Travel: Aguas Calientes & Machu Picchu

We were now on our way and getting closer to reaching Machu Picchu! We took the Vistadome train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes (small town at the base of Machu Picchu). It takes about an hour and a half by train and my are the views beautiful! We spent the night in Aguas Calientes as we wanted to get to Machu Picchu for sunrise. If you take the train from Cusco straight to Aguas Calientes you will not be able to get to Machu Picchu very early and will be smack in the middle of the crowds (that's just how the trains are scheduled).

So with the sun rising we took the half an hour bus to the ruins looking left and right as we meandered through the tight corners to see if we could spot any little bit of Machu Picchu. We hopped out and started exploring! They give you a map as it is massive and off we went to tackle the Sun Gate, Temple of the Three Windows, Temple of Sun and of course Wayna Picchu (also known as Huayna Picchu).

I would highly recommend climbing Huayna Picchu, only 400 people get to climb this mountain per day and it is done in 2 groups. We opted for the second group which starts at 10AM. This mountain is just under 9000 ft and guess what we made it to the top! It was such an accomplishment and really was worth it in the end. The great thing about the climb was we had a few people who were coming down and saying keep going it is so worth it when you get there. On the other hand some people looked like they wanted to die of exhaustion. All in all I recommend doing it! (unless you are super afraid of heights)

Tips:

1. Buy your Machu Picchu ticket online {especially if you want to climb Huayna Picchu also as only 400 people are permitted to climb this mountain per day}

2. Buy your bus ticket to Machu Picchu the day before you visit the ruins.

3. You must bring your passport with you to Machu Picchu to enter.

4. Bring a rain jacket as the weather is very off and on. It goes from sunny to rainy throughout the day!

5. Bring lunch and water as there is only a small cafe outside the grounds of Machu Picchu.

6. Wear good sneakers, especially if you are hiking Huayna Picchu.

7. Try to stop and really take in the entire experience. Put down the camera for a bit! 

You have to experience it for yourself.