Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu : one of the seven wonders of the world. Personally I'll put it on the first place, between all the places I visited in the past. 

To get to Machu Picchu there are many ways, all of them very expensive. The entrance to the ruins is very expensive as well. To hike the Inca trail, the 4 days trek between Inca ruins, you need to book some months in advance, so I was thinking to hike on the Salkantay trek: this is an alternative trek that reach 4600m. It's a beautiful trek, but still quite expensive (of course, the word "expensive" is relative to peruvian prices) . So, I just decided to get to Machu Picchu by myself. This means taking 3 collettivos (from Cusco to Santa Maria, from Santa Maria to Santa Teresa and from Santa Teresa to Hydroelectrica), then walking about 2 hours to Aguas Calientes. The morning after, at 4:30 am, I started my hike from Agua Calientes to arrive to Machu Picchu at 6:00am. Most of the people took a bus, but this hike was really beautiful, even if it was quite hard (rock stairs till the top). From this path you have no view on the ruins, but as soon as you arrive you are completely immersed in a new world. The first view of the ruins was very particular : everything was surrounded by clouds. I took few pictures and then I walked directly to the entrance Wayna Picchu : the famous mountain next to the ruins. To hike to the top of this mountain you need to book in advance. Only two groups of 200 people each are allowed to enter everyday : one at 7am and one at 10am. I got a ticket to enter at 7am. Also this hike is quite hard, stairs all the way up. We walked more than 1 hour to get to the top and to see the beautiful landscape on the ruins... But no, no landscape... When I got to the top, we were completely surrounded by clouds and the only thing we saw was a white blanket. Disappointed , I started to get down while suddenly a little hole between the clouds showed us the city. Just wonderful. Then I hiked to Huchuypicchu, a lower mountain, and from there the view was absolutely awesome. The clouds disappeared and they left place for the Inca's ruins. At this point I believed that the time to visit the city arrived, so I just got down the mountain and walked between the ruins. I noticed a sign that indicated the way to get to Intipunku, the Sun gate. I proceeded in that direction and I walk and walk. I thought it was very near, but I got there after one hour walking (again lot of stairs), but it was completely worth it. After resting there for a while admiring the view on all the city and the mountains, I started another walk to visit the Inca bridge. Even if I got to Machu Picchu at 6:00am, I started the proper visit to the ruins only in the afternoon. This was good, because at that time, all the groups of tourist already left. The  greatest advantage to visit Machu Picchu by yourself is that you can remain till the closure, while guided groups leave at midday. About Machu Picchu I'll not talk more, the pictures will talk by themselves... 

After the visit of the site I was happy but exhausted and I still had to walk down to Aguas Calientes. Fortunately I booked for another night in the village and only the day after I walked back to Hydroelectrica. On my way back to Hydroelectrica I met 4 beautiful dogs that followed me for the 2 hours walk. I wanted to take them all with me, but I couldn't... I took 3 collettivos and I went back to Cusco. Just the time to take my backpack from the hostel and I was already on my way to Arequipa... 

Hike between Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu 

Machu Picchu 

Wayna Picchu 

Intipunku - The Sun Gate 

The Inca Bridge