MACHU PICCHU Y AGUAS CALIENTES
- Joelle McDonald
- Jul 16, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 1
It is an early wake up call on the morning we get to see Machu Picchu. Our entrance time is 6:30 AM, and we have to take one of the countless busses that shuttles visitors to and from Machu Picchu, via the postage stamp of concrete where visitors can enter the archeological site. Our group divides into two: the early bookers who have tickets for Circuit 2, and the late bookers (us and a couple) who have tickets for Circuits 1 and 3. In a wise move for crowd control, there are about four one-way paths that wind through Machu Picchu, which you cannot leave and must have a specific ticket to enter. We meet our guide for the late-bookers, leaving our hiking guide with the early-bookers.
First Impressions of Machu Picchu
The bus ride is switch back after switch back. We are driving from Aguas Calientes, at the bottom of the valley, straight to the top of Machu Picchu's mountain. When we arrive, there are no crowds, and we easily make our way in with our guide. It is chilly as the sun hasn't peeked up over the mountains yet. Our first view of Machu Picchu is breathtaking. Having seen the typical pictures of Machu Picchu (always the same angle with bright green grass), I thought I knew exactly what we would be seeing. The real place is a hundred times more incredible than the pictures plastered around the world. It is hard to describe the feeling of standing there, grasping its magnitude and imagining what it must have been like decades ago. It feels as if we are standing on the tip of a toothpick driven straight into the earth. There is nothing on any side to soften the drop, and yet improbably, an entire wonder of the world rests here. Other narrow, steep mountains rise sharply from the valley floor around us, clouds weaving between them, but none close enough to lessen the sensation of standing on the edge of something extraordinary. Eventually as we walk around, the sun peaks up from behind one of the nearby mountains, casting all of the stones in soft light and bathing us the first warmth we have felt all day.
Tour Info Dump
Our tour had a fair bit of information, and I certainly didn't retain all of it. Here are some interesting facts that stuck with me long after our visit:
Machu Picchu is falling apart. As you walk around, you can see cracked stones over doorways, walls where large gaps are splitting perfectly laid stone, and crumbling walls being braced to hold them in place. This is apparently because the tectonic plates Machu Picchu rests upon are shifting and destabilizing it. It's estimated that sometime in the next 1 to 8 decades the site will be closed to walk through tours and allow only panoramic viewing. All that to say, if your lifetime dream is to walk through Machu Picchu, get on it!
Machu Picchu was not a city. It was more of a spiritual retreat for the Incan Emperor when he wanted to leave Cusco. About 750 people could live here, many of whom would have been servants or priests.
Though Machu Picchu is known for its iconic terraces, it could only grow enough food for about 50 of its 750 people. Food was imported from other areas of the Incan Empire along the Inca Trail to feed the people of Machu Picchu.
A small herd of llamas live on the grounds of Machu Picchu. We didn't see them up close, but the early-bookers did.
There are three main types of structures at Machu Picchu: agricultural, residential, and spiritual. The quality of construction goes from lowest to highest in the same order. Spiritual spaces can be clearly identified by their perfectly aligned stones.
Machu Picchu is thought to have been built around 1420 and inhabited for about 100 years. Why it was abandoned is somewhat mysterious, but there are theories that its people left to protect it during the Spanish conquest. The Spanish tended to destroy whatever they found, so leaving Machu Picchu behind meant it would be concealed by the jungle.
Eventually, Machu Picchu was "rediscovered" around 1912 by Yale professor Hiram Bingham. People who lived close by knew of its existence. He did not rediscover it first or alone, but he was the one who brought international attention to the site, thus gaining the credit. He is not well liked among Peruvians (I asked).
Queen Elizabeth II came to visit Machu Picchu by helicopter, landing on a grassy field in the site.
Aguas Calientes
After we soaked in the impressive beauty of Machu Picchu, we descended back down the mountain by bus to return to Aguas Calientes. There are stairs you can take from the Urubamba Valley floor to the top and vice versa, but after 50 miles of hiking, the knees said no. Aguas Calientes itself was a very interesting place. It is bustling, with a river cutting through it, train tracks carrying people in and out, and a steady stream of carts moving goods through the streets. There is no doubt that it is focused on tourism as the obligatory pass-through point for anyone visiting Machu Picchu. There are pricey restaurants, cafes with French pastries, and alien-themed hotels offering massages. Even still, during the night we spent there, locals were celebrating the Festival of the Virgen del Carmen, the Virgin of the town. Late into the night, young locals played in a marching band, parading through the streets while dancing, shouting, and lighting fireworks. Even in one of the most tourist laden small towns in the world, locals loudly and proudly celebrated in their culture. It was a joy and privilege to see (and to put in my earplugs at bedtime).
We ended our time with The Screaming Condors (see Salkatay Trek blog for context) with a celebratory dinner where everyone got completion certificates, and we cheers-ed to our past five days together. We went in as strangers, silently sizing up whether we might be the group’s weak link, and came out having crossed a huge bucket-list item off together, thanks entirely to our support for and patience with one another. No group got off easy. Everyone had their days as rockstars and as the caboose, but most importantly, everyone contributed to the magic of our experience and effort together.
If you chose to hike the Salkantay Trek and go with the incredible company we did, I'll say that we loved having George as our guide. He was generous with his patience as our group constantly fell apart. He got everyone through it at their own ability level and kept spirits high, even when we were so slow we risked missing lunch altogether.
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