The evening we arrived in Machu Picchu by train, we were told that we would have to get up at 3am in order to catch the very first bus up to Machu Picchu, in an attempt to get there before it was full of people and possibly while the sun rose. Se after only a few hours of sleep in proper beds, we gathered at 3am in the lobby of the hotel. Outside, however, it was pouring – a thick, strong, tropical rain. Our tour guides decided that we’d not go now, for we would have had to wait outside for about two hours, but rather try again at 5:30. Instead of going back to sleep, most of us stayed awake, killing the time by reading, looking at photos and playing card games. At 5:30, although it was still raining (but not as strong) we lined up. It took about one and a half hours until we were able to board the bus.

I personally dislike Machu Picchu town. Just like the Niagara falls between Canada and the US, it is much, much too consumerist for me to feel well – it is 100% directed at tourists, in a very direct and obvious way. Even the name of the town was changed a few years back; it used to be known as “Aguas Calientes”, hot springs, but was renamed to Machu Picchu pueblo, “Machu Picchu town”.

What I liked about it, though, was that it was in a narrow valley of the rainforest. During our bus ride up to Machu Picchu, which was uncomfortably humid, we had a nice view on the rainforest surrounding us.

Machu Picchu itself is pretty big and you need quite a while to explore it. Exploring the Incan town is further complicated by the masses of people that are there. But anyway, here are a couple photos of it.

The weather was not perfect, actually it was raining and Machu Picchu was shrouded in clouds most of the time, but the sight was nonetheless quite amazing. And honestly – what did we expect from a cloud forest?

And here are a couple more photos of the Incan ruins themselves:

And of course I also used the one opportunity at which the clouds cleared a little and all of Machu Picchu was visible at once. Here you go.

We left Machu Picchu at around noon. The line of people waiting for the bus was insane, it stretched back at least half a kilometer and we had to wait for maybe one and a half hours to get on a bus that took us back down into the valley. A few friends and I spent the afternoon in a cafe / restaurant at the main square, before we had a collective (hiking) group dinner, and finally boarded the train back to Ollyantaytambo at 7:30. Although I was ridiculously tired, I didn’t sleep on the train; I didn’t want to miss the train ride. From Ollyantaytambo, a bus picked us up and brought us all the way to Cusco. I fell asleep quite soon, but briefly woke up right at the moment we passed by our former residence in Urubamba.