Machu Picchu, Peru

(a) General:

This inca site is located in a deep gorge of the Urubamba river, right where the High Andes meet the Amazon.  The site is surrounded by virgin cloud forest.  The mountain rising above the site, which you see in all the pictures is called Huayna  (Wayna) Picchu.   The inca site takes its name from the mountain called Machu Picchu (or Cerro Machu Picchu, to distinguish it from the site).  Cerro Machu Picchu is much higher than Huayna Picchu. The ridge between Machu and Huaynu Picchu is the location of the inca site.

The access point is the town of Aguas Calientes, which is located to the west, around a bend in the river, just out of sight from Machu Picchu.  The town is not accessible by road, which helps keep the view from the inca site amazingly pure.

It may be possible, with careful advance planning,  to see Machu Picchu without staying a night in Aguas Calientes, but it is not recommended.  Machu Picchu should take you a whole day to visit properly.  There are a few beautiful hiking options from the archeological site.

En-route to Piscacucho, Peru

(b) How to get to Aguas Calientes

There are two options to get to Aguas Calientes.  Either you take a train or you hike in.

Trains: are operated by Peru Rail or Inca Rail.  Currently (April 2010), these trains run only between Piscacucho and Aguas Calientes, because of land slides.  Under normal conditions, they would go all the way from Cusco to Aguas Calientes.  The tickets are very pricey.  Many people cut down on ticket prices by boarding the train closer to Aguas Calientes, but currently Piscacucho is the only boarding point.  We were able to buy Peru Rail tickets for night trains with a day’s notice.  This may be harder in high season.  Everything will change, of course, once trains go back to normal operation, but that may be a long time off.

On foot:  the inca trail is the old access road of the incas, which goes across the mountains (the trains run by the river).  It is apparently illegal to do this hike on your own, you have to sign up for a package tour with one of the tour operators, who are always happy to separate you from your money.  Apparently, there are 1 day and 3 or 4 day options which require 1-3 months advance reservation.

The second possibility to get to Aguas Calientes on foot (which you do on your own) is the following: get yourself to Santa Teresa, a small place east of Machu Picchu, and hike from there.  This gets you in from the other side of the site from everybody else.  The road to Santa Teresa is rough and involves river crossings.  You can do it with a motorbike, or you could try to hire someone with a truck.  The hike from Santa Teresa to Aguas Calientes is 4 to 5 hours long, and involves fun things like a river crossing hanging from a cable.

Aguas Calientes, Peru

(e) Entrance tickets

These are not sold at the site.  If you take the train, you buy your entrance tickets from the INC office in Cusco.  They will ask to see your train ticket, before they will sell you the entrance ticket.  If you hike in, you can buy your entrance ticket in Aguas Calientes.  There are apparently three agencies licensed to sell entrance tickets without train tickets.

(f) Visiting the site

Your entrance ticket will say that there is no food allowed on the site, and water only in flasks.  This is to cut down on litter.  When we visited, the stations where they check your bags where not manned, and we were told that it would be ok to bring small amounts of food.  Everyone had water in plastic bottles.

To climb up to Huaynu Picchu, you need to get up early, because they only let the first 400 up every day (in high season this can supposedly get competitive).  The gate at Huaynu Picchu lists 7am as opening time.

Great hike.  You need to enter the site to do this climb, so an entrance ticket is required.  The views are stupendous, if you’re lucky with the weather.

(h)  Costs to visit Machu Picchu per person (in USD) using the train but not an agency:

• $68 (night trains return ticket)
• $20 (lower-priced hotel)
• $45 (entrance to site)
• $18 (bus to and from Piscacucho train station from/to Cusco)
• total: $171 USD