Machu Picchu

Aguas Calientes is a small town which lies in a deep gorge, approx 3 miles beneath the ruins of Machu Picchu. The town basically serves as a terminal for Peru Rail and is the principal access point for anyone visiting Machu Picchu. The gorge is beautiful but the town is nothing but restaurants and hotels, with lots of construction trying to keep up with the huge influx of tourists. It’s a necessary evil if you want to see MP. I stayed here one night and enjoyed the hot springs after my visit to MP before boarding the train back to Cusco.

My tickets through Aita Peru included a guided 2 hour tour of Machu Picchu beginning at 7am. You have two options to get to the entrance of MP: 1) You can take a bus, which leave AC starting at 6am throughout the day. 2) You can hike 3 miles on a trail straight up with no switchbacks. I chose the latter because I wanted to see the sunrise at 6am. The night before I packed a sandwich, snacks and water in my day pack. The next morning I woke up at 4:30, left a bag at the front desk of the hotel with a change of clothes and started following the trail out of town in the dark with my headlamp. Actually, I just followed the line of lights from other eager tourists in front of me. I was told that it took approx 45 minutes to hike to the entrance.

After 15 minutes I was dripping with sweat. By the time I reached the entrance at 6:10. I only beat the first bus by 5 minutes. My clothes were drenched with sweat and rain from a light drizzle. The passengers getting off the bus were dry and fresh and most were still eating their breakfast to go. I walked through the entrance but the entire mountain was engulfed in a thick cloud so I walked back and waited for my tour guide, rethinking my choice to hike vs sleeping in and riding the bus. The clouds added to the beauty in the morning and by 10am we had clear skies for my climb up

My first view of the ruins as the clouds began to clear at 7am