On our third and final day in Peru we rise very early to catch our 5:30 train to Machu Picchu.
There are 3 ways to get to Machu Picchu; via a four-hour bus and train service from Cusco or by
getting off and trekking for two days on the Sacred Path, or four days on the Inca trail.
Some say the only true way to get here is to sling a rucksack on your back and follow in the footsteps of the Incas.
This way you are making a true pilgrimage of sweat and struggle, and it's all worth it when you cast your eyes on
this mystical site. It is said that when the early morning sun rises over the jagged peaks it methodically
illuminates the ruins, row by row, and leaves the visitor as awestruck as ever. However, due to lack of time we must
make the trip by train. The 110 km train journey is spectacular. It zigzags through the lush valleys hugging the
Rio Urubamba and offers postcard views of local life and the snow-capped Andes in the distance.
Aguas Calientes is a tiny tourist trade town where weary backpackers rest up and celebrate their
treks along the Inca trail. From the train station it is only a short walk through the town to the bus.
The buses wind their way up the mountain performing exaggerated switchbacks for 15 mins before
dropping their passengers at the entrance to the ruins.
This is Wilhelm and Hella, dear friends from Germany we met on our guided bus tours in Cusco.
The Urabamba gorge from the entrance to the ruins
The Incas hid Machu Picchu so high in the clouds that the empire-raiding Spaniards never
found it. Invisible from the Urabamba Valley below it lay dormant for more than 4 centuries nestled
under thick jungle and known only to a handful of local peasants. It was not until 1911 that Hiram Bingham,
a Yale historian, heard rumors of Inca ruins and persuaded a local farmer to take him there. Machu Picchu
was a stunning archaeological find. Never looted by the Spanish, it has been remarkably well preserved.
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