Day 457 – Aguas Calientes
Simply Magical: The Ancient City of Machu Picchu
Today was the day that the entire Salkantay Trek was building up to. We were excited to be visiting the ancient Incan site of Machu Picchu. However, it was a super early day.
We woke up at 4am, since we had to pack our bags for a hotel room change. By the time we left the hotel it was 4.30am. We were able to stop on the outskirts of town for a much needed coffee.
The entrances of Machu Picchu
We arrived at the first entrance of Machu Picchu at 4.55am. This entrance has a ticket checkpoint, luggage storage / cafe (both were closed when we were there) and bridge into the site. The gates open at 5am, but there were already 60 to 70 people waiting in line. Once the ticket inspectors opened the gate, it took us 15 minutes to get to the front of the line.
The Machu Picchu entrance tickets actually allocate an entrance time. The time printed is for the other entrance which is just before the actual ruins. For the bottom entrance, they deduct one hour from the printed entrance time. Our ticket stated an entrance time of 6am, which meant we could enter the bottom gate after 5am. Some people didn’t realise this and were taken out of the line, if they tried to enter before their allocated time.
We now had to climb to the actual site’s entrance where we had to meet the Local Guide, who we were introduced to yesterday (I’ll call him Adam to reduce confusion). Adam’s words from last night were echoing in our head, “if you come after 6am, I will not wait for you!”
Between the bottom checkpoint and the top checkpoint is a set of steep stairs. At the start, we took our time with the ascent. But as it was slowly approaching 6am with the end no where in sight, I left my wife behind and ran as much as I could to the top. It was not fun. The idea was to let Adam know that we were here so he could wait a few minutes until my wife arrived. At the top, there were heaps of people but I couldn’t find the guide.
A few minutes later at 6.03am, my wife arrived and we continued searching for Adam. We managed to find the rest of the group that was also looking for him. They were annoyed that Adam wasn’t there too.
We waited until 6.20am but it didn’t appear that Adam was coming. I was able to contact the Salkantay Tour Guide (I’ll call him Ben) to let him know that Adam wasn’t there. Ben was surprisingly already on his way back to Cusco and told me that he would call me back with information. I was amazed that there was reception all the way up here!
The Incan city of Machu Picchu
Instead of waiting outside, we decided to explore the site alone. After the final ticket check, we were inside the famous site. Within a few hundred metres, we were at a viewpoint which gave the traditional view of Machu Picchu. The morning sun reflecting on the empty stone city looked so beautiful. Despite wasting time, outside looking for Adam, the other tourists hadn’t made it into the heart of the city, which was why it looked empty.
As we were waiting here, Ben called us to say that the guided tour was rescheduled to 10.30am with the meeting point changed to the Guard House, which is an Inca stone building on site. Ben recommended that we visit the additional Montana Mountain now.
Montana Mountain
There are plenty of signs pointing to the Montana Mountain entrance, which has another ticket checkpoint. The entrance tickets to Machu Picchu also include entrance times into Montana Mountain. Our entrance time was between 7am and 8am. We could spend as long as we wanted up there, but we must pass the checkpoint during this time period.
To get to the peak of Montana Mountain, we would have to climb a further 600m to a total height of 3,060m above sea level. It was a difficult climb, but even along the way, the views of Machu Picchu were incredible.
At the peak, we were able to get almost 360° views of the site and the surrounding valleys. I would highly recommend climbing Montana Mountain if you can. The round trip back to the checkpoint took us 3 hours.
There is another optional mountain, called Machu Picchu Mountain, which is more popular (was sold out). It is a shorter climb, but more difficult due to the incline.
Machu Picchu Mountain
Tour of Machu Picchu…eventually
We were at the Guard House at 10.10am to wait for the Local Guide, Adam. As 10.30am came and went, we were once more worried. Ben gave me Adam’s number, which I kept calling and messaging. It was 11am when he finally called me back to say that he was waiting for me outside. My jaw literally dropped.
The Guard House
Adam eventually made his way to us and offered no explanation for being late in the morning or now. Then he gave us two options. Option 1 was to have him explain everything as we stand at the Guard House or Option 2, which was to wait a “little while” and go with a different tour guide through the site (like a normal tour).
For several reasons, we picked Option 2. But we later found out that a “little while” was actually a long while. Adam didn’t have a guide ready for us. He spent another hour looking for a guide. We just spent our time, chilling around the Guard House, taking photos and enjoying the beautiful site. We were actually finding it hard to stay pissed off with Adam, because the site was just wonderful.
At midday, we were finally put into a group with a friendly bilingual guide. He had a large group of Spanish speakers and only 4 English speakers, including us. At the start he kept switching between the languages but then he split the group by language. The Spanish speakers went with a different guide and the 4 English speakers stayed with him.
He was a really good guide,giving us plenty of information about the site. The stone work that survived is incredible. There are massive granite blocks that are believed to have been used in the construction of the buildings. The tour ended at a large shaped stone, which is said to mirror the landscape behind it. We couldn’t see the landscape behind, due to the cloud coverage. The tour took 1 hour and 45 minutes. But we quickly realised that the tour didn’t end at the site’s exit, which left a lot of other buildings to be explored.
We explored the remaining stone buildings by ourselves before we got too hungry to continue. Therefore, we exited so that we could visit the restaurant.
Lunch at Machu Picchu
As you can imagine, the food at this restaurant was expensive by Peruvian standards but it was delicious. Maybe because of how hungry we were. Payments can be made by card and there are paid toilets close by. There are actually no toilets inside the site, so be prepared to hold it in.
As we were eating, an English speaking guide came and talked to us. He showed a map of the site, which showed all the areas we missed out on. He was offering to take us around on a private tour for $50 USD (~$79 AUD), which we politely refused given the price. Then he referred us to another guide who was cheaper.
The other tour guide approached us and said that she could take us on a group tour for $30 USD (~$47 AUD). We were interested, but we were still eating our meal. The guide told us that we could finish our meal in peace.
After the meal, we came and found out that the other people in the group didn’t want to do it in English. Therefore, it would be back to the original $50 USD. We refused once more and went back into the site alone.
Self Guided Tour of Machu Picchu
Typically the entrance ticket to Machu Picchu only includes one entry. However, the optional mountains of Montana (the one we climbed) or Machu Picchu Mountain, include a re-entry. This was the only reason that we could visit the site again.
Since we had seen most of the site, we decided to focus on the things we had not seen. We first went to the Sun Gate, or Intipunku (in Quechua). This is the location that the popular Inca Trail ends. It is a long uphill path to the gate.
Once again, we had beautiful views of the site and surrounding valley. There was no one else at the gate when we arrived, and the round trip took us 1 hour.
We were back at the main site at 4pm and found that it was pretty much empty. It was a surreal experience compared to the hundreds of people who were here during the day. There were a few downsides though. It was raining and most of the optional buildings were closed, like the Inca Bridge, Temple of the Sun (closes at 4pm) and Condor Temple (closes at 1pm). We missed out on all of these due to the issues with our guide in the morning.
As we were walking around the site, the staff started to usher us out. Some were very nice, allowing us through or offering to take photos and others were very strict. We were one of the last people to leave the site, a few minutes before 5pm.
All the other tourists who were on the standard 4 day Salkantay Tour would already be on the way to Cusco. On the standard tour, tourists need to be back to the town of Hidroelectrica before 3pm. Therefore, they would have to leave Machu Picchu after a few hours. We were pleased that we got to spend so much time here.
Aguas Calientes
As we were walking back to Aguas Calientes, the rain intensified. We were back in the new hotel room at 6pm. After showering, we had lunch at a restaurant, El Manu, which was included with the tour. We just had to pay for drinks. The food was decent, but one server was really rude for some reason.
Travelled November 2019
Expenses and Transport
- Tour – Salkantay (5 days / 4 nights) with optional Montana Mountain – 600 PEN (~$282 AUD) per person with Carlos Guest House