Don’t tell anyone, but we went to Machu Picchu.
It wasn’t intentional. In fact, we had decided against it. But after suffering through a 4+ hour ride to Santa Teresa in a minivan on a mountain road that must have been drawn with a can of silly string, I couldn’t bear the thought of returning the same way. There were more twists and turns than a Mexican telenovela, and it was a lot less entertaining. In fact, it was terrifying at times, particularly in places where the road was chiseled out of the mountain. I’m so glad there was enough space to lay my head in Scott’s lap and wedge my feet against the window; otherwise, I might have shared my half-digested breakfast with my fellow passengers.
Once we reached Santa Teresa, we learned we could take a day trip to Machu Picchu from the back side of the mountain, either by walking three hours along the train tracks to Aguas Calientes (the access point), or by taking the expensive tourist train. We opted for the gringo-gouging Peru Rail train, which set us back $38 each for the 12km journey. We booked a cheap hotel room ($20/night X 2 nights), and purchased tickets to Machu Picchu ($40 each). We could have hiked 1.5 hours straight uphill to the entrance of the ruins, but we feared we wouldn’t have the energy to explore the site once we arrived. So we sprung for round trip bus tickets ($24 each) to the entrance. Considering the fact that we climbed the equivalent of 120+ floors after entering the site, we probably made the right choice, based on the level of anger my knees expressed on the way down.
Was it worth it? I guess that depends on your financial perspective. We certainly enjoyed the views and took lots of photos. But the train trip out of Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo (a 1.5 hour trip) was $68 per person, which was a promotion price. So, in all, seeing Machu Picchu cost us nearly $300. I don’t know how much of that money reaches the locals, but I hope it’s a significant percentage. (I will endeavor to find out…) To put that in perspective, once we reached Ollantaytambo, we took a minivan to Urubamba for 2 soles each (60 cents for ½ hour), and a collectivo to Pisac for 4 soles each ($1.20 for 1 hour). For dinner, we just ate a filling “sopa segundo” dinner of noodle soup followed by a main course of seco de pollo (chicken leg, potatoes, rice, carrots and a savory green sauce) for 5 soles each (about $1.65).
I won’t bother to describe Machu Picchu, as numerous others have done it much more eloquently than I could. But the photos should give you an idea of what’s in store, should you ever decide that you must go to Machu Picchu.