Machu Picchu on a BudgetWhen you think of Perú you instantly think of Machu Picchu, and rightly so! This 15th century Incan citadel sits proudly some 2,500m above sea level and looks down in all it's glory over the nearby town of Aguas Calientes. Justifiably voted as one of the Seven Wonders of the World and a UNESCO world heritage site, this is a hot spot not to miss!!
As with locations of this nature around the world, Peruvians are all too aware of the incomparable gloriousness that abounds this site and they have gone all out to cash in on it! When visiting Perú and planning a visit to Machu Picchu you will quickly learn there is no cheap way of doing it, but there are a number of options and some are significantly cheaper (although often significantly harder) than others! Riv and I did extensive (and it sometimes felt like endless) research surrounding the various possibilities before finally settling on a plan. I am simply going to detail the option we finally settled on but we have kept all of the notes on pricing and timing which we made at the time so if anyone out there would like more information on ANY of the options (planes, train, automobiles all covered) please feel free to send us and email! After hours of consideration, consultation and discussion we agreed we would take the longest, slowest and cheapest route to get ourselves to and from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, after all, we weren't in any kind of hurry and travel is about the journey not about the destination...right?! Hmm!! Our chosen option required us to start by taking a shared minivan from Cusco town centre to the Hidroelectrica, approximately 13km outside of Aguas Calientes via the windy back roads. This journey was reputed to take approximately 6 - 6 1/2hrs. This was merely stage one, as the next part of the journey involved getting from the Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes via the train line which connects the two locations...however in order to keep this excursion to an economic minimum this is not done with the use of a train as one might expect, but rather on foot, alongside the train line, a venture I coined a term for en route...'The Pilgrimage of the Cheap'! It was a long and hard day, but probably would have been shorter and easier had it not been for the typical travellers inconveniences that befell us along the way...I will start at the top... We had been told by the company with which we were travelling that our bus would leave promptly at 7am. Considering we were staying about a 30 minute bus ride outside of Cusco centre this seemed like an unappealingly early start but our decision had been made and we had to go with it. So, at 5.30am on day one of the Machu Picchu experience we rose, took the local bus into town, grabbed a very quick street snack for breakfast and then walked to our meeting point, arriving a comfortable 10 minutes early...and we waited...and waited...and waited some more! By 7.40am a reasonably sizeable group of frustrated travellers had collected, all of whom were exhibiting varying degrees of exasperation and frustration. Eventually someone showed up and informed us that the van would be along soon. Finally at 8.05 it arrived. We all piled on, only to discover there wasn't enough space for all of us, at which point Riv and I as two who were only using the van for transportation and not a full package excursion were instructed to vacate. Vacate we did and we returned to the street to stand and wait some more while the 'gentleman' who had insisted we get off offered no further explanation or resolution. Suddenly, without warning a car pulled up and we were pushed into the back with two other rather confused and flustered looking travellers. We were driven to one point where the two others were dropped off and we were then left sitting alone in the car while the driver and his friend consulted with each other and over the phone...still without explaining to either of us what the hell was going on! I am not going to give too much more detail about the comedy of errors that followed but suffice it to say we were unquantifiably relieved whilst also having dangerously high blood pressure when we finally got into another minivan and set off on our way...at 9.30!! The drive to Hidroelectrica was also not without it's dramas! We had been told in advance that the road was pretty windy and narrow and points but both of these adjectives appeared on closer inspection to be mildly understated! Parts of the journey could easily have been compared to some of the most extreme roller coasters either of us had ever been on and the addition of impatient and aggressive South American drivers did not help (although comparatively, ours was sensational...COMPARATIVELY!). Having made it to Hidroelectrica in one piece (just) we hoped that the business end of the drama for the day was over. In some ways this was true, in others, not so much! We were dropped off just before 3pm, giving us about 2 1/2hrs to do the 13km pilgrimage along the train lines to Aguas Calientes before nightfall. This seems doable but obviously to add to the joy of the experience it was at this time the heavens decided to open and pour down on us for the duration. Really not what we needed after what had already been a far too long and stressful day! However, by this stage, we had no choice and so we walked...and walked...and walked. It seemed never ending! 13km really didn't sound too bad to us when we planned this, we had walked far longer than this is a day on numerous occasions throughout our travels, but this time it seemed hateful and endless and relentless! Just as we had all but reached the end of our tethers we saw the lights of the town... we were nearly there! Seriously and honestly nearly there! As soon as we arrived we accosted by seemingly every guesthouse proprietor in town and after very brief and unenthusiastic negotiation on my part we settled on a place. Final little rub of salt into the wound...it was up another bloody hill!! It was at this point I really had to question just how wonderous this wonder of the world really could be in order to justify the effort we had gone to just to get to it!! After a good night's sleep but waking seriously feeling the effects of the day before we chose to give ourselves a days grace before embarking on the actual visit to Machu Picchu. On this day we armed ourselves with the unbelievably expensive entrance ticket to site at a ticket office in town, as well as a bus ticket to take us up the hill. After the mentally and physically exhausting joys of the day before we agreed that we would happily walk down the hill after visiting Machu Picchu but would not subject ourselves to a fairly significant and strenuous hike before we had even started...this would probably not have led to a true appreciation of what was at the end. I'm not going to give too much detail about our experience at Machu Picchu itself as this has been well documented by travellers and travel writers far more eloquent than myself innumerable times before. However, I will say, it was well worth the effort. When we reached the Sun Gate and gazed out over the enormity of this extraordinarily well preserved ancient citadel, all the pain, stress and mental trauma we had put ourselves through seem absolutely and totally worth it. And for once, clearly someone somewhere was on our side because after 3 days of fairly crappy weather in the region the skies cleared and we had the most beautiful blue skies with a just a powdery scattering of light fluffy clouds as our backdrop! There was no doubt in either of our minds that this site truly justifies it's status as one of the Seven Wonders of the World! After a difficult, but certainly not impossible trek down the hill and back to Aguas Calientes we both agreed the end certainly justified the means and we were more than happy that we had come! The next morning it was time for us to return to Cusco via embarkation on the 'Pilgrimage of the Cheap' but this time in reverse (13km walk to Hidroelectrica followed by 'windy and narrow' drive back to Cusco...yay). Obviously, the universe, having thrown us a fairly significant bone the day before decided it was time that we return back to reality and we awoke to an absolutely torrential downpour...this was not going to make the walk a pleasant one! We decided that all we could do was to start our day with a hearty feed and hope for the best. The best was not coming, the rain was not letting up and the closer it got to time for us to leave the more we were dreading it. I was trying to be positive as I repeatedly chanted our travel mantra of "it's either a good time or a good story". This journey was certainly going to fall into the latter but I knew deep deep DEEP down that it would reach that stage eventually! And then, suddenly, without provocation or expectation our travel guardian angel shone her light on us and offered us a way out. Having spoken to my Mum earlier that morning about our intentions to undergo this expedition in what could only be described at this stage as a monsoon she blind refused to let us do it and insisted without the possibility for debate that she would treat us to the the train back to Cusco directly from Aguas Calientes and entirely remove any need to rain trekking! We had previously completely negated this as an option and put it into the 'far too indulgent for our type of travelling' pile, but we weren't going to say no twice! After a very excited (and rather wet) run to the train station we booked or seats and we were off! Our Machu Picchu experience was rounded off with a beautiful train journey through the Peruvian countryside and surrounding mountains (whilst looking out on the torrential rain)! Overall our Machu Picchu experience was wonderful. Memorable in both good and bad ways but one which neither of us would have changed a single minute of (ok, maybe the final hill walk in Aguas Calientes could have been left out)! We did the round trip from Cusco in a total of three days and three nights. Most do it in two and some complete nutters do it in one. Obviously there is also the Inca Trail, but this wasn't something either of considered in any of our options...it's just not our idea of a good time! Personally, if I were to do it again I would still do it in three days as our choice of the cheapo's route is pretty physically demanding in itself but obviously your time constraint and own physical abilities and preferences could determine a different choice. However you choose to get there and what you choose to do once you are there I can absolutely guarantee you will not retreat a trip to Machu Picchu. And, I can personally vouch for the sense of satisfaction and intense level of humour felt after completion of the Pilgrimage of the Cheap!
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