Perhaps appropriately, it is not as easy as you would think to get to Machu Picchu.  This is good for a couple of reasons – keeps crowds down (a little), brings in money to keep things nice there, and makes it feel like a real adventure when you finally make it.  We did plenty of research about getting to the site.  Turns out, it is not accessible by road alone.  You basically have three choices about how to get there and then within those choices are lots of variations.  The main methods are:  hike, take a long bus ride and a short train ride and a short bus ride, or take a shortish bus or taxi ride, medium length train ride and a short bus ride.  We went for the last option since it is generally considered the easiest and the safest.

We set off the day after we got back from the jungle and headed for a minivan taxi thing.  They leave as they fill up and take you to Ollyantaytambo, a town about half of the way to Machu Picchu where you can get the train the rest of the way.  We met a new friend in the van, a really nice guy from Helsinki, and had lunch together in Ollyantaytambo before catching the train.  As we were walking from lunch to the train I got a horrible churning in my stomach and just knew that I was getting sick.  Not convenient considering we had a 1.5 hour train ride ahead of us and were going somewhere fairly remote and not accessible by road!

Well, I survived the train ride.  The train itself was really nice, leather seats, windows in the roof so you could see the views, snack served.  And the ride was scenic.  Really beautiful in fact.

Peru Rail Train to Machu Picchu

Aguas Calientes, the town the train drops you in, pretty much only exists because of Machu Picchu and is full of tourists.  A kind lady from our hostel met us at the train station to show us where to go.  We stayed at a place called Supertramp hostel (which I thought was a very strange name until Justin pointed out that it is probably supposed to be related to hiking, not actually tramps).  We were lucky we picked this place, as you will see.

Justin in Aguas Calientes

Justin went out for dinner and drinks with our new friend, but I was feeling worse than ever.  By the time he got back I had been sick for about 12 hours and was starting to get dehydrated.  I told him to get some rest and the very kind hostel staff made me some chamomille tea.  When I couldn’t even handle that the hostel staff convinced me that I needed a doctor.  We were so lucky because the staff at the hostel spoke English and were so reassuring.  I would never have known who to call or what to do, but they made a phone call, I woke up Justin, and ten minutes later there were two medics at the hostel taking care of me!  The medic guy also spoke English and quickly got me feeling better.

Coming from the US I was really concerned about all kinds of things: cost, safety, etc.  I wasn’t in much shape to argue though and Justin made sure he knew all the details.  They had a portable setup and gave me a very effective shot to stop the nausea, some antibiotics, told me to drink lots of Gatorade, and within 15 minutes (12:30 at night at this point) I was feeling so much better and was able to fall right asleep.  And the cost of this little adventure?  US$60.  I was so relieved.  It turns out that this emergency medical company is owned by one of the friends of the guy who works in the hostel, so he knew just who to call.  The whole thing was incredibly lucky, as it could have been a real problem.

Despite my miraculous recovery we decided against getting up at 3:45 am for the first bus to the ruins.  We got the bus around 9 am instead.  I was feeling better, although a bit weak, and we were SO excited to finally see Machu Picchu!!!!

And it was SPECTACULAR!

Justin at Machu Picchu!

Looking over the ruins

Justin hiked up one of the peaks, Montaña Machu Picchu.  It was a really steep climb (around 1,000 feet), but he got some great views!  You can see the peak in the picture below, in the background.  If there’s time Justin will make another post with some of these photos!

Ruins with Montaña Machu Picchu in the background

Incan Stone Work

Three Windows

Temple of the Condor

Sun Temple

Base of the Sun Temple

There Were Lizards Everywhere

Creepy Millipede

Beautiful Ruined City

Falling Down Wall

Food and drink at the ruins were so expensive.  Although when we compared it to prices in the US it didn’t seem so bad.  But there is nowhere else in Peru where you would have to pay US$6 for a hot dog!!  We spent 5 hours or so exploring the ruins and then hiked back down to Aguas Calientes to save money instead of taking the bus.  It was a steep walk, but only took about 45 minutes and the trail was good.  We both had sore legs from all of the climbing we did!

Our train back to Ollantaytambo left at 6 pm, so we had some cool beverages and I stuck to my bland diet with white rice and had an uneventful train ride.  We spent the night in Ollantaytambo and were very happy to have a long, quiet night of sleep!  Excellent adventure!!!  There are lots more photos of our adventure here and here.