9 January 2016 – Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu to Cusco

We catch the train to Aguas Calientes at about 7.30AM.  Not the earliest train we could have caught, but early enough.  It seems hard to believe it rained last night – looks like we’re going to have a nice day.

The scenery along the route to MP is spectacular.  Extraordinarily steep mountains, raging river (unfortunately full of plastic bottles), scattered Incan ruins along the way, along with local villages and crops (some more scenic than others).

We arrive into Aguas Calientes and to be honest, I’m a little dismayed.  We were funnelled through a market and then into the town.  Crammed into a narrow valley and chock-full of shops whose sole existence centres around MP.  Staying at Ollantaytambo was nicer. 

We queue for bus tickets up to MP.  As to be expected, the situation is hopeless.  Countless people arrive at once and everyone wants a ticket.  What do we find.  One ticket office.  Two windows to sell tickets, back to back, which means two lines in opposite directions.  Ticket sales are a slow process, which involves inordinate delays for no apparent reason.  Cash only.  Must show passports and this required substantial extra time.  It would take some effort to design a less efficient system!

Once one has a ticket for the bus, you must then join the next queue, this time for the actual bus up the mountain.  The queue is located randomly along the footpath in the street and again, you must show your ticket, show your passport, and eventually you’ll get onto a bus.  No use of scanners etc.  All manually verified, which takes far longer than it needs to.

The trip up to MP is surprisingly dusty for the rainy season, but quite spectacular.  Then we arrive.  People mill around aimlessly.  We fight our way through the guides and make it to the entrance.  We show our tickets, find our passports (AGAIN!) and finally we’re in.

Lordy, it’s a spectacular setting.  Despite the countless photo’s, it’s still an impressive site although it having been built up so much in our minds, there are elements that don’t quite reach expectations.  For example, there is less of the famous Incan stonework than I’d thought, it is smaller than I’d imagined (although still a big enough site) and as per usual, there are no explanatory signs around the place.  I have long concluded that the lack of signs is a deliberate ploy to provide work for the guides who plague the place.  Nothing inherently wrong with that I guess, provided the guides are up to scratch and give you all the relevant information.

Anyway, we wander the site for about 3 hours and are pretty exhausted at the end of that time, with lots of photos.

We queue for bus back down to Aguas Calientes, wait for the train to Ollantaytambo, and are on our way.

On arrival into Ollantaytambo, there are hordes of transport options back to Cusco.  We decide to take a private taxi for 50 soles.  Good price, nice enough car, nice driver.

Back in Cuzco at the hotel, I now have earplugs, just in case!  We’re back in the fancy room upstairs with the view.  And the disco noise…