 

So going to Macchu Picchu after having seen 15 different ruins, I was slightly dubious. But I was proven very wrong. 

So to get to Macchu Picchu you’ve got different options: a trek, a train or a bus (all with Cusco as a starting point). If you are lazy and unfit (or did not book it in advance) then I do not recommend doing the trek. Altitude is not a joke and coming from Mauritius I can assure you I struggled. But if you do decide to do the trek, I would recommend (from what I’ve heard) to book it at least a month or two in advance and to do the 4 nights and 5 days Salkantay trail, keep in mind you should spend a couple of days in Cusco before leaving just to get acclimated. 

If you’re on a budget, you could take the bus which is the cheapest way to get there (and you can book it a week before). I won’t lie it’s the most painful one but it’s worth it. You take the bus from Hidroelectrica and from there it’s a 13km walk up to Aguas Calientes (the “machchu picchu town”). Then the next day you either walk up 3000 stairs to Macchu Picchu (I don’t recommend walking up but do walk down) or you take a 20 min bus ride up. And same thing to get back to Cusco. 

What I would recommend is to take the train (you have to book at least 2 weeks before). You’ll have to drive to Ollantaytambo to take it so at the same time you can visit these ruins and the cute little town around. You have different train options so depending on your budget you can take the normal one or a more fancy one with a 180 view. The ride is stunning as you go through the mountains and jungle. 

Aguas Caliente is a small town stuck in between two mountains. However, there’s not much to do and it is quite expensive. Nevertheless, I would recommend going to the hot springs but even more to the catarata which is a small waterfall and it’s absolutely beautiful as it looks over the whole town and so the mountains. But apart from that it’s not a very nice place. I would also recommend if you’re taking the train to keep a morning or afternoon to do the walk to hidroelectrica, don’t do the whole thing but at least a part. It’s a walk on the train tracks through the jungle and mountains, it’s one of my favourite things we did during the whole trip. 

And last but not least, you can find tour guides at the entry doors of the Macchu Picchu and you should definitively get one. Keep in mind you can spend as much time as you want inside (so do) but just pack a snack, some water and a plastic rain coat (just in case). 

Here is the contact number of the agency we used for all of our trips, including Macchu Picchu: Go Explore Peru - Humberto : 

https://goxploreperu.com/

quispehumberto374@gmail.com

+51 949 353 072

He was amazing at keeping us safe and giving us the best deals very last minute (as we were four 18 year old girls, on a budget and planning everything last minute) and speaks perfect English. 

However, if you wish to do the trek you should just check on the internet the Salkantay website and book directly with a big agency (as it needs more preparation). 

And if you feel like going on a more “manicured” trip, Monica is simply wonderful and will organize the most stress free and beautiful trip for you: 

+51 999 430 796

www.monicatoursperu.com

travel@monicatoursperu.com / monicatoursperu@gmail.com