Machu Picchu

The remarkable city of Machu Picchu represents the pinnacle of Incan civilization, an extraordinary example of 15^th century engineering and will power which has enticed tourists since its discovery in the early 1900’s. However, to the Inca and Peruvians it remains a sacred shrine to the days of true independence, before the Spanish conquest and disease that brought down this once great civilization. Although the Spanish never documented discovering Machu Picchu, the site was abandoned around the time of their invasion. It stands today as the shining example of the Inca people, shrouded in mystery 8000ft into the clouds that guard it.

Above the clouds

There are several, well documented routes to the city of Machu Picchu. Having to forgo the Inca trail  due to seasonal closures, we opted to train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Caliente. This particular course is very popular among backpackers, due to the overall low cost compared to the more expensive journey from Cuzco.

Peru Rail

Peru Rail dropped us into Aguas Caliente at night, and above the loud chatter of the hundreds of tourists we could hear the raging river that slices through the city. There is a booming tourism industry in Aguas. Restaurants compete for your business as you walk the crowded streets; realizing the validity of what every guide book says about the place – tourist trap!Â

Just know that going in. Certainly don’t treat every shop owner and hostel clerk as such, but be prepared to hold ground if you feel like you’re getting ripped off.

Our plan was to rise early and catch the first bus up to the city. Many travelers, plus guide books suggest getting there first thing, before the masses arrive from Cusco. We had pre-bought our tickets through the Peruvian bureau of tourism’s website, which to our dismay was still working out the kinks. Armed with what we thought were passes to enter the site, we headed down to the bus stop at 4:30am. We were about the 10^th group in line and liked our chances of being the first group at the site this morning.

About 5:30 they started boarding the bus and as we get to the ticket lady, I go to hand her exact amount of soles needed to ride and we are quickly escorted out of line and told to buy our tickets at the tiny kiosk 50 meters up the road. As it turns out, despite us asking several times, you must buy your bus ticket before you board! So, as it turned out we ended up boarding the seventh bus instead of the first, but were still optimistic about seeing the ruins not overrun with tourists.

We get to the top after the nerve racking ride up the unpaved, semi collapsing road to the top. As we exit we rush straight to the entrance. I hand the woman our passports and tickets, she scans them and looks up at us but didn’t need to say anything, because I already knew. Your tickets are not valid. We had missed the tiny detail on the bottom of our tickets that read “no pagan” – not paid. Most places would let you buy tickets at the entrance, but not here which we knew from every guide book.  We had to go back down and buy our passes in Aguas Caliente. Upset and humiliated we decided to forgo the $10 bus ride and walk back down and about halfway down, it began to downpour.

When we finally sorted it all out, what ensued was a picture taking frenzy and amazement. As you look

out at the surroundings and you realize the randomness of the city, curiosity is peaked – how did they build all this up here? What was it for? Chel’s and I walked around, speculating: A vacation getaway for the Inca elite, perhaps.

Woah! Neverending!

The plan all along was to exit the airport and explore the capital city so we could pile on another country to our growing list. No lines at immigration, thanks to a smooth process by Mexican authorities helped put

our minds at ease. The only minor inconvenience was that we had to collect our bags and pass through customs, but again, an easy process. After pacing back and forth between money changers finding the best rate and one to exchange our aussie dollars we stashed our bags with the left luggage service and boarded the commuter bus to the metro,

and on to the city center.

Street Art!

We found Mexico City had an extensive, cheap, and userfriendly metro system. In no time we were walking the downtown streets taking in the bright colors and wonderful smells of the street vendors lining the roadsides. It didn’t take long for us to find some cheap goods, a must for every US citizen visiting Mexico; a new pair of sunnies for Chels that came with a whopping price tag of $1.75USD. Not even five minutes later, we were sampling the local fare, a trend that continued throughout the day.

yummy! First sampling of the street food

We set out for Zocalo, one of the largest city squares in the world. Although the sheer size of it was impressive, and it housed one of the most massive flags

I’ve ever seen flying… there was NOTHING there! No vendors, no street food, no art or street performers. So we walked across it, and that was that. On the other side of the square stood the Metropolitan Cathedral, which boasts the title of being the largest cathedral in the Americas! It was very impressive both inside and out, and worth a quick peak!

Zocalo Square

Next we headed for the main pedestrian strip which had an overload of jewelry and gold shops, and not enough cafes. We did find a super local spot to eat in that was PACKED with Mexicans… tacos served out of a huge bucket. We had no idea what we were ordering, but this man that spoke a bit of English ordered for us! It was delicious but a bit unsettling on the tummy!

Local taco shop!

We started walking again and soon found ourselves wandering around Alameda Central Park, which was full of vendors! Finally, we found the fun stuff! Anything you could possibly want, you could find at these markets, whether it be food, souvenirs, art, or everyday supplies like batteries and razors. Of course, Brad and I had to avoid any urge to purchase something, so made our way to one of the other free museums in the city..which happened to be very cool.. the National Cultural Museum. It houses artifacts and information about past and present cultures of the human race!

Egyptians!

When 5pm came around, we decided we should head back to avoid “the dangers of Mexico city”, although we actually felt safer walking around there than many places in Central America. Only 6 more hours to kill in the airport before our flight to Lima, Peru. By the time it came to board the plane, we were ready to PASS out! Before we knew it, we had landed in Lima and were on our way to the Cruz del Sur bus station for another 7 hour wait before our ride.

Fun in the Airport!

A few episodes of “How I Met Your Mother” later, and we were boarding the nicest bus we’ve ever been on! The leather seats reclined almost all the way, with a pillow, blanket, headphones, movies and food service! Like a plane, but roomier, which made the 24-hours we were about to spend on it go by much smoother!

Cruz del Sur

So after a 4am taxi ride ->plane ride -> 15 hour layover in Mexico City with metro/bus/taxis -> plane ride -> taxi ride with 6 hour layover in Lima ->24 hour bus ride to Cusco -> taxi ride to another bus terminal -> shared van to Urubamba! FINALLY…we arrived at our couchsurfers in the beautiful Sacred Valley I think we beat our Honduras/Nicaraguan border crossing experience with multiple modes of travel!