Getting to Machu Picchu

If only I'd had my laptop with me the day we made the journey to Machu Picchu. My head was full of advice received from other travellers and blogs alike, and as the day unfolded, it all turned out to be pretty useless. I wanted to get on the blog straightaway and set the record straight. But it has had to wait until now.

The recent rain hasn't helped with the confusion as to what you do to make it to the most popular site in South America. But the train is up and running, and although not from Cusco, you can still take a two hour bus ride and catch it at Piscacucho. It will then take you straight to Aguas Calientes, for a hefty sum of course.

But what I want to talk about is the backpackers' route. The route where you inevitably end up busting a gut all in the name of saving a few pennies. Not the 'Inca Trail' - which I'm sure is good in its own way, but sharing a path with 1600 other people at any one time didn't appeal to me - I'm talking about the way to get there from Cusco, in a day, using whatever transport you can find.

Firstly there are buses that leave Terminal Santiago in Cusco at around 7am destined for a town called Santa Maria. That caused us no problem. The bus is slow of course and can take anything from 5 to 7 hours to do this leg of the journey. It will set you back 15 Soles. Not bad.

Once at Santa Maria you're in the hands of taxi drivers, for now at least. Your next destination is Santa Teresa, and buses do not go there. Instead you have to do your best to get a good price from the taxi driver. Ours wanted 10 Soles. He then drove like it was a stage in the RAC Rally. Colin McRae would have been proud of this lad. The price for getting a corner wrong though was not a possible collision with a tree trunk or spectator. That would at least give you a chance for survival. No, the price would be considerably higher. Most of the 'stage' was set high on a small shelf of the mountain with drops that must have been at least 500 meters, if not more. There's no coming back from a wrong turn there. But I had faith in our pilot. We needed a co-pilot, but you can't have everything!

So, after our hour and a half long dice with death, we arrived in Santa Teresa. The driver offered to take us further and after a brief discussion with the Spaniard and the French couple sharing the front seat (there had also been various passengers in the boot of this estate car along the way) we agreed to be taken further. Ten or fifteen minutes down the road, we came to a small gathering by the roadside: some other taxi drivers and some people selling food. Here was the end of the road. The driver asked for 15 Soles (seemingly forgetting the 10 we had agreed on) and as he had technically taken us a bit further, we all paid and he pointed out the next leg of our journey.

This next leg is something else altogether. You have to cross the river, the great white rushing waters of the Urubamba river, and the only way to do it is by zip-wire. This is something that you've just got to do. You can't turn around now, although surely there must be people who do. Attached to the zip-wire is a tray, kind of like an oversize tool box tray. You can fit two people on it at a time and once in, you're pushed out across the wide expanse, hoping that the pulleys will hold and that they've tied the other end well! As long as you're not too scared, it's actually an amazing experience.

Once on the other side, you climb down the bank and make your way towards Aguas Calientes. Well, actually you have to reach the Hidroelectrica first. They say you can't go wrong, it's a straight path. But it's not and you can go wrong. After about forty minutes of walking you need to take a left turn as you approach the big waterfall. There is a small red arrow painted on a rock, but it is easily missed. From there you walk through some kind of industrial site you feel you shouldn't be on and it was here that we stumbled upon a check point - the first sign that we were on the right path.

And then comes the railway tracks. The much-talked-about walk along the railway tracks to get to Aguas Calientes. We could have hung about for an hour and taken the train that leaves at 16.50. But in the spirit of building up a sweat and keeping the costs down, we set off walking the gradual incline along side the train tracks. In fact we really attacked this section of the journey, under the illusion that we'd be able to beat the train there. Of course, we didn't, but after two hours of determined striding, the light faded and I had to use the light from my camera LCD screen to see us through a couple of dark tunnels.

We arrived in Agua Calliente at 18.10 and had covered the ten kilometer walk along the train tracks in a shade over two hours. Not bad, but we were really going for it.

So, a quick re-cap;
07.00 - leave from Terminal Santiago on a bus to Santa Maria (15 Soles)
13.30 - arrive in Santa Maria and take a taxi straight to Zip wire crossing (15 Soles)
15.00 - arrive at zip wire and walk to Hidroelectrica
16.00 - arrive at Hidroelectrica and walk to Aguas Calientes
18.10 - arrive at Aguas Calientes and go in search of a shower and a beer.

Note, there was no stopping for lunch (I got a cheese sandwich from a lady at the zip-wire. The chicken sandwiches were to be avoided!) in this and no waiting for transport. The journey can be done in a day, but there isn't much room for any delays.

It was an enthralling day all in all, and I loved it. We could see the effects of the recent rains and the patched up railway line and the shored up river banks.  It wasn't the absolute breeze we'd been led to believe, but the scenery was spectacular and the unexpected twists and turns and the general wondering if we were on the right road made it a decent adventure - I just felt I should share it!