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| Aguas Calientes |
Getting to Aguas Calientes (And Feeling Great When You
Arrive!)
First and foremost, I can’t emphasize enough how important
it is to get acclimated to the elevation in Peru. I saw this warning everywhere
I looked while researching for our trip. The elevation in Cusco is over 11,000
feet, which is enough to leave you more than just breathless at its splendor.
If you don’t acclimate yourself (i.e. get physically used to the elevation),
you can get altitude sickness which is no joke and will ruin that segment of
your trip. What we did, and what worked perfectly for us, was to fly into Cusco
and then immediately hop in a taxi to take us to Aguas Calientes. Aguas
Calientes is the town at the base of Machu Picchu and sits at just under 7,000
feet elevation. Coming from sea level, as we did, this was still a jump from
what we were used to, but not enough to really have any negative effects on us.
Some people stay in Ollantaytambo, which sits at 9000 feet, but we felt that we
were willing to spend a little more on our hotel to ensure that we didn’t get
sick. We also wanted to get up and go straight to Machu Picchu from Aguas Calientes, rather than taking a 6am train to the Ollantaytambo bus station.
We flew into Cusco and hired a taxi from inside the airport,
as per the general warning. During certain times of the year, you can take a
train directly from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, but we had to board in
Ollantaytambo which meant hiring a driver for the 2 hour drive to the train
station there. I want to say that cost us around $50 USD, and the taxi driver actually
took US currency which was nice since we had some on hand.
As with many other places, the taxi driver we had would
rather have a sure fare than not, so he offered to pick us back up from
Ollantaytambo upon our return for a fraction of the cost for the ride there.
So, that was nice. We picked up our tickets for the train and grabbed a bite to
eat at the station while we waited. There was actually a pretty great little
café in there so we had some Coca Tea and a sandwich- which was basically the
first actual meal we had in Peru.
A word on Coca Tea.
It’s awesome. It’s not
Cocaine, so don’t get all freaked out that you’re going to start feeling
spastic. It’s like a stronger version of Black Tea, and it really does settle
your stomach and help with headaches or any other signs of Altitude Sickness.
I’m a coffee drinker, but Oliver and I both stuck with Coca Tea throughout our
trip and we felt like it really made a difference. Plus it tasted pretty dang
good… think an earthier version of green tea. It should also be
noted that it’s quite easy to find altitude sickness medicine at any market in
Peru, so if you DO get sick, you can remedy it quickly.
The train ride from Ollantaytambo into Aguas Calientes is
GORGEOUS and takes about 1 ½ hours. You’ll want to purchase your train tickets
prior to your trip, and buy them either through Peru Rail (which we did) or Inca Rail, depending on your starting
point.
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| On the train to Aguas Calientes |
Staying in Aguas Calientes – Our Experience
There are a lot of places to stay in Aguas Calientes, but I
can’t really speak to any of them except for the one we stayed at. But I will
say that we were totally blown away by our hotel room at Hotel
Ferre Machu Picchu. The price was excellent, and it was right on the river.
The picture below shows my feet hanging out of our bedroom window, for reference. We even ended up closing our window most of the time because the
river was pretty loud outside of our room. It was totally walkable to
everything we wanted to do, too. We walked there from the train station, and it
was far enough from the main area of town to be secluded but close enough to it
to grab something to eat without walking too far.
As we wandered through the town, we noticed that some of the
hotels were near the river (by us), and others were really in the heart of the
town. I would imagine that those places can be kind of noisy, and the view
can’t be that great if you’re just looking at another building. All in all, we
were really pleased with the place we chose.
What To Do With An Extra Day In Aguas Calientes
In order to make sure we were acclimated before we went to
Machu Picchu, we spent an extra day in Aguas Calientes to be safe. So the day
after we arrived, we did the hike to Mandor Gardens. I was also told that the
Hot Springs in A.C. are awesome, but Oliver and I aren’t really into the idea
of sitting in a hot body of water with strangers. The hike to Mandor Gardens
took about an hour, in which you basically follow the railroad tracks out of
the town (the opposite direction from which we arrived). There are a couple of
sketchy parts where you have to go through a dark tunnel, and you should know
that trains DO still travel along the tracks, but you can hear them coming from
a little ways away. All the same- be careful in those tunnels.
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| Mandor Gardens |
As I mentioned in Part One of the Wanderlust Series, you’ll
want to have purchased your tickets to Machu Picchu well in advance. We were
able to purchase our bus tickets up the mountain the day before we went. This
can be done by heading to the booth near the bus stop and buying your tickets
there. You’ll want to make sure you have your passport with you since the rates
differ for locals vs. tourists. You’ll also want to make sure that you buy a
sack lunch the day before you go. We got some amazing boxed lunches from LaBoulangerie de Paris, which you order and pay for the day before and then pick
up as early as 5am the next morning. This was perfect since we assumed that
we’d have to buy food and then store it somewhere until our early morning bus
trip, but instead had fresh food waiting for us in the morning.
Where To Eat in Aguas Calientes
Our absolute favorite place in A.C. was El Indio Feliz. The
food was amazing and the décor really gave it a fun atmosphere. We wanted to go
to The Tree House for dinner one night, but it was closed for renovations. We
also really liked Café Inkaterra, but it was a little pricier than we’d have
preferred. We ate pizza at Inka Wasi Restaurant and Pizzeria and Oliver thinks
he got food poisoning there, but in fairness it also might have been altitude
sickness.
Bug & Sun Protection
It should be noted that both sunscreen and bug spray
are pretty important the whole time you’re in Peru. We went in April and the
sun was beating down pretty hard at times. And I made a HUGE mistake by not
putting bug spray on my ankles while we were there and ended up with some kind
of super-insect bug bites that stayed with me for almost a month afterward.
We were there during the whole Zika scare, so it was also critical to us that we avoided all bug bites. I ordered Natrapel off the internet and wherever I sprayed it- I was fine.
You can find lots of tips for Machu Picchu on more knowledgeable websites, but here were some tidbits of info that I found helpful:
- The bus to Machu Picchu drops you off at the gate, where there are bathrooms. There are NO bathrooms inside of the park, so you'll really want to try and go upon arrival.
- We were running behind when we got there, so we figured we wouldn't really need to hire a guide. This was a big mistake. After hiring a guide for Saksaywaman in Cusco- we realized that learning all of the amazing facts about these ruins was really awesome. I highly suggest hiring someone to show you all of the details you'd otherwise miss.
- I was really worried (because I am clearly an over-planner) that my running shoes weren't sufficient for the hike up Wayna Picchu. I ended up being totally fine. I do suggest dressing in layers, though, since it can go from hot to cold (and vice versa) fairly quickly. I also recommend bringing a rain coat or parka.
- Speaking of Wayna Picchu- this hike was amazing. There were really great views from the top, but several great vantage points during the descent back down as well. It was overcast and slightly raining when we started our hike, which ended up being a blessing in disguise because it kept us cool during what was a pretty strenuous hike. Wayna Picchu is almost ALL stairs, which was tough, and left me with Jelly Legs for about 2 days afterward. BUT the hike looks much harder than it actually is, and you'll feel like a bad ass showing people pictures of the GIANT mountain behind Machu Picchu that you hiked all the way up. For reference- I am in "okay" shape, and don't go to the gym more than once or twice per week. I struggled, but was fine.
- I will add some images below, with descriptions so that you can have more of a visual idea of our trip up to Machu Picchu. Next up- I'll post some details about our time in Cusco, Peru!
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| The Llamas are friendly (and hungry!) We had fun feeding them. |
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| Viewpoint from the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu |
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| The HUGE mountain right behind Machu PIcchu is Wayna Picchu. It looks a lot gnarlier than it is, leaving you to look & feel like a total champ!! |
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| At the top of Wayna Picchu. |
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| The steepest stairs on the hike up Wayna Picchu. Don't worry- there are plenty of holding rails like this! |
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| Jumping picture from a vantage point on our way down Wayna Picchu. We look much closer to the edge than we actually were. |
