We spent two nights in Aquas Calientes, the town at the base of the mountain on which Machu Picchu is built, and here’s some views – it’s a tiny town full of tourists and buses taking people up to Machu Picchu, but it’s quite nice and had lots of interesting sculptures (even the trash bins are cute!) as well as good food choices …
Today another winding bus trip took us back to Machu Picchu, with many more people – but this time we got INSIDE on “circuit 3” close to the construction and able to really see the quality of stonework that Machu Picchu is famous for. When we arrived the views were quite heavily cloud covered but during our visit it cleared – the clouds do add some nice moodiness to the photos!
From our hotel in Urubamba (after a “blessing”) we coached to Ollantaytambo then took the train to Aquas Calientes which is the town immediately below Machu Picchu – the train isn’t quick but does offer some great views (including a snow-capped mountain!):
From the train station we switched to a bus that took us up a VERY winding road to reach Machu Picchu, along with hundreds of other people! Unexpectedly Margaret and I got split from the rest of the group and sent on “circuit 1” which is a high overview requiring us to climb many steps (hard work in the high altitude) … we did get some good overviews though:
M&I / GBMINI 