I doubt that I have ever felt more like a dumb tourist. Well, some might argue now that I am, but I usually don`t feel like one I must admit.Machu Picchu is the top tourist destination in South America and once you go there you won`t doubt it a second. Wherever you look, there are well equipped gringos with all their professional camera and outdoor gear or my so loved hippies, with all their beards and hair and odor and fancy dresses. Simply everyone goes to Machu Picchu but not everyone refuses to pay the $120 for the 4 hour train ride.
Some people like me take the cheap version. Instead of taking the direct train for 4 hours from Cuzco, I had to catch a bus to St. Maria (6hours), then transfer to St. Theresa (1hour), stay there over night, get the first taxi at 6 a.m. to Hydroeclectrica (40min) and then walk 2 hours on disused train tracks. Of course I wanted to save the $7 rip off fare for the shuttle bus to the top of Machu Picchu as well, so I had to walk or rather climb another hour to the top, where a super friendly lady (this is ironic!) took my $40 entrance fee.
Pretty exhausted from the first 10km walking that day I decided to take the bus down and was willing to pay the 7 Nuevas Soles until I was friendly reminded that the sign means Dollars, not the Peruvian currency. So I put my 10 Soles bill back in my pocket and walked the 2km track down again. Then I thought, wow man you saved so much money, just pamper yourself a bit and take the train half way back and from there the bus, so you avoid walking all the way back and save about 6hours. But when the super friendly lady at the counter of the Peru Rail (monopolies are bad, very bad!!) told me that the 1,5 hour train ride would cost me $66 (btw. for Peruvians $1) I resigned one more time, turned around and once again set foot on the disued train tracks with my super hiking boots for another 2 hours. I started calling my 20km walk that day, the longest foot massage ever, as I guess my 5mm soles are not exactly proper boots for train tracks. Anyways, I ended up paying about $60 for the 2 day trip including food and accomodation or let`s say I ended up saving $130 or so. I call that success.
Apart from all that, Machu Picchu is nice, very nice, even nicer and more spectacular set than I expected. Only tourists will eventually trample it down. Experts say, the walking paths draw back by 1cm per month...
Some people like me take the cheap version. Instead of taking the direct train for 4 hours from Cuzco, I had to catch a bus to St. Maria (6hours), then transfer to St. Theresa (1hour), stay there over night, get the first taxi at 6 a.m. to Hydroeclectrica (40min) and then walk 2 hours on disused train tracks. Of course I wanted to save the $7 rip off fare for the shuttle bus to the top of Machu Picchu as well, so I had to walk or rather climb another hour to the top, where a super friendly lady (this is ironic!) took my $40 entrance fee.
Pretty exhausted from the first 10km walking that day I decided to take the bus down and was willing to pay the 7 Nuevas Soles until I was friendly reminded that the sign means Dollars, not the Peruvian currency. So I put my 10 Soles bill back in my pocket and walked the 2km track down again. Then I thought, wow man you saved so much money, just pamper yourself a bit and take the train half way back and from there the bus, so you avoid walking all the way back and save about 6hours. But when the super friendly lady at the counter of the Peru Rail (monopolies are bad, very bad!!) told me that the 1,5 hour train ride would cost me $66 (btw. for Peruvians $1) I resigned one more time, turned around and once again set foot on the disued train tracks with my super hiking boots for another 2 hours. I started calling my 20km walk that day, the longest foot massage ever, as I guess my 5mm soles are not exactly proper boots for train tracks. Anyways, I ended up paying about $60 for the 2 day trip including food and accomodation or let`s say I ended up saving $130 or so. I call that success.
Apart from all that, Machu Picchu is nice, very nice, even nicer and more spectacular set than I expected. Only tourists will eventually trample it down. Experts say, the walking paths draw back by 1cm per month...
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