Thread: Trip Report--Machu Picchu

OK, just returned from a week long whirlwind trip to Machu Picchu. All with no reservations for anything.

Day 1
travel from SLC-IAH-LIM--missed 1st two possible flights to IAH but made the 3rd (last to make LIM flight). Made the IAH-LIM. All flights were iffy and I was travelling with 2 enrolled friends.
with no reservations our next concern was flights from LIM to CUZ. It just happens that the IAH-LIM flight had wifi so we purchased 6am flights to CUZ with Star Peru online for $110 each.

Day 2
LIM-CUZ--Started with 6 hours of sitting around LIM as flights arrive close to midnight. Our flight to Cusco had 1 layover of about 15 minutes only putting us into Cusco 20 minutes after the 6am direct flight and the ticket cost less, I did not do the online purchase so do not know how much savings there was. Our flight left Cusco ontime and arrived in Ayacucho for a quick turn around. We then get informed there was fog in Cusco and had to wait, after about 20 minutes they announced the weather was starting to clear and they were going to attempt to get in. On final approach all you could see is fog and at some point the engines power back up for a go around. The second attempt for landing the weather opended up and we were able to land in Cusco. Our plan was to go straight to Ollantaytambo as its 2000 feet lower than Cusco and more train options to get to Aguas Calientes.

Notes-You can do things cheap (local buses) but take longer, middle cost is collectivo's (small minivans) that are about 1/2 cost between local bus and taxi, then taxi's -faster and more convenient.

Cusco to Ollantaytambo--We planned on the collectivo but after arriving with more than 24 hours of travel and little sleep we just decided on a taxi. We were able to get a taxi for S. 85.00 (just under $30 USD) for the two hour drive. On the drive to Ollantaytambo we decided to see some of the ruins in the Sacred Valley, this was a good decision as our plan was to see the Sacred Valley on the return from Ollantaytambo to Cusco but after the trip we could have never seen all we saw in one day. Adding the extra time going to ruins in the Sacred Valley increased the taxi up to S/.240.00 (approx. $80 USD), but this was for about 6 1/2 hours of driving us around. Also, we purchased the 'Boleto Turistico' this is a ticket that gets you into most of the ruins around Cusco and in the Sacred Valley, cost was S/.130.00 (approx. $50 USD)

Chinchero--The ruins here consist of a series of nested terraces rising up to a plateau which sits a church built in the early 1600's. It was nice to see the first ruins of the trip and to be able to walk around, trying to breath at 12,500 ft. Unfortunately we did not see the town or market, just the ruins, we then headed to Moray.

Moray--This area is three enormous terrace pits that some theorize the Inca's experimented on crop growth here. After Moray we headed towards Maras to see the salt pools.

Maras--(this was not covered by the Boleto Turistico and cost S./10.00 ($3.50 USD) This was the more interesting place of the day, the salt pools were constructed between AD 200 and AD 900. It was very interesting to see how they still harvest salt. After Maras we headed to Urubamba for a late lunch.

Urubamba--we only stopped here for lunch I think at Inka's House, of course by the recommendation of the taxi driver. It was a Peruvian buffet that was OK food and overpriced at S/.45.00 (approx. $15 USD). After Urubamba we headed towards Ollantaytambo.

NOTE--after we started eating the buffet we did notice people ordering from a menu. Remember to ask ALL restaurants for a 'SET MENU' or 'Menu Turistico', most restaurants offer this set menu but do not offer it upfront. They even have signs outside showing the set menu but inside the real menu says nothing about the set menu. This set menu is normally cheaper than if you just ordered the main course on its own. It consists of an appetizer of soup/salad, a choice of main courses and a drink (mostly lemonade in Peru) and sometimes a dessert. This 'set menu' is a popular item in a lot of countries but I continually end up forgetting about it.

Ollantaytambo--Our first order of business was to get our round trip train tickets to Aguas Calientes, going to Aguas Calientes the following afternoon and returning the afternoon after that. We were able to get train tickets with Inca rail at decent times (the worry was good times would be sold out), leaving Ollantaytambo the following afternoon at 4:36pm and returning from Aguas Calientes at 4:12pm. The return time would give us around 9 hours to spend in Machu Picchu. We then headed out to find a place to sleep. After looking at a couple of places we found Andean Moon Hosal, cost ended up at $36 per night for a 3 bed private bath room. The hot tub was not working but we spent very little time here as both nights we stayed we arrived when dark and headed out in the morning to site see. We did not eat breakfast there so I do not know how that was, they knew little English but one of my enrolled friends spoke spanish. After getting our room we headed out for dinner then returned to get some well needed sleep.

Day 3

Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes--In the morning, after breakfast, we went to the ruins of Ollantaytambo and got our first bit of hiking/climbing stairs, even though it was cool we were sweating and had labored breathing as the altitude was 9100 ft. Nice bit of ruins there with two sections, the main section was part of the 'Boleto Turistico Del Cusco' ticket. After a couple of hours there we went back to our hostel to get stuff ready for a night in Aguas Calientes. We only took the minimum for one night and left everything else in storage at the hostel as we would be returning the following night. We then went to the opposite side of the valley to Pinkuylluna, these ruins were free to enter. Again, lots of vertical climbing but well worth it for the ruins and the view of the Ollantaytambo ruins. After we returned to the valley floor we needed to head towards the train station to catch the train to Aguas Calientes. The train left on time and we only had about 1 hour of daylight to view the canyon as it gets dark there this time of year (June) around 5:30pm.

In Aguas Calientes the first order of business was to hopefully get tickets for Machu Picchu for the next day and then get r/t bus tickets up to the entrance. All went well with the tickets, for the Machu Picchu ticket plus ticket for Machu Picchu mountain it was $50 USD, online shows S/.142.00 or $47. I think the r/t bus tickets up to MP was $22 USD, this site says $24 USD.
After purchasing the tickets we went to find a place to stay. We found El Parque, looked at the room-again 3 bed with private bath, the room looked OK at first glance and we took it. I think we pad around $40 USD. We threw our packs into the room and headed our for some dinner. It was recommended by an american living in Ollantaytambo to try this place, Inti House. Remember before I mentioned the 'Set Menu or Menu Touristico', again, sign outside but inside no reference to the set menu. Asking for the set menu seems to upset the waiters but you REALLY need to ask. The set menu was /S.15.00 (or around $5 USD), again cheaper than ordering just the main course. Also in Aguas Calientes they ALWAYS try and add a service charge to your ticket-SCAM-read about it here. After dinner we headed back to the room to get an early night as we needed to wake up at 4am to get in line for the bus. We noticed after returning to the room it smelled like mildew and did not look like they changed the sheets, again to exhausted to worry about it and went to bed.

Day 4

Machu Picchu and return to Ollantaytambo--Woke up at 4am so we could get in line for the bus to Machu Picchu, arriving at the line there was probably 60 people in front of us. Now we just have a little over an hour before the 1st bus heads off to Machu Picchu. Approx. 5:30am they start loading buses, we ended up making the 3rd bus up. We arrived at the gate just past 6am and they were already letting people through. This made it so there was no line to get through the gate. Walking the path the first view you get of the city is the iconic view that you always see in photo's. I think Machu Picchu was more awe inspiring as a first view than the Great Wall of China was. It is just an incredible view in person. We walked around the terraces and through the city for a couple of hours then we headed for the hike up Machu Picchu Mountain. Boy, I thought walking the Great Wall was bad, nowhere did I read that the trail to the summit was probably over 90% stairs. I know now that I am not in shape. Here is a good video of getting to Machu Picchu and the view from the summit, I love the video as they were there with the most perfect weather. Anyways, after returning from the summit we then decided to hike to the Sun Gate. This should be a relatively easy hike but after hiking Machu Picchu summit my legs were just about gone. After the Sun Gate we headed back to MP city for one more walk through before heading to catch the bus back to Aguas Calientes. Even having a 4:12pm train back to Ollantaytambo we had no time to eat as we had to get to the train station to catch our train. We were able to see more of the canyon heading back to town before it once again got dark outside. Since we already had our room reserved we headed to the hostel to drop off our stuff and headed out for some food. After eating another early night as not much sleep the night before and LOTS of hiking.

Day 5--Ollantaytambo to Cusco to catch an overnight bus to Nazca

At some point one of the workers at the hostel, possibly the owner, found out our plans for catching a bus to Nasca. Our plans was a 4pm bus with Cruz del Sur, this worker knew someone in Cusco that dealt with Cruz del Sur. He contacted them and found out the 4pm bus was sold out. They said lots of buses leaving from Cusco so should not be any issues. We also checked if he knew a taxi driver that could take us to the ruins of Pisac and then to the Cusco bus station. He located someone who only wanted $50 and we said we would be ready in a couple of hours. Went for breakfast then cleaned up and packed. The taxi driver showed up in a new Toyota with only 2700 kilometers on it.
We left Ollantaytambo around 10:30 am and just out of town one friend realized he did not get one of the items he purchased at the local market so we headed back and actually found the item. Now, 11am and heading towards Pisac. I think the drive was only about an hour to Pisac then about 20 minutes to drive the back roads to the upper entrance. I think the driver thought we would only be 1/2 hour or so but after about 2 hours of walking around this nice set of ruins we showed back up. Now about 2:30 we headed towards Cusco and the bus station. From the upper entrance of Pisac to the bus station it took about 1 1/2 hours and we arrived around 4pm. Our first company to check was Tepsa and we found a 5pm bus at $45 USD. Oh, our plans was an overnight bus to Nasca to take a flight over the Nasca Lines. We had very little time after purchasing tickets for food as we had not ate anything since breakfast so outside to the 'food court' and I bought a rice/chicken combo plate to go, friends bought some type of sandwich. Then to the assigned gate for the bus eating while waiting to board. We were hoping to sleep on this 14 hour overnight bus, had nice seats that reclined 160 degrees. No such luck on good sleep the roads were very rough and LOTS AND LOTS OF CURVES. The bus ride leads us into Day 6

Day 6-bus to Nazca then on to Huacachina
Day 6 started out the same as day 5 ended, on a bus about half way through a 14 hour ride. We were expecting to arrive in Nazca around 9am. Around 7:30 am one of my buddies said he thought he saw a sign that we just went through Nazca. Our Spanish speaking buddy talked with the stewardess? Sure enough we had passed through Nazca. They were not informed that there was anyone getting off there. So, this was really the only small hiccup in our trip. We had to go another 2 hours to Ica to get off the bus, then catch another bus back the 2 hours to Nazca. We took a taxi to the airport and checked to see if there were any flights available. There are about 7 companies that do flights over the Nazca lines. We signed up with one of them and only had to wait 30 minutes or so for the flight. The cost should have been $70 USD but we got suckered in as our taxi said he knew the company and they would fly us over 4 other drawings that were not on the 'list' for an extra $10, then they charged 5% for using a Visa card, note-take a Master Card to Peru. It was a 5 seater Cessna and they had two other tourist to fill the seats. The flight lasts about 30 minutes and flies over 12 different drawings of the Nazca lines. Pilot said that when they get over a drawing they will bank the plane for a better view. Holly crap do they bank the plane, maybe 60 degrees from level flight, looking almost straight down on the drawing. After the flight we took a taxi back to the bus station to catch another bus back to Ica. We then took a taxi to Huacachina and finally had time to just relax.
Day 7—Huacachina to Lima
Final day, woke up around 6:30am and actually had a wifi signal to check flights. The LIM-IAH flight was looking OK with 22 seats and 14 listed.
After my friends woke up we went for breakfast then climbed to the top of the sand dunes behind the hostel for the view and some photo’s. It was nice to have a morning that we were not in much of a hurry. Had a taxi take us to the bus station to see when the next bus we could catch was. I think we had about an hour and the cost from Ica to Lima was around $12. It ended up that we did not have time to look for souvenirs, so the next best thing was lunch. Taxi took us to a ‘locals’place. Not sure how much of a locals place it was as it looked touristy but, there were locals (or at least looked like locals) eating there. Then back to the bus station for the 5 hour bus to Lima. Once in Lima we took a taxi to the airport.
Now the fun starts, recheck flights, went from 22 seats with 14 listed in the morning to 12 seats and 29 listed at 9pm. We have backup buddy passes with Delta and that looked promising. Hoping to make the United flight we waited, found it was delayed 30 minutes and now was leaving around the same time as the Delta flight. One of my friends wanted to stay another day to try and catch the United flight the next day. I kept on saying if we have to use the buddy pass lets do it, better to get out of the country than to hope there are seats the next day. Finally, they come outwith the standby list for United-NOPE did not make it.
Day 8—waiting for seats and returning to SLC
Rush to the Delta ticket counter to see if they can change the day of the buddy passes from the 6^th to the 5^th and also if they could list myself as I was not listed on the flight yet. They took care of everything and we received our seat assignments, coach yeah. Through security and to the gate. I see they have not started boarding yet and I have yet to buy anything. I go to one of the stores in the airport to get a t-shirt and coffee cup. While waiting in line to pay my friend runs over saying they are calling my name. I think to myself they cannot be boarded yet, can they? Walking to the gate there is still a line, now the next thought is ‘am I being upgraded?’ YES, business class for the 6 ½ hour flight to ATL.
In ATL there was not much of a line going through customs with all the kiosk now, after the kiosk two of us made the fast lane, the other was sent to the slow lane. We wait and wait, finally our friend shows up last out of the gate. They needed to verify who he was, they say because of his common last name ‘smith’, oh well. On to the gate for the ATL-SLC flight crossing our fingers we can make it out of ATL.
At the gate there are 17 seats, I am #14 and my friends are#23 and 24, looking very iffy. While passengers are loaded I see that I was assigned a seat, also a few after myself had seat sand now the seats available show 0. After the passengers load I go and talk to a gate agent to let them know that if my buddy pass riders do not make it on that I will give up my seat. Also, if giving up my seat allows one or both of them to make it I will do that. I have higher priority than a buddy pass, plus I have other airlines I can fly on to get home so I am trying to get the buddy passes home. Finally the gate agent calls me over and has a seat for me and one of my buddies. I ask about the other and they give me a look and say something like ‘your with 2 buddies?’. Yes, I mentioned that earlier as the hand my second buddy a seat. Yes,we are on our way home.