tomandbuntytrails

We took a cab from Cusco (100 soles), and drove through the sacred valley of the Incas towards the little town of Ollantaytambo, where you catch the train to Aguas Calientes (the gateway town for Machu Picchu). It was certainly a taxi ride we’ll never forget! The scenery as you travel through the valley is spectacular with big open skies, towering mountains surrounding you, traditional villages and snow-capped peaks! The day we travelled through was day 2 of the nationwide strikes which were taking place – people protesting about rising food prices, lack of financial support from the government re Covid etc. I started to suspect this right affect our journey when the number of rocks seemed to be increasing on the road, some were definitely due to rock falls, but the number increased and soon the road was totally blocked! Someone had also poured an entire drum of oil onto the road so all the cars trying to get through were covered in oil. So we stopped, people were very calm about it, I guess to show solidarity, nobody was angry, we just waited. In fact, several of the locals cracked open tins of beer and stood and admired the views. We waited for around an hour but the bridge was still closed. So we paid our taxi chap and walked a few hundred yards through the roadblock to the other side of the river and found a chap to take us the rest of the way!

While waiting for the roadblock to clear we looked up and spotted groups of climbers ascending the vertical face of the mountain towering above us, they were heading towards these strange pods, hanging from the face of the mountain! Could be fun to stay there one day? Photos courtesy of https://naturavive.com/web/skylodge-adventure-suites/

We stayed in El Aubergue Ollantaytambo, which is a little boutique hotel & restaurant located on the station platform inside the old station house (I’m a total train geek so this was just too much!) – so you can jump out of bed and get the train straight to Aguas Calientes! I can’t tell you how much we loved this little hotel; in the restaurant, you sit in the old station house watching the special Machu Picchu trains come and go, whilst eating food grown in the organic farm to the rear of the hotel, drinking cocktails from the small distillery outback and drinking coffee roasted on-site – what more could you possibly ask for? Oh, and did I mention the scenery – towering snow-capped mountain peaks, Inca ruins, and some of the longest permanently inhabited houses in the whole of South America! Take me back!!!!

The following morning we got the 6.30AM train to Aguas Caliente, it’s a special train specifically for the tourists, the locals pay a fraction of the price as they rely on the train for day to day transport. It’s definitely worth it, and it really feels like an “experience”, on a super cool narrow gauge train, winding through the valley towards one of the most important landmarks in human history – the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu!

You can get a bus to Machu Picchu from Aguas Calinetes, but we opted on the trekking option – it’s around 2 hours in total and is quite arduous – 2 kms all uphill, but 100% worth it, if you can. Once you get there, yes it’s quite busy, yes it’s touristy but it is 100% spectacular, memorable, awe-inspiring and every other superlative you can think of. We will never forget our trip to Machu Picchu!