Machu Picchu and photo updates

We finally and reluctantly decided to go to Machu Picchu. We nearly decided not to go because the prices are absolutely ridiculous and so many people go there, we felt like it may not be worth it. One of the issues is that the only way (or so we thought)to get to Aguas Calientes, the town closest to Machu Picchu, is by train. And the train charges between 50 and 80 dollars, one way from Cuzco. One the way, we cut costs by taking public transport busses and vans to Ollantaytambo, where we took a train that was only slightly cheaper the rest of the way to Aguas Calientes. The train was very nice and part of the ceiling is glass in order to take in the magnificient views from the valley.

The following morning we hiked (it is possible to take a bus, for $14USD, but we refused to pay this rate for 6km) to Macchu Picchu. The hike was extremely steep and we were told to expect the hike to take 1.5 to 2 hours. We left our hostel at 4am and arrived 55 minutes later, after missing the path once and taking a longcut (we think the high altitude previously helped us out on this sprint to the top). We were then able to be one of a fraction of the visitors to hike Huayna Picchu, an even taller mountain along side Macchu Picchu. This was another hour and the path was as close to straight up as you can get without climbing up a surface. The views were spectacular and the ruins were truely impressive. We wandered about and hiked another trail or two before eventually running out of steam and hiking the 6km back to Aguas Calientes. We needed to get our train ticket back, and when we got to train station, we learned that giant rocks had fallen on the tracks. There was other speculation about strikes and such, but we finally learned that the real story is the rocks were put on the tracks as part of a larger protest regarding privatization of water. This meant that the next train would leave at a time unknown to anyone, and it would be very unlikely that it left soon (within the next day or two).

We decided to hike to a campsite to set up our tent and think about what to do. Along the way we ran into two Chileans, a Costa Rican and a Belgian who told us that it was possible to hike about 2.5 hours down another set of train tracks into a village where public transport could eventually bring one back to Cuzco. They were heading that direction and invited us along. An exhausting few hours later we arrived, and were able to find transport back to Cuzco without having to do the normal changes in multiple towns. The mountain roads were narrow and muddy with thousand foot cliffs dropping off the side, but it made for an interesting and beautiful ride.

As we stopped to take a break in one town, a police officer came to our van and explained that a law had been passed saying that no one could drive on this particular road between 8pm and 6am (by this time it was 9 or 10). We translated this as- I am going to need a bribe because there are a lot of people here right now who look rich. Not wanting to pay this bribe, the driver and another went to the police station to check the story. There was supposedly a paper stating something to this effect that looked official like. The driver came back and reported the news, which was translated as- get ready to jump in the van when the police officer is not looking so we can drive out of town with the lights off. We did just that and as far as we know, the police officer did not give chase. This made for an interesting journey home. We finally arrived back in Cuzco at 4am, 24 hours after we set off on our adventure for the day.

Quote of the day from a local. We walked into a restaraunt serving lunch today, and as the tables were full, we sat down, as is customary, with a stranger. A nice guy andlocal mechanic, we began talking about the differences between US and Peruvian culture. He commented abut how punctual US folks are and how in Peru time is much more fluid. He says

Here we still live like humans, there you live like you´re machines.

I thought this was an accurate observation and worth sharing the wisdom.

On to Photos--

This is Adam on top of Cerro Calvario in Copacabana, Bolivia. The town is to the left and Lake Titicaca is behind.


Plaza at Amantani Island in the middle of Lake Titicaca.


Tracy with our homestay family in Amantani. notice the beautiful dress. The hat the child is wearing is a hat that most men in the village wear.


Plaza de Armas in Cuzco, Peru. Cuzco is formally the center of the Incan Empire, but conquistadors quickly took the city, using Incan architecture and foundations to build large churches and city buildings.

This is the lawn maintanence system at Machu picchu. SOAPBOX- When Hiram Bingham so called discovered Machu Picchu, he was led there by a young child and there were two families living there, using the terraces for agriculture. Thus, Hiram Bingham did NOT discover Machu Picchu. If this claim is not arrogance and subjugation of indigenous people, I don´t know what is. Note for readers, if a child takes you somewhere, and peole live there, you did not discover it.

Adam and Tracy on top of Huayna Picchu. From our eavesdropping on other tours, Huayna Picchu was considered a holy and sacred site, thus its location at the highest point of this hill.

Us at Macchu Picchu. Huayna Picchu is the mountain jutting up in the background. Macchu Picchu was never found by conquistadors, however the devestation of other battles around the Incan settlements, made its well hidden location rather unuseful. The setting was supposedly chosen for it´s strategic location in case of wars.


This is a piece of our hike down the railroad tracks to the next village. Aguas Calientes is not accessible by road so far as we understand. Peru Rail, better known as Mafia Rail, seems to keep alternative travel options to Aguas Calientes under wraps as even finding out about walking 2.5 hours was only by luck. I guess if you are making upwards of 100 dollars off of each visitor round trip, you wouldn´t want people walking.


We are off to Arequipa tomorrow in order to head north to Lima and eventually to Ecuador. Another volunteer opportunity may be in the works with Heifer international projects in Ecuador. If you are not familiar with Heifer International, Google them as they are a wonderful organization that adresses hunger and poverty within a framework of sustainable agriculture.