We flew into Cusco from Lima the night before we went to Machu Picchu. We had booked a 2-day tour with Guru Explorers and they were fantastic — very, very highly recommended! Several weeks before the trip to Peru, we face-timed with our representative, Omar (omar@guruexplorers.com). He was super nice and helpful and told us exactly what to expect. He told us where we would meet drivers, what we would need to bring, and just generally answered all of our questions. When our trip suddenly changed and we had to move it up two weeks, Omar rearranged everything with only a day’s notice. In spite of all the changes, the tour went off without a hitch.
We were greeted at the Cusco airport by a driver holding a card with our name on it. He drove us to our hotel for 2 nights, Del Pilar in Ollantaytambo. (It took us a few days to be able to say Ollantaytambo — Oy-yan-tay-tambo.) The drive to Ollantaytambo was spectacular and it was our first real look at the stunning Andes. Oh. So. Beautiful!!! There’s just no way simple little cell phone pictures could ever do it justice.
Our first Alpaca sighting at the hotel — so fun!
These are the views from our tiny little hotel room balcony.
We arrived at the hotel with only about 30 minutes until sundown, so we took a short walk on the country road. The hotel is out in the middle of farm fields. The train to Machu Picchu runs along the road, although you have to backtrack into Ollantaytambo to get to the train station. While we were walking, the train, returning tourists from Machu Picchu, went by so we were pretty excited for our trip the next day. Just as it was getting dark, we went back to the hotel, had a very nice dinner, and then played pool and chess in the game room until bedtime.
The next morning, we had an early breakfast, after which, the hotel van took us on the 20-minute drive to the train station. We had received our train tickets via e-mail and were instructed to meet our tour guide when we got off of the train at Aguas Calientes (the closest little town to Machu Picchu.)
Because of Covid, requirements were to wear two masks plus a face shield. Face shields were readily available at the train station for about $.75 each. In fact, as we got out of our van, we were practically mobbed by people selling them. It was fun though and there were little stalls where you could buy trinkets, hats, drinks, etc. along the path to the train station.
I LOVE train rides and this one is so cool. There are windows along the roof of the train cars so that you can see the tops of the mountains as you make your way along the valley to Machu Picchu. Among all the farm fields and occasional ancient terraces, we noticed a group of hikers with sherpas hiking along the trail (sadly they whizzed by the window before I could get a picture.) Oh to have enough time to actually trek to Machu Picchu!
After about 90 minutes, we arrived at Aguas Calientes and somehow in the mob of people waiting for the train, we managed to find our tour guide. We had a private tour for just the two of us which was great. We left the train station, and walked on a bridge across the river, to a little street where the buses were lined up to go to Machu Picchu. The buses start running to Machu Picchu at 6 a.m. and I’ve seen info on the internet where people start lining up at 4 a.m. to get tickets. Luckily, we didn’t have to do any of that because our tour was a little later; the crowds are much smaller now because of Covid (the silver lining); and our tour guide took care of all the ticket details so we didn’t have to worry about anything.
The 20-minute bus ride to Machu Pichu was beautiful. We drove up a steep set of switch-backs to get to the “top”.
Once off the bus, the tour guide took us through the gates and we climbed up some paths to, as she said, “get the classic shot”. Oh. My. How Beautiful and Amazing!!! There are just no words to describe this amazing sight — at least no words that would come close to being adequate.
After we took a few pictures and admired the beauty from the highest point that we would visit, we hiked down to the ruins. It was so nice to have a tour guide who knew where to take us and who could tell us about the ruins as we came to each part.
There are a few llamas on the grounds of Machu Picchu and it was fun to walk up to them.
The picture below was our final view just before we boarded the bus. We were so lucky with the weather. It was cool and overcast the whole time we were there and just as we boarded the bus, it started pouring. So, we avoided the disaster of having forgotten to bring rain gear. ;-D
We arrived back in Aguas Calientes around 2:00 p.m. and found the restaurant where our tour had arranged lunch for us. After lunch, we had time to wander around the town for about an hour before we needed to be back on the train.
I thought the signs on this restaurant were so funny. Along with Mexican Food, etc., you can get “tipical food. Whatever that is!
Our train left Aguas Calientes around 4:30 and it was dark by the time we got back to Ollantaytambo. It was crowded at the train station and we wondered how we’d ever find our driver, but we just kept walking and eventually, there he was. We had another nice dinner at the hotel, followed by several games of chess. What an Amazing Day!