Off to Machu Picchu

While the Incas certainly didn’t make getting to Machu Picchu easy by putting it on a mountaintop, despite 500 years to work on it, modern Peruvians haven’t really improved on the process. Our journey from Cusco starts with a 2 hour bus ride to Ollantaytambo. We were here a few days ago on our tour of the Sacred Valley, but didn’t have much time to spend in the town itself, so today we arrive early with plans to check it out while waiting for the train to Aguas Calientes. Aguas Calientes is the town closest to Machu Picchu, and is accessible only by train or foot (via the Inca Trail). Knowing this, PeruRail has courteously priced the 90 minute trip at about $60 per person, each way (by comparison, the 2 hour trip from Ollantaytambo to Poroy (the nearest station to Cusco) can be added on for an additional $8).

There really isn’t much to do in Ollantaytambo, but settling in at a table outside a small cafe is a nice change of pace, and we are able to sit back and enjoy more of the local culture.

As the day wears on, we wander over to a place off the main road for a quick meal. We’ve come to learn that local way to eat here is order the “menu” at lunch time and the “cena” for dinner. In both cases, you get a soup, then a plate of grilled chicken, rice, and french fries. For a couple of bucks it is quick, filling, and you pretty much always know what to expect.

From there we grab a few hike-friendly items (trail mix, chocolate, and some Peruvian energy bars that look like rectangular blocks of bird seed) and head down to the train station.

The trip to Aguas Calientes takes about 90 minutes, and passes through some great country. Our train is the higher end “Vistadome” (which is a much more elegant way of saying “we cut a few holes in the roof and made them windows so we can charge you silly tourists 30% more”), and provides some opportunities to get a few photos of the surrounding mountains.

There is not a whole lot to say about Aguas Calientes other than it is a place to stay for the night. A hodge podge collection of no name hotels, restaurants, and souvenir shops, it feels like all of International Boulevard in Orlando, packed down into just 5 blocks. That said, it is a fantastic evening, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that the weather holds for tomorrow.