How to get
to Machu Picchu
There are many ways to get to Macchu Picchi, I
would say for every pocket and for every back, it depends a lot on how much you
want to spend and how much you want to be comfortable. The most famous ways are
2.
- On
the train. Most people arrive there on an organized tour that takes you to
Ollataitambo, then from there you take a luxury train to Aguas Caliente, sleep
one night in the most expensive and fake location in Peru and the next day you
go. by tourist bus to the door of the archaeological site, preferably early in
the morning.
- On
foot . Backpackers who don't want to invest hundreds of dollars in an equipped
trek literally walk there. Take a mini bus to the Hydroelectric and then go up
the river and the railway to Aguas Calientes, from there you either take the
bus or keep climbing on foot. All this is certainly cheap, but the landscape is
not spectacular and it is very tiring all the same.
- Trekking
there are many
There is one
Inca Trail but there are many alternative treks
Each agency in Cuzco will offer you a jungle trek
that takes you to Machu Picchu, there is the one where you also do rafting, the
one where you cross territories full of orchids, the longest one and in my
opinion (from what they told me) the most nice that lasts three days and also
includes the summit of Salcantay.
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None of this allows you to enter Macchu Picchu from
the Puerta del Sol at dawn, with all these alternative treks you enter like everyone
from the main entrance.
I did it with Peru Treks , and I had a great time,
but I know there are others too.
How to do
the Original Inca Trail (Short Inca trail with camping 2 days)
You have to book it in time, and by time I mean at
least 6 months in advance, only 500 people can access it a day and I assure you
that there are more than 500 people who want to do it.
There are very few organizations that have
authorization for the route, I recommend you do some cross-searches on the web
and read a few reviews, but the standard is really very high everywhere. Peru
are really good at tourism, never seen a country like this.
You have to choose the right time of year, the
important thing is that it doesn't rain. It is said that winter is the best
period, ie June - July - August, in reality there is talk of the dry season
which runs from April to October; consider that during the day with the sun it
is always hot and the night always drops a lot since you will almost always be
above 3000m above sea level. If you travel around November December expect
heavy rains, as happened to me, which will make you last for 4 days, it's not
nice!
The trekking lasts 3 nights 4 days, you always sleep
in equipped rest areas, obviously there are very few bathrooms and cold water.
Almost all the time you go up steps, in fact you
walk the sacred path that Inca traveled to reach Machu Picchu. I recommend that
you bring trekking poles or take a sturdy branch on the road.
Inca Trail
itinerary
I wrote this description the day after I finished
the journey, let's say I was quite excited, but I thought it important to quote
everything entirely, you can find the complete article here .
The original Inca Trail is quite expensive and
costs around Group Price US$465.00 per
person and must be booked at least 3 months in advance in the low season, so
let's say that most backpackers do not and allow themselves an alternative
route. So, the first negative point: it is frequented almost exclusively by
gringos! Definitely uninteresting subjects who travel the world still thinking
that they are the colonizers, with the presumption of not learning even a word
in the local language; assuming the right to always be understood. People who
miss Chinese food and pizza hats, who don't eat with the locals, who continue
to do the same things they do in their Anglo-Saxon countries but with a
different longitude! (sorry for the outburst!)
After this light walk and people with oxygen tanks
the descent has arrived! Relaxing, will you think ?! Well, imagine walking down
2 hours of 30cm stairs in the jungle with grass and torrential rain, I would
say not slippery at all! In the camp they gave themselves knees! The positive
side is that solidarity with other groups has become very intense and it all
seemed slightly less hard.
The third day everyone says is the most beautiful,
and in my opinion everyone has this perception because there is nothing worse
than the second! Luckily the rain and fog accompanied us only until 12:00, then
for the remaining 7h of trekking there was the sun! And finally we saw the
view, there are incredible valleys beyond the fog! The sunset over the Machu
Picchu valley was sensational, so was the cake they made us for dinner!
On the 4th day, thanking the sky it was not
raining, so our alarm clock at 3:45 am allowed us to see a beautiful sunrise
and arrive in Machu Picchu at 7:30 !!! We were finally reaching our coveted
goal and I must say there was a lot of excitement among the 500 runners of the short Inca trail 2 days! After the
puerta del sol , the emotion was strong! We took the postcard photo, even the
group one, with a group who didn't give a damn about anyone! But the most
beautiful thing was to go down to Machu Picchu to sit on a terrace and observe,
observe that remote city that every traveler dreams of reaching once in a
lifetime and that everyone would like to meet along the sacred chimney!
Well I still haven't figured out if I would
recommend it ... maybe to someone yes ;-), but it certainly was a strong
challenge for my body and I'm proud to have succeeded without even too much
pain!
The main thing is that one day, I will tell my
grandchildren that Grandma did the Inca Trail alone in the rain, and I hope
they will dream with me!
The bag that you will deliver to the carrier gives
you the organization.
- 2
pants, because they get wet
- 1
very warm fleece
- 2
or maximum 3 breathable trekking shirts
- 1
thermal shirt
- 1
thermal underwear
- sth
to sleep, even thermal underwear is fine
- changes
of underwear
- a
windbreaker, even padded
- a
scarf
- thin
gloves
- sun
hat
- Sun
glasses
- high
protection cream
- protective
cocoa butter
- a
headlamp
- Swiss
Army knife
- a
water bottle
- a
trekking pole
- obviously
trekking shoes
- 3
pairs of thermal socks
- a
very warm sleeping bag, let's say from 0C
- a
sheet sack, I prefer it because it keeps warmer
- a
microfiber towel
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