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Machu Picchu


A miracle to the world

General info about the Machu Picchu


The Machu picchu is probably the reason why you want to visit Peru in the first place. Of course Peru has many more amazing sites to see, but this is the most famous one. It's located at a height of around 2400 metres and used to be an Inca village. In 2007 it was voted to become one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Me and my mom visited it in two days. We had several reasons for this. First of all, they warned us online that the weather can be bad sometimes. This is not comfortable when you want to stay all day at the Machu Picchu (which is all outside) and the view will not be as amazing as with nice weather. When you buy your entrance for two days, you have a bigger chance of having nice weather. Secondly, the toilet is outside of the Machu Picchu. Once you leave, you cannot go inside again. This means that if you really have to go, your visit to the Machu Picchu has come to an end. Thirdly, normally you can only walk the path through the Machu Picchu in one direction. If you have a ticket for one of the extra mountains at for example 7 a.m., you have to hurry your way through the Machu Picchu to get there in time and you can't visit this path again. The entrance to these mountains are at the end of the tour, so you skip the biggest part of the Machu Picchu. This would all be a shame and that is why me and my mom bought two tickets. The first day at a reasonable time, to slowly visit everything in the Machu Picchu. The second day very early, to walk directly to the mountain and start our climb there. It's nice being so early (6 a.m.), because you're the first onces there. It's very quiet and you've got the mountain all to yourself. We even saw the sun coming up. I'll tell you a little bit more about how our days went.


Machu Picchu

Day One


We took it very easy the first day. We only had to be at the entrance at 11 a.m. We had a nice breakfast in Aguas Calientes and we went towards the Machu Picchu around 9 a.m. They say it takes about 2 hours from your hostel to the top of the mountain and I believe that was about right for us. First you walk back to were you came from last night when you arrived. You probably saw the start of the climb on your way to Aguas Calientes. The climb up takes about 1,5 hours. It's quite a climb, but the path is clear. It are stairs most of the time, so easy to climb on. Sometimes you cross the road where the buses drive. You can also take the bus which is not that expensive, but the rows are very long.

Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu

When we arrived at the top, we had some time left. They are very strict about your starting time! 10:59 wasn't late enough. We could only enter after 11 a.m. Don't forget to take some food and water with you! You can buy it there as well, but it costs more money of course. When you have a big backpack, you have to leave it in a locker. A small one, you can take inside the Machu Picchu. They say you cannot bring food, but they don't check. A lot of people do bring food and when you want to stay there all day, that's a good plan. As long as you don't leave anything behind! The Machu Picchu is an amazing place and it doens't need garbage! When we arrived we took like one million pictures haha. First we went to the Sun Gate and secondly we went to the Inca Bridge. Both of these take some time, so when we really went to the village inside the Machu Picchu it was allready 3 p.m. We very slowly saw every angle of the Machu Picchu and we loved it! There were llama's and alpaca's wondering around as well and we took some selfies with them. Don't be scared, because there used to tourists. The houses look amazing and the view from the top of the mountain tells you why it was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was one of the most amazing things I have seen in my life. Around 5 p.m. we went back, stamped our passport and started the way down. This took us only 30 minutes and was way faster than going up (logic). We were starving, so quickly went back to Aguas Calientes to eat something. You would think that it's expensive, because of the massive tourism. This is not the case at all! The food was just as cheap as in the rest of Peru. It was an amazing first day!

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Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu

Day Two


The second day we went up and down with the bus. There are a lot of buses, but be there on time! Because the row is not a joke! You can buy the tickets in Aguas Calientes. The only reason we did this is because my companyon had a bad knee and climbing up twice would have been too much. So if you want to save money, just walk. It's an amazing climb and I really liked it. The second day we had tickets for the Huayna Picchu (Wayna Pikchu). This is very limited, so if you want to do this, be on time with buying your ticket! You can just buy it online. Our entrance to the Machu Picchu was at 6 a.m. and to the Huayna Picchu at 7 a.m. This means that you have one hour to walk in the village before going to the end of the route. That's where the Huayna Picchu starts. It takes about one hour to get to the top and one hour to get back down. Pay attention, these are very high and dangerous stairs. If you are afraid of heights, don't do it! My mom, who is afraid of heights, had a lot of difficulties at the top. You have to climb over big rocks, with nowhere to hold and no stairs available. Apparently a german died there last year. For me, it was amazing. I love the height and the adrenaline. So it depends what you like... if this is something for you. The view of the Machu Picchu from the Huayna Picchu was not very nice. It was too far away to really see any details. The climb I loved. So if you like a little bit of adventure, you should try this. If not, it's not worth the money and the time in my opninion. I wouldn't do it a second time.

After this, we left the Machu Picchu with the bus (we bought a retourticket) and we walked back to Hidroelectrica.