Sunday, November 17, 2013

Machu Picchu on a low budget

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! 


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