Some people might say it’s way too crowded and touristy. Yes it probably is even though there is a strict entrance limit. But some things are crowded for a reason. Machu Picchu is such a place. Spectacular and unique and that’s why so many want to see it…

Laura, Romain and I caught a collectivo in the morning for 5S to the Hidroelectrica.

From here there is only the train or an 11km hike a long the train tracks to Aquas Calientes. Of course we hiked up and saved the money. It’s an easy walk since the inclination is very moderate to allow the train to go up.

Laura and Romain are an amazing couple – French-Colombian – traveling and documenting alternative ways of agriculture trying to create transparency and education. Check out there project: El Caracol Inquieto

They decided not to go because the entrance fee to Machu Picchu is 60$ and therefore they turned around after getting some views. Nos vemos, amigos!

After I arrived in Aquas Calientes I spent the rest of the day organising my next adventure. When I arrived in Santa Teresa and had reception I received an offer which I couldn’t turn down. But it meant a lot of short term organisation to enable it. But more to that later…

I also bumped into the rest of the crew again and we decided to head up to Machu Picchu together the next morning. Had my first Alpaca steak and quinoa risotto. Wow!

Next morning wake up call at 4.30am and departure 4.50am. About 20 minutes to the bridge and first control gate before it goes up the hill. A “joke” compared what we had gone through during the last days. So we ran up and stood in front of the gates after 40 minutes. Clouds below us which slowly came higher and higher until the mountain was covered. But within seconds the clouds disappeared again. What a play…

 

This all happened in less than three minutes. An amazing play. #cloudporn

 

 

 

 

We were lucky to be one of the first ones to be on the site. So we were able to stroll through the ruins a bit without big crowds. Pictures say more than words…

 

 

Sunrise in Machu Picchu

 

 

We had tickets for the Wayna Picchu (which is the hill in the background of the pictures above. The entrance is limited and you only have a limited time frame to enter. A steep climb of stairs leads up to the top. We sat there for about an hour completely covered in clouds.

 

So we decided to move down and just explore the city. Maybe five minutes down there were terraces and we decided to stay here, have a snack and give it another few minutes. Good call. A) it was a great spot and B) it finally cleared up while we all shared our food.

 

And even Pengu got his chance as a little “Inka-Pengu”!

A few more views from “downtown”

 

 

The sun temple in front of the terraces

I walked around to the Puenta-Inca (Inka Bridge). They really managed to get trails into the steepest rock faces and with this they were able to walk around the entire mountain and surveil the complete valley.

The obligatory Machu Picchu shots:

 

It’s an impressive site. And you can easily spend an entire day exploring. It’s really impressive. And I decided to buy a book at the next possible opportunity to learn more about the Inkas. What an impressive culture of craftsman.

We left the site at around 1:30pm, picked up our stuff and walked back to the Hidroelectrica. On the way we met three girls from Argentina which also wanted to back to Cusco and with this we had the whole collectivo full and a ride for 50S all the way back to Cusco. And I had to be back that night since my flight for the next adventure left the next day. Seamless travel. Good as gold!

The entire tour of Choquequirau and Machu Picchu was definitely a highlight.