Cusco Peru to Machu Picchu

We landed really early in the morning on a Sunday, therefore anything else had been closed in the city. There were quite a few taxis waiting around for us. We normally hate the melee of taxi drivers yelling for your needs, but We talk Spanish pretty well and felt more in control of the situation. There was clearly a driver who had been really relaxed and had a pleasant laugh just who we picked for negotiations. So where would we get?

Plazas de Armas

In Spain, the key squares associated with the city are often known as Plaza Mayor. In most of South America, they’re known as Plaza de Armas. Without a doubt Cuzco has actually a really famous Plaza de Armas and I also believed that’d be a spot to destroy some time, therefore we negotiated a fare (always bargain before getting in a Peruvian taxi) and set off.

The Plaza had been awash in morning light and we also looked for a location to seize some breakfast. There clearly was only one destination open we found plus it had been directly on the plaza, which implied we probably overpaid by dual. Prices were still affordable (about $10/person for an excellent breakfast of necessary protein and…protein) in order that ended up being good.

After breakfast we strolled round the Plaza slightly to avoid drifting off to sleep.

This is my very first ever journey with my brand-new (during the time) camera, so I was wanting to take a lot of photographs.

There clearly was some form of service honoring law enforcement, and so I was cautious not to upset anyone by firmly taking images. We escaped off down an alley to find some genuine Peruvian coffee.

You’ll hate me personally, but this is actually the “authentic” Peruvian coffee we found.

The entrance to the Starbucks was actually pretty hard to find (that will’ve already been our signal locate someplace much more neighborhood, but we digress). If you’re in Cuzco and you’re facing the Starbucks, it's down the alley towards right. Make the first left in to the courtyard and walk up the stairs towards remaining and you’ll go into the Starbucks. Search for this awesome home, the stairs go right above it.

But wait, the reason why had been we killing time you may well ask? Well, getting to Machu Picchu is a fairly complex undertaking.

Airplanes, trains, and vehicles

Yes, you generally need all three to arrive at Machu Picchu. Cuzco may be the closest airport toward citadel and it is where almost everyone flies into. Town close to Machu Picchu is known as Aguas Calientes (meaning: Caliente Waters). Because the crow flies Cuzco and Aguas Calientes are not that far aside, but man it can take a while for here!

Choice #1: you'll just take a train from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes direct. But as always there’s a stipulation you have to be conscious of: this train offers on quickly (tickets tend to be extremely an easy task to reserve at In addition, the train station from where this train departs is certainly not in Cuzco, it’s in a small town about 10km away known as Poroy.

Option #2: There’s a city known as Ollantaybambo about halfway between Cuzco and Machu Picchu. You can just take a train from Ollantaybambo to Aguas Calientes direct (I called it the “we waited far too late to reserve the Cuzco-Aguas train” city). This city is not very huge, nor very nice, but you will find quite a few Sacred Valley associated with the Incas web sites close by so many people stay right here for per night or two. How do you reach Ollantaybambo? You are able to both take a taxi (works $30-35) or a little coach labeled as a colectivo, which is less costly but will usually run on a unique schedule.

There is no way to operate a vehicle to Aguas Calientes, it should be reached by train.

We opted choice 2. We hired a taxi and were driven to Ollantaybambo. It had been a pleasurable trip with the exception of the speed lumps once in awhile. We ended and bought some Inka Colas (Coke’s brand name down in Peru) for the driver and myself even though the motorist got fuel. On the whole a somewhat pretty drive and now we ended up in Ollantaybambo about an hour and a half later no worse for wear.

Up after that: the train ride to Aguas Calientes as we prepare to create foot in just one of the absolute most amazing places society has actually ever before seen.