Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley

Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley near Cusco, which was the heart of the Incan Empire, is said to be the archeological capital of the Americas. We knew the area was going to be interesting and very beautiful, but, from the start, it was challenging to find a way to see what we wanted to without straining our wallets.

The ruins at Moray, which are very remote but offer a great view.

Because Machu Picchu (MP) and the ruins in the Sacred Valley are so hard to get to, the most popular way to get to Machu Picchu is by an extremely expensive train, which is about $130 per person for a short ride. This is on top of the $57 ticket to get into MP, and none of this includes the inflated accommodation and food prices, getting to the other ruins, and the entrance fees for the four other sites we were visiting. After all is said and done, visiting the heart of the Incan empire was going to be very expensive, but we had a couple tricks up our sleeves.

Me climbing on the steps at Moray.

Of course, we could have just booked with a tour company and had them shuttle us around and take care of everything, which is what most people choose to do. We heard from other travelers and online forums that there is a back-way to get to MP that is cheaper, but much more convoluted and more time-consuming. We decided to go for it, and headed off for our first set of ruins near the small town of Pisac.

Pisac ruins in the side of the mountain.

Chinchero ruins, with some impressive terracing.

We decided to really try and experience the culture on this trip so we ate at the markets where the locals eat. This is not only AWESOME food, but it's also cheaper than at restaraunts. After arriving in Pisac by public bus, we began the steep hike up to the ruins near the town. They offered great views of the surrounding countryside and were very intact considering where they were built. They even carved out a tunnel that is about 50 feet long out of solid rock (without metal tools)!

Ollantaytambo...a mouthful to say. These were a huge set of ruins in the side of mountain.

After a quick night in Pisac, we had a long day ahead of us the next day. We visited 3 different sites. The first, Chinchero, was a couple hours away by bus and was mostly large terracing and a few buildings. Chinchero didn't take long and we were off to the remote site of Moray. These were very cool ruins and consisted of a terracing down into a bowl shaped valley. We hiked to the bottom and back up in only 40 minutes, since the taxi driver said that's all he wanted to wait. The last ruins of the day were Ollantaytambo in the town with the same name. This is also where the Incan Trail starts and where many people take the train straight to MP. We found a hostel and set off to the ruins which were just on the edge of town set into a hill. These were by far the most extensive ruins we had visiting thus far and our favorite of the 4 in the Sacred Valley. The stonework was just incredible!

After a night in Ollantaytambo, we departed on our journey to MP by bus. We had to travel about 3-4 hours to a small town on the other side of MP, then took a taxi to another small town on a road similar to the "Death Road" in Bolivia, then another taxi to a hydroelectric dam, and then hiked 2.5 hours to the town of Aguas Calientes that everyone stays at before seeing MP. It was definitely complicated, but it offered tons of views that the train doesn't. We grabbed another hostel and got to bed early in preparation for hiking up to MP at 4 am (instead of the taking the bus...).

We woke up to a downpour and quickly gave in to a one-way bus ride to the top of MP. It rained almost the entire way to the top and even on the climb up Wayna Picchu, which is the nearby mountain with ruins that offers great views back to MP. Only 400 people per day are allowed to climb Wayna Picchu because of the erosion caused by the traffic. Some experts say a catastrophic landslide could occur at any time and devastate the ruins on the mountain. It is an incredibly steep climb, and the rain only made it that much harder. It's surprising more people don't get hurt climbing it. After getting some decent pictures between the clouds and fog, we descended Wayna and began exploring MP.

The fog and rain made it difficult to get good pictures of MP from Wayna Picchu.

MP was only a town of about 600 people, so it was nothing compared to the city of Cusco, but it is so intact, it really gives a sense of how the Incans lived and survived in that extreme terrain. All the stonework is so perfect that it has lasted through some devastating earthquakes that modern some construction has succumbed to. It is not all that different from modern cities, though. There were industrial, residential, and spiritual areas. The guard tower at the highest point gave them the best view of any attackers from the valleys below.

Erin living it up with Wayna Picchu in the background.

We are near the astronomical observatory with the residential area in the background.

It's hard to imagine what Hiram Bingham, who "discovered" MP, felt when he stumbled on this.

After 6 hours at MP (6 am - noon), we were tired, but still had the hour and a half hike down the mountain to Aguas Calientes. Afterwards, we decided we were still fresh enough to make the hike back along the railroad tracks to the small town of Santa Teresa, where there were better hot springs than at Aguas Calientes. We hiked to the springs the next morning only to find they were cleaning them over the next several hours. We didn't have time to wait around since we had to get all the way back to Cusco that day. One disadvantage of taking public transport is that it is time consuming since you have wait on other passengers, but we did the reverse route and were back in Cusco by late afternoon.

The view along the tracks heading away from MP.

We knew taking the back way to MP was going to be an adventure, and we would definitely not do it any other way. The people there are extremely friendly and there were plenty of other backpackers doing the same route we were. My blood pressure was a bit high on the ride out to MP through the mountains because our driver, who I nicknamed Mario after Mario Andretti, was driving the minivan like an Indycar. I learned my lesson on the way back and just tried (not successfully) to sleep through the mountains. Apart from this, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu were incredible. It was hard not feeling like we were paying more than we should in some places, because we are tourists, but helping the local economy preserve this amazing place is something that put us at ease.

(Written March 13th)