I had already spent half a year in Peru and I
still hadn't visited the most famous ruins in the world even that they are
located so close where I live. Therefore, I and another teacher Sabrina decided
finally to make a visit there.
One reason why I hadn't visited Machu Picchu
before was the ridiculously high prices for all the foreigners. That’s why I
and Sabrina wanted to do the trip as cheap as possible. We started by taking a
local bus to another town and of course this bus was full of people and we had
to stand in the crowd for couple of hours. After that we had to find a lift yet
to another town and again for budget reasons we ended up travelling in the back
of a car boot! Oh that was a bumpy ride!
Luckily after half an hour we were at the point
where our hike to the actual Machu Picchu town, Aguas Calientes, could start.
The road was next to the train tracks and for our luck it started to rain but
we were still excited about the whole trip so it didn't matter. Just before the
sunset we finally got to the town and we found a cheap hostel and could relax
for the night.
That evening we got an invitation from a local
chef to eat in his restaurant and that meal was definitely the best meal I had
had for months! Three course meal and drinks on top for free was a perfect
reward from the whole day! After the meal we ended up to a local bar with our
new friends and that was a fun night!
However, the next morning we had to wake up
already at five to be early at Machu Picchu and climbing up hundreds of stairs
with a hangover wasn't the easiest thing to do… But being so excited about
seeing the ruins it didn't matter! Machu Picchu was amazing and everything what
I was expecting it to be! We spent the whole day there wondering around ruins
and discovering sights. It was a perfect day until we decided to go back to the
town…
As soon as we got back to the town it started to rain really heavily. The electricity went off and we couldn't get any cash out from the cash machines. We didn't have enough cash to travel back home that night and we were stuck in the town! After couple of hours the rain stopped and the electricity came back but it was too late to hike and take the bus back so we had to pay the expensive touristic train back home. But that point we were just so tired from the whole trip so one and a half hour train trip on a luxury train was perfect choice to get back home. What an adventure!
