Day 7: Crazy journey to Macchu Pichu

Ok, time to tell how to get to this heavenly well-known Inca site worldwide:

1. From Cusco to Ollantaytambo by train, and then a train to Aguas Calientes, the closest village to the site and its gateway. This is by far the most comfy but also most expensive way to get there. Veeeery expensive, and touristy! The fact that the train is run by a Chilean company doesn't help either. Definitely it was not the option for us.
2. Doing the four- or five-day Inca trail on foot (there's also a short one of 3 days). Humm...yes, very tempting, but it was expensive and we didn't have time for that. Maybe next time.
3. Hiking from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, along the railway and going through some tunnels. A six-hour trek...Well, we love hiking and this was clearly the cheapest option, but we were not sure about this one.
4. Another very cheap but also stressful (and a pain in the ass) option: bus to Urubamba, then a bus to Santa María, then another bus to Santa Teresa and then on foot for a while..The schedule combination wasn't suitable at all and it would have taken more than one day.
5. Hiring a van trip for 11-12 people: 6 hours through the beautiful Andes mountains, going through Santa María and Santa Teresa and then a two-hour hike as far as Aguas Calientes, where we would spend the night until the big day next morning. Food, hostel and ticket to Macchu Pichu included (150 dollars, you can get it cheaper though). Exactly! This was the one (and also Hobson's choice). You have to get your ticket in advance if you don't want to risk it and see yourself crying your eyes out like a runny-nosed child at the site doorway, so this was a good option. They will plan everything for you.
   

Fortunately we were the first ones to be picked up by the van at our hostel, so we could choose the best seats in the van for this long trip. The rest of the group was collected at Plaza de Armas.

For the first three hours we travelled through uphill winding roads. It was a bit cold, rainy and misty, but then we started to go down the mountains through a more tropical landscape (cloud forest) for the next three hours. This time the road was not asphalt but an unsteady stony narrow path along the very steep hillside where the driver drove rather fast and hooted the horn all the time to warn any other drivers as he approached each sharp turn. From time to time we came across some pedestrians walking along the side of the road, sometimes carrying supplies, who appeared out of nowhere, coming (or going) from the nearest town, which was miles and miles away. We also saw a bit of a landslide on the other side of a deep valley. This part of the trip was really scary (stunning though), we could have rolled down the mountainside at any time, but all we could do was nervously laugh....I guess there was no choice.



second part of the road trip (along the hillside)



 

We stopped to have lunch in Santa María, a tiny muddy village in the middle of a jungle-like spot where we tried the alpaca meat. It was very lean. After this brief respite, we continued on our crazy road trip until we reached the point where we would start the hiking part. It was a relief to have the control of ourselves back and stretch our legs for two hours, surrounded by a mixture of mountainous and tropical landscape all the way along a river. Along this walk, we saw plants with bunches of still-green bananas, bird-pecked avocados covered the ground, and deep orange Birds of Paradise flowers added color along the path. Mosquitos were also a small bit of a bother, but not that bad. At one point we passed by a small hut/house with chickens pecking around. A local girl of, we’re guessing, about five years’ old greeted us as we passed through. It soon got dark and we had to go through a narrow tunnel where a train had just gone by. God, that was a close call!

hiking part

 

 

 

We finally made it to Aguas Calientes, our final destination that day. We were so happy that we all thought we deserved some drinks, so we had some beers and cocktails before dinner. Wrong! The bumpy and winding trip had played tricks on my stomach, but I wasn't yet aware of it. Beer was definitely my worst enemy...

After dinner, where we were instructed by the guide once again on Macchu Pichu, we immediately went to bed as we had to get up at 04.00 a.m if we wanted to see the sunrise from the long-awaited paradise. That was when I started to feel a bit sick...My body was fighting against something that I thought at first was food poisoning because of the symptoms. Thanks, Murphy...I curse your bloody law!