Agua Caliente
- May 11
- 2 min read
When I pictured myself pulling into Agua Caliente, I imagined coming in on the Hiram Bingham train after a miraculous culinary experience, I didn't get that but i made it none-the-less. I took a bus from Cusco, that switched to the train in Ollantaytambo before finally arriving in Machu Picchu Pueblo.
I arrived in the dark in what seemed like a sea of people. The train station exists into a craft market that is the central hub of the city. My phone had long died so I was wandering around aimlessly until I went into a hotel and finally asked for directions. The town isn't that big, however it pays to know where your going.
My hotel was along the river and along some train tracks near the center of the city. After checking in, I went nearby for dinner. I had a Peruvian chicken soup with a chicha morada.
I spent most of the day traveling so that was going to be it fo me.
The next day, I woke up pretty early, as I had the 7:00 AM entrance to Machu Picchu. You can't just enter the ancient citadel, tickets are purchased in advance, at a specific time frame and is saved with your passport information so there is some order to it. I got to the bus station and took the ride up the hill to the entrance.
There are options to tickets but I took the one that afforded me the opportunity to see the most areas of the citadel. I started my way up to circuit 1 and did the entire route to circuit 4. Circuit 5 added about two hours more of climbing and with the altitude, it might not be the best idea for some.
Once inside, there is no time limit on how long you can stay so soak up the moment, pictures and opportunites that come up on the stay. Having a guide more than pays for itself as you are able to get an idea of what your looking at. Guides are recommended to be secured prior to booking but they are a plethora of options at the gate when you enter.
After seeing the citadel, I took the bus back down to the city. The city looks so different during the day and a great place to walk around to see it. Its an amazing little city, nestled between nature that packs a big punch. Lunch was the local favorite of Lomo saltado.
Not long after, the adventure was over as I had to return to Cusco. The return seemed shorter than the trip to the city but considering I was asleep, that would do it. The entire trip was purchased on Peru Rail and since there are a million Machu Picchu how to blogs, i'll save you by not writing a million and one but feel free to reach out if you need ideas!
Editors Note: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any parties mentioned. None of the entities mentioned has reviewed, approved or endorsed the content listed in this post.
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