Today ranked in the top three of toughest days for physical exertion in our adventures together…the others being the one-day hike to Paliku Camp on Maui and our one-day summit of Mt Whitney. We started at 6:40 am with a train ride from our hotel, west along the Urubamba River, eventually reaching Aguas Calientes, the end of the railroad line and the jumping off point for Machu Picchu.
Vistadome
Peru knows full well the cash cow they have in Machu Picchu. Our train was $75 round trip from Urubamba to Aguas Calientes and while that seemed like a high fare, the trains and the scenery are excellent. There’s even Peruvian music that plays throughout the most scenic portion from Ollantaytambo to the destination. They served a snack and a variety of drinks that included, of course, Inca Cola and mate de coca.
Aguas Calientes
It would be fair to say that Aguas Calientes is the Lukla, Nepal of Peru. The town is full of backpackers, wanna-be hikers (in poor footwear for the task), guides looking for clients, and ubiquitous gift shops/stalls selling llama jewelry, llama scarves, llama sweaters, llama belts and llama rugs. It was a llamarama. The key to Aguas Calientes is to immediately walk downriver from the village and find the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. There are buses to the top but we chose instead to take the trail, knowing it would be hard but not realizing how much the humidity and rain forest climate would affect us. While the buses took switchbacks up the mountain, the Inca Trail went nearly straight up the mountain like an unending staircase.
Machu Picchu
It was such an achievement to arrive at the ruins of Machu Picchu that the crowd that saw us emerge from the trail realized that we had a baby with us and clapped for our efforts. For the remainder of our time at the site, one person after another would spot Catherine and say, “Que linda” or turn to their friends and say, in English, French or Spanish, “They have a baby!” While we debated taking an 8-month-old baby to Machu Picchu, there’s really no reason you can’t.
The site itself was amazing. No matter how many pictures you’ve seen, it can’t do justice to the reality of Machu Picchu. The terracing that supported both agriculture and an elaborate ‘town’ was more impressive than words can describe. The sheer size of the stones used in the temples and the way the site was built upon a ridge with enormous drops to the Urabamba River is an engineering marvel. The Incas clearly had a surplus of skills that only and advanced society can muster.
We could go on about how marvelous Machu Picchu is, but you simply have to go and see for yourself. It’s worth the flights, the trains and the hike.
Back to Urubamba
We made our way back down, faster by 3o minutes but no easier than hiking up…just a different kind of hard. We were in Aguas Calientes just in time to have pizza and a Cusqueña (beer from Cusco) before catching our train back to Urubamba. We were back in time to watch Boston clinch the World Series, in fact (and they did, in fact).
maximum adventure 
May 31, 2014 at 11:22 pm
Hi, thanks for this inspiring blog! We’re thinking of doing a very similar trip with an 8 month old in September. Did you vaccinate Catherine? (We’re also thinking of checking out some surfing near Trujillo). Was she ok with the altitude? Also inspiring to read about the red-eye bus, we were thinking domestic flying would be the only option for baby tolerance! Thanks again, Matthew
June 24, 2014 at 9:03 am
She just had her regular vaccinations. If you don’t go to the Amazon Basin, the normal vaccinations are enough. She was absolutely fine with the altitude, but we watched her for signs of dehydration or lack of appetite. She ate a little less but was good. The redeye bus was actually quite good.