Machu Picchu, Peru

This thanksgivings, I had the opportunity to visit the lost city of the Incas. The mystery and the charm of the place isn't lost in the slightest to the fact that millions of people from across the planet throng to this mystical wonder every year.

Lima
The capital of Peru is Lima - a bustling metropolitan city where you'll likely fly into. It's a chaotic place with some fantastic museums, churches and restaurants. The currency used in Peru is Nuevo Sol or Soles and 1USD = 3.25 soles. In reality, you'll get 3.12 soles for a buck most of the times. The country code is +51 and the number for Police assistance is 105.

Centro Historico de Lima 

One of the safest areas to stay in Lima is Miraflores which is ~45min away from the Chavez International Airport (costs 60 soles one-way with registered taxi or 8 USD with airport shuttle). If you are staying in Lima for only a day or two, you should consider visiting Centro Historico de Lima which is a nice busy plaza with lot of Cathedrals, Museums, and govt. buildings. Near Centro Histirico, there's Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco de Lima which has underground Catacoumbs. It costs 5 soles for a guided tour of the cathedral and 15th century catacoumbs.

Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco de Lima

Inside the Religious Art Museum at Centro Historico 

Cusco
If you are visiting Peru to visit Machu Picchu, you'll likely take one of the many daily flights from Lima to Cusco (also spelled Cuzco). There are two airlines - Avianca and Peruvian - with frequent daily flights to Cusco. Cuzco is really high up (11,152 ft). For comparison, Denver is only 5,280 ft. So, you'll likely feel short of breath going up the stairs or even altitude sickness. Coca leaves are supposedly good for altitude sickness and there are free coca leaves at the airport and most hotels will serve you free coca tea or coca candies to deal with altitude sickness.

Cusco has two main historical centers, again with fantastic Cathedrals.

Cusco Plaza;

We met a cheerful group of Canadians at the plaza who were thoroughly excited after I told them that I'll be a new Canadian soon. Anyways, when we got there, there was an official flag ceremony going on. The Canadians told us that the rainbow flag at the plaza was the LGBTQ flag. Turns out it wasn't - it's just the Cusco city flag and has nothing to do with the gay rights movement.

There are a lot of things to see in Cusco. Just outside the town, there's Sacksaywaman (go on, say it slowly - Sacksay - waman), and Q'enko / Q'inko. You'll need Boleto Touristico for Q'enko but not for Sacksaywaman.

Agua Calientes 
From Cusco, you can't just drive or fly to Machu Picchu. The nearest station from where to take a bus to Machu Picchu is Agua Calientes (also called Machu Picchu Pueblo).

The only way to get to Agua Calientes is by train from Cusco (Estacion Poroy) or Ollantaytambo. There are two train companies at the moment - Peru Rail and Inca Rail. Both are really nice. Train tickets from Cusco to Agua Calientes cost anywhere from USD 50 - 150 one-way.

Inca Rail Executive Class

Peru Rail Expedition

We took Peru rail on our way from Cusco to Agua Calientes and Inca Rail on our way back. Agua Calientes is a nice little town full of tourists, hotels and restaurants.




There are some interesting sculptures in Agua Calientes, a plaza, a church and public hot springs (20 soles each). There's a crafts market but the prices here are much much higher than the crafts market in Pisac (see below).

Bus tickets from Agua Calientes (AC) to Machu Picchu are USD 12 one-way for adult foreign nationals. They only seem to accept USD cash or Master cards (no VISA).

Line for buses to Macchu Pichu in the morning

A sculpture in Agua Calientes

Machu Picchu
Buses will drop you right in front of the main entrance to Machu Picchu. There's a restaurent and paid restrooms/WC at the entrance. Make sure you have a printed copy of your tickets and your passport. There are registered guides you can hire at the entrance as well but we preferred to explore on our own.

Visiting Machu Picchu requires some planning in advance as recent regulations allow for ~2500-5900 visitors a day split into two groups. The first group is allowed entry from 6am to noon and the second group is allowed entry from noon to 5:30pm. This is plenty of time to explore Machu Picchu. Tickets cost anywhere from 152 soles - 200 soles (~50 USD-68 USD) for non-Peruvian nationals depending on the ticket/hike. These tickets run out relatively quickly, especially in the high season. So, it's important to get your tickets in advance. You can get tickets from http://www.machupicchu.gob.pe/ (works best in Mozilla or Safari, not Chrome).

Ruins of Machu Picchu 

It's a sprawling complex with baths, central plaza, houses and even a jail.

Temple of the Condor - used for ritualistic sacrifices.

You are free to walk amongst the ruins.

We bought tickets for two days - the first day to explore Machu Picchu and the second day for early morning hike to the top of Huayna Picchu - the steep mountain with fantastic views of Machu Picchu at the top. It's not the safest hike, especially if it's rainy and it's rather strenuous at times.

Hike to Huayna Picchu

But the views are absolutely fantastic and is certainly one of the best hikes I've ever done (see below).

View of Machu Picchu from the top of Huayna Picchu.

If you'd like to do this hike, make sure you get the right ticket (it costs 200 soles). Also, I'd strongly recommend doing it in the morning when the temperature is pleasant and early morning clouds make it all the more magical. Carry water, rain jacket and wear good, non-slippery, hiking shoes.

Valle Sagrado de los Incas (Sacred Valley)

But Machu Picchu is just one of the many archeo-historical wonders of Peru. Peru is extremely rich in history, culture and natural landscapes. It's full of friendly and kind people making it a fantastic travel destination.

On our way back, we took the Inca Rain to Ollantaytambo. When you get out of the train station, there are free and safe luggage storage services provided separately by Peru Rail and Inca Rail. You can show your train tickets and passport and store your luggage for free for the day. There are fantastic ruins in Ollantaytambo, including Fortaleza (see below) - only 5 minutes away by tuk-tuk (5 soles each). You'll need Boleto Touristico (tourist ticket) to visit which you can buy at the entrance.

Fortaleza de Ollantaytambo

Water Channels in Ollantaytambo

There are some restaurants near the railway station and also next to the Fortaleza. At the railway station, you can easily find hoards of taxi operators offering their services. We negotiated a taxi from Ollantaytambo to Pisac through Salineras de Maras - Inca Salt mines (see below) and the concentric terraces of Moray.

Salt mines in Maras

Andean Mountain Ranges

We stayed that night at a fantastic hotel called Pisac Inn in a small town called Pisac - they had a really good restaurant within the hotel. Pisac is famous for it's crafts market - which is right outside the hotel. It really is a wonderful market and prices are very reasonable. The crafts are actually made by locals in that area and are very reasonably priced.

Crafts Market in Pisac - best place to buy your Peruvian souvenirs in my opinion. 

There are really nice Inca ruins in Pisac. Our hotel called us a cab to take us up to the ruins, wait for 2 hours and back - all for 50 soles (~17 USD).

Pisac Archeological Park is really nice and is highly recommended:

One small section of Pisac Ruins

Pisac Archeological Park has a lot of trails going to ruins where a lot of tourists don't go.

View of the valley from the top of Pisac Archeological Park

We asked the same taxi driver to take us back to Cusco while stopping at Sacksaywaman and Q'enko for 100 soles.



Minor inconveniences:
Some minor annoyances we experienced in Peru:

• There's usually no toilet paper in El baños even in some of the major tourist hotspots. Carry a roll.
• Toilet seats are often missing.
• Many ATMs didn't accept our debit cards. Ones that did, charged unreasonably high amount per transaction (~18 soles / 6 USD).
• Many restaurants don't have much/any vegan or vegetarian options. This was less of an issue in Cusco or Aguas Caliente / Machu Picchu Pueblo that had some fantastic vegetarian options but unless you know where to go, it can be hard to find good options. In fact, the best vegan food I've ever had was at this place called Organika in Cusco: 

Quinoa Sushi and mango coconut desert! 

• That's all really. All of these were minor inconveniences - Peru is fantastic!