When you meet someone you don’t REALLY know if you are compatible for a long time. Although Michael and I seemed to like the same things it wasn’t until he shared with me that a dream of his was to go to Macchu Picchu that I realized just how aligned we were. That had been my dream for many years too. So the planning began in earnest and before we knew it we were on our way to Cusco, Peru.
*** Warning for some the altitude may provide a light dose of altitude sickness as the city is 11,155 ft above sea level. My suggestions is to spend a few days in Cusco first before heading to Macchu Picchu even though it is slightly lower in altitude. It is all the walking you will do that will get you if anything does so give yourself time to adjust.
Cusco is the former capital of the Inca Empire and the combination of Inca and Spanish Colonial architecture that can be found here is amazing.. It is also the jump off place for visiting Machu Picchu and Andes mountains that surround the city. It is a beautiful small city with multiple museums and it has the charm of an old days gone by village. Now on to Machu Picchu.
The first thing you need to know is that Machu Picchu is a very well organized destination due to the shear number of visitors per year This means that you usually must book your trip to the ancient city months in advance. In addition, when you are booking you will have to provide your passport number in order to get a ticket. Further, you will have to determine what circuit you want to be on when you visit. There are three circuits each with different routes that flow visitors through the site. Circuit 1 pretty much by-passes the city taking guests around the outside for great panoramic views of the area. Circuit 2 is the most comprehensive route which takes visitors throughout the city and to the large temples that can be found throughout the area. Circuit 3 offers the Royal buildings. When you are booking you will have to book a circuit. We chose number 2 and are glad we did because there was so much to see and very different vistas and vantage points.
Most people use day-trip type travel companies to get to Machu Picchu. Usually, there is a a van/bus trip from Cusco to Pachar where you board the train that gets you to Machu Picchu City. The train ride takes about two hours and there are two different types of train experiences…one cheap and basic and the other with dining cars with crisp white linen table clothes. Needless to say, I took the cheap version.
The train slowly climbs up through the hills and the views are spectacular. It’s a wonderful way to get a unique perspective of this part of Peru and the Andes Mountains that follow you along the way.
We finally arrived at MP City and had several hours to kill before we would take the bus up to the archaic city itself. We had a wonderful lunch at Full House (gobbling up of the most scrumptious chocolate dessert ever), visited the local church and looked through the marketplace where vendors were selling everything alpaca…blankets, clothes, trinkets, etc. I bought the softest alpaca blanket for about twenty-five dollars and every time I use it the memories of the day come flooding back to me.
Soon the time arrived for us to climb into the bus and meet our guide at the entrance to Machu Picchu herself. Stay tuned for that installment which is arriving soon!
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