I’ve never planned to spent such a long time in Cusco, an old city in the Andean mountains, which was the capital of the Incas at its time. Nowadays it is a very touristic city and the main base to reach lots of Perus sights. Cusco is about 3.400 meters high, so these days in the Peruvian winter it’s quite cold at night, during the day the sun offers some heat. There’s usually no heating in Cusco, so I’ve slept every night in warm clothes under lots of blankets. And if there was hot water at the shower, I was very lucky. After I returned from Machu Picchu, I finally got a flu and had to revitalize myself for a couple of days (with lots of coca tea), before I was able to hike the Rainbow Mountain. Now an enduring strike of Peruvian teachers often cripples all ways of transport. I’ve heard many stories about the general disgrace in Peru. One more time I’m so grateful to live my privileged German life.

Today I made at trip to the so called “Rainbow Mountain” near Cusco. I guess I don’t have to explain where the name comes from. It’s also called “Vinicuna Mountain” or “Winicunca Mountain”. The mountain was just “discovered” and made accessible for tourists in 2015, so today it is not that badly organized and expensive like other popular sights in Peru. The tour started with an bus trip in the early morning from Cusco to Llama Chimpana, which is about 4.500 meters high. I never made a hike in such an altitude, so it was the first time I experienced how hard it is. It felt like I can’t breathe anymore, every single step was such a strain. I could take a horse and let me carry to the summit, but I wanted to achieve it by myself. And I made it (even I felt sick)! The view to and from the Rainbow Mountain at about 5.200 meters is literally (!) breathtaking!

Finally I have seen amazing (!!!) Machu Picchu! It’s definitely a “once in a lifetime” destination! The view to the stone Inca city high in the Andes Mountains is breathtaking and worth all effort.

OK, now we are talking about the effort. Today it’s impossible to go there on the road. The next larger city with an airport is Cusco, usually all tours start there. And every tourist will stay overnight in Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu Pueblo), except they spend more than 1.000 bucks/night for a lodge next to Machu Picchu or sleep in a tent while hiking a multiday trail.
There are various options to go from Cusco to Aguas Calientes. The easiest and the most and super expensive way is to take the train from Poroy (near Cusco) to Aguas Calientes. Another option is taking a van to Hidroeléctrica and walk along the train tracks for about 2 hrs (there is a train running from Hidroeléctrica to Aguas Calientes as well, but it’s also over-expensive). This was my route to Aguas Calientes too. It was another 7 hours-bustrip from hell. Not my first one since I left Germany, but I will never get used to it. We arrived Hidroeléctrica about one hour too late, and I was running fast along the train tracks to arrive in Aguas Calientes before it will be completely dark.
There’s also another way to Aguas Calientes. Take a two hours bustrip from Cusco to Ollantaytambo and the train for about 1 hour and 40 minutes. That’s what I’ve done on my way back and it would have been much more comfortable, if there had been no strike and I hadn’t been stuck at the station for almost 10 hours (nevertheless it was a funny trip as I was sitting next to seven missionaries from South Korea and even we had no language in common, we chat all the time). The prices for the train vary badly throughout the day, so I would recommend to take a train against the tourist flow to save up to 60%.
And finally there are various trails to arrive in Machu Picchu or Aguas Calientes. I can’t say much about that as I can’t sleep in a tent during the Peruvian winter. Although I’ve never seen a heating in Peru since I arrived nine days ago, but a bed in a sheltered room and a few blankets are necessary if you don’t wanna get a flu from hell.

So which way you choose however, your last station before Machu Picchu will likely be Aguas Calientes. Of course, it is a small town which only contains tourism business – now almost 6.000 visitors are allowed to come to Machu Picchu daily, compared with about 2.000 inhabitants. The service everywhere in Aguas Calientes is a disaster. And I’ve never been in a place where so many people tried to cheat me (which is my general experience about Peru, unfortunately).

So there are a few unpleasant things to get through, but as I already said, it’s all worth it. From Aguas Calientes buses running to Machu Picchu; walking is possible as well (about 20 minutes flat road and 1 hour up). I took the bus and stood in line from 4 am to catch one of the first buses. Now it’s only allowed to visit Machu Picchu in the morning (6 am to noon) or in the afternoon (noon to 05.30 pm). I had a morning ticket and left trouble-free at 01 pm. Since the rules had been tighten from July 2017, the entry is only allowed with a guide. I met my guide inside, nobody controlled at the gate. So I had a guided tour for two hours and after that, I got my passport stamp (yes, you can get a stamp of Machu Picchu for your passport) and I hiked up Montaña Machu Picchu. Tough way, but the amazing view compensates all efforts (it is also possible to climb Huayna Picchu, but due to the limited people allowed, the ticket must be bought well in advance).

So after visiting Machu Picchu I was really broken and very happy as I hadn’t return to Cusco immediately and made the last strain at the next day.

Uff! It’s incredible how many various options exist to go to Machu Picchu. The most popular route is the Incatrail – impossible for me as you have to book this trip about half a year in advance, due to limitations of people allowed at the trail. Half a year ago? I didn’t even know I will go to Machu Picchu any time soon. And to be honest, I don’t wanna sleep in a tent at sub-zero temperatures. I thought it’s easy to book a tour in Cusco, where usually all tours starting. But there are so many options, from the cheap “Machu Picchu by car” (from $80 up, and you go by bus), a short version of the Incatrail from KM104, various multiday treks (Salkantey, Lares, Inka Jungle,…) up to other long routes with luxury accommodations for thousands of bucks. So it took a few days until I knew which route will be my best choice. But I really enjoyed being in Cusco. I was super relaxed and took my time to get used to the altitude (Cusco is about 3.400 meters high), to avoid the so called “soroche” (altitude sickness). Today I finally booked my trip to Machu Picchu (I will describe my route in the following post) and I’m so excited – I will go to one of the new seven wonders of the world tomorrow!!