Aguas Calientes & Machu Picchu Day 2

We checked out of our hostel and did some admin things in the morning at the hostel. We had planned to go to the hot springs, but on second thought decided to go after Machu Picchu so we also could shower after inevitably getting sweaty.

The price for the shuttle bus to and from Machu Picchu is extortionate, $24 round trip! It's less than 10km for the journey! But it's uphill so people don't want to walk. My legs felt worse than yesterday. My calves were crazy tight and walking, nevermind stairs (especially down) were not a fun time. However, I wasn't willing to pay all that money for the bus. Going upstairs was easier than going down, so I confused the bus ticket woman when I asked for a bus ticket to go down explaining I was going to walk up. She still gave me a ticket for going up, but assured me it would still work to go down (it fucking better).

We found a cheap place nearby our hostel that did a burger and fries deal, so we had some lunch and then it was time to get ready for the climb up the stairs to Machu Picchu for round 2. The first 1.5 kilometers was fine, because it was flat out of Aguas Calientes, but then it was time for the 2 kilometers of stairs. Slow and steady up we went, I was definitely going too slow for Allan's liking, but I was exhausted! I could also hear thunder in the distance though and didn't want to risk getting caught in a storm on those stairs, so I powered through as best I could.

Once at the top, we checked in for Circuit 2. This circuit brings you along the outside of the main section of middle buildings. We saw the guardhouse, with its still intact roof, as well as the main entrance to the citadel that perfectly frames Huyana Picchu. Continuing our walk, we saw a quarry of large stones unused as well as some buildings with replicated roofs. We got some good views of the terraces and the 3 window temple which looks so different from all the other buildings. We didn't learn as much about the buildings we saw today because we didn't have a guide, but we did see an elderly Chinese woman chasing a llama to try and pet it.

After we finished the circuit, I joined the line to get the bus down, while Allan began his run down the stairs. By the time I was walking up the stairs to our hostel, he was walking up behind me, sweaty and warm from running down the stairs in the same amount of time it took me to get the bus. I was definitely holding him back on the Inca Trail.

We quickly organized ourselves and made our way up into town towards the thermal baths. It was starting to get dark now, and it was a bit wet up near the baths so we (me) had to be careful not to slip. After we changed, we got the lay of the land. There were about 5 different warm baths of varying temperatures (labelled) and one cold bath. I'm sure it surprises nobody to learn the cold bath was empty. The first couple of baths we tried were not very warm, but we chose them because they weren't as busy. We ended up heading toward the busiest pool because it was the warmest, but not hot. It still felt nice to relax in the water though.

After a quick shower and getting changed, we headed back to the place we had lunch for their cheap pizzas. Allan ran to get the bags while I ordered. Luckily the place wasn't busy, so the food came quick. We ate and then efficiently made our way to the train station to get our train and bus back to Cusco. It was a small one car train, but it was comfortable enough. I also didn't have to imagine the scenery because we had seen it already during the Inca Trail. After about an hour and a half we disembarked the train at Ollantaytambo and made our way to the bus. It wasn't really clear where to go for the bus but a woman was there with a sign to help direct. When Allan went to the bathroom, I expected the woman to wait, but she left! I was trying to go slow enough that Allan could see me when he came out and that I could still see the woman going towards the bus. We caught up once Allan was out, but we were at the back of the line and this expected the worst seats on the bus. A fortunate turn of events saw the big bus fill up, so us and 3 other people boarded a small van to make the drive back. This meant we got back faster which was great because I wasn't feeling well.

We Ubered back to Hatun Quilla, our previous hostel before the Inca Trail, and went straight to bed.Leggi altro