Home in a backpack: Macchu Picchu 13.01.16

How to get there: There are several tours to get to Macchu Picchu from Cusco, you can book a complete tour or just transport. You can take a train or a bus to get there. The cheapest and quickest way is taking a bus to Hidroelectrica, walking for 2 hours to reach Aguascalientes and spending the night there, to leave early the next morning to Macchu Picchu. From Aguascalientes you can take a bus (USD12) to the site, or walk for over 1.5 hours up steps.
Getting to Macchu Picchu: It receives thousands of tourists every day, so getting there as early as possible is imperative, to avoid queues. There is only one hotel just outside Macchu Picchu.

At the top of Machu Picchu!

We left Cusco at 7:30 in the morning on a small bus, and drove 6 hours including two stops, one for the toilet and one for lunch, through tall mountains and irregular roads. When we arrived to Aguascalientes we were shown our hostel room and we had dinner with the group. At dinner we were told the details for the next day. The following morning we had breakfast at 4:20 and left Aguascalientes at 4:40. We walked up to Machu Picchu and arrived at 6:35 am. We queued for 10 minutes and we were through.

The tour guide told us several theories about the story of the Inkas, however we didn't think the tour was not necessary since you can find the information yourself. He left us after two hours and then we climbed up to the viewpoint where we took the picture everyone takes of Machu Picchu. It was a bit cloudy but when the clouds started clearing up the view was magical.

There isn't much we can say about Machu Picchu that you don't already imagine. There are many hypothesis about the place but what's certain is that it leaves you breathless and feeling small to the enormity that surrounds you.

We took the bus down, as we were really tired and walked from Aguascalientes to Hidroelectrica to get the bus that would take us back to Cusco. At Hidroelectrica we had to go around all the guides looking for our bus, it was messy and a bit stressful. I do not recommend you to do the tour with a mainstream tour you find in the square of Cusco. Do your research for the best price and for the tour that seems the most organised, even if you're only booking the transport. Most tours, like ours, cost USD100 per person including the entry, the transport, tour guide, hostel and food but there are cheaper tours and cheaper packages. We booked with Machupichu express.

The walk to Aguascalientes