Cusco Region People & Culture

Without climbing onto Wayna Picchu... it is not the same! It’s the big mountain behind the Machu Picchu complex that gives the character to the whole archaeological site. Although the access is a little bit difficult, the view that you have from the top of the mountain is incredible and it’s worth the effort to climb it. It is a place that you won’t want to miss and will make an unforgettable memory of the citadel for you. After entering the Machu Pichu Citadel you will have to climb for a very narrow and steep path, it will take you 60 minutes to 1 ½ hour to complete it and you will arrive to a place where you will see and amazing landscape of Machu Picchu. You have to enter the Wayna Picchu before 2 pm, and leave it before 4 pm.
Only 300 people per day are allowed to climb on it. So if for example at 10 am 300 people went trough they close the entry!

There are loads of places to stay and there are just as many people standing around the bus station trying to get you to commit to one. It's great to look but don't let anyone hop in a cab with you to take you to the hotel. You will find that all the cheap rooms they promised you are "full" and they only have expensive ones left. Also you've just wasted a cab trip and have the hotel rep still there pestering you. Go hostel!

Do absolutely nothing for at least 2 days to acclimate to the high altitude in Cusco, especially before going on any treks, including those to Machu Pichu. When booking day tours, be sure to clarify with the local agencies exactly what their tours entail. Often times the "city tours" require hiking and climbing to higher elevations and are not tours of Cusco city but rather the surrounding Inca city ruins. So, if you are already not feeling well, don't book these tours until you are ready. Coca candy, lots of water, rest and advil seemed to help my fellow travelers and I. Some people don't get sick at all, while others feel horrible for a few days.

Cuzco - the ancient capital of the INCA empire - is a very nice city and the place of start for some amazing turistic tours. When you arrive by airplane, the local people offer you a coca tea (this is tea made with cocaine leaves!), to give you energy and help you to deal with the altitude: 3,416 m (11,207 ft). There you can find lots of beautiful handcrafts.  From this city you go to Machu Picchu (Find a tourist guide). I can't say anything but "you must go there"... After the train, go walking for 2 or 4 days, what a pleasure to arrive and see this spectacular ruins of the Lost City of the Incas...!

If you haven't bought your tickets for the bus to Machu Picchu, make sure you wake up early if you want to check out Waina Pichu which only allows 200 people per day to hike it. Plan to be in line for the bus at 4:45am at least, if you have more than 2 people split yourselves off, 1 group buys the tickets for the bus and the other group waits in line for the bus. Believe me the lines will be long, long before 5:00am.**Make sure the person buying the tickets has everyones passports or ID's for purchasing the bus tickets to Machu Picchu, tickets cost $5.50 one way...TRUST ME you don't want to walk it.

From Cuzco to the Machupichu, do not take the train from Cuzco. Take a local bus Cuzco - Pisac - Urubamba -Ollantaytambo then the train to Agua Caliente In Picas you have the Sacred Valley (nice small trek) In Urubamba you have a a nive view on the valley and the salt culture.

The city of Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incan Empire, was placed on the World Cultural Heritage List by UNESCO in 1983, and is without a doubt one of the most important destinations in Peru. There are Incan buildings waiting for you to discover them among its cobble-stoned streets, ones like the Koricancha and the palace of Inca Roca as well as Andean Baroque structures from the Colonial Period like the Cathedral and the Church of the Company of Christ. In addition, you can visit the picturesque neighborhood of San Blas where the best artisans in the department have set up their workshops. This magical city also has an exciting nightlife with cafes, restaurants, and bars for all tastes. Just ten minutes away from the city, there are the massive walls of the Sacsayhuamán fortress, and a few kilometers from there, you find the archeological sites of Qenko, Pukapukara, and Tambomachay, Incan buildings constructed completely with stone.

A nice alternative or addition to the Machu Picchu is the Lares Valley Trek. Although the Inca Trail is nice, Lares will offer more culture. Enjoy a peaceful trek into remote and rarely visited areas of the Lares Valley with the spectacular backdrop of the Urubamba Mountains in the background. Visit with locals in their brightly colored clothing, llama shepherds and weavers. Definitely for trekker who want to get off the beaten path.

great atmosphere, cultural town, many excursions

My husband and I did the 4 day Inca Trail hike to Machu Pichu. We used Chaska Tours. We truly believe the hike was an even better experience than seeing the majestic Machu Pichu. The whole experience (hike and Machu Pichu) was a great marriage of appreciating the sacred valley, being a traveler rather than a tourist, and seeing the whole community that is more vast than just Machu Pichu.
The trails were nothing like horror stories we were told of from years passed. The new restrictions and codes put on the trail have helped to keep it cleaner and less crowded. Rarely did we run into a crowd and we went during a peak time.
The trail is quite hard. You are going either straight up or down most of the time with a few interspersed flat areas. The hike takes you through dry, higher altitudes and lower cloud forests. You see beautiful glaciers off in the distance and valleys that are incomparable. Many ruins are placed near the trail for discovering. You learn a lot about the placement of ruins and purposes of them by traveling up to Machu Pichu in a similar fashion to the way Incas traveled there.
Chaska tours we highly recommend. They coordinated our entire trip. Our guide, Hubert, was INCREDIBLY knowledgeable. He has studied the culture, masonry, horticulture, all of it and amazed us with his thoroughness. (Even knew all of the latin names of the orchids, ferns, and mosses).
Taking a train to Machu Pichu seems like the worse way to experience it now that we have done the hike.
Also, don't waste any time in Aguas Calientes. The city is a dump and lacks authenticity.

Stay calm the first day, let your body get used to the altitude (specially if you live in a place close to the sea level), if you are really prone to feel sick try to get an oxygen tank. If you are doing some hiking and feeling a bit dizzy, you will likely find some muña in the wilderness (ask a guide or a local for it) rub it with your hands and take a big whiff and it shall easy the sickness.

There are lost of different hikes that can be done from here (in addition to the Inca Trail leading to Machu Picchu).

Nice place, magic atmosphere, good nightlife and a lot of sightseeing (Inca), horsriding, rafting, hiking, mountainbiking, ....

Don't book ahead of time unless you are on an extreme time contstraint! Unless you are going on just a one week fly in and fly out vacation, don't book your Machu Picchu tour ahead of time, it will cost you twice as much money. Typically it is not hard to get on a trip within a week or two and if you book it while in Cusco you can get a room for under $10 a night ($3 a night if you like to travel like me) and get on a 4 day hike for under $300 ($160 if you are as good a bargainer as my friends and I are). If you book from outside of the country you could find yourself paying as much as $1000 for a hotel/hike deal. There are lots of day trips you can take out of cusco once you have booked your trip if you need to waste time for a week or so. Go to Puno and visit Lake Titicaca or go to Nazca to see the drawings on the earth.

Do absolutely nothing for at least 2 days to acclimate to the high altitude in Cusco, especially before going on any treks, including those to Machu Pichu. When booking day tours, be sure to clarify with the local agencies exactly what their tours entail. Often times the "city tours" require hiking and climbing to higher elevations and are not tours of Cusco city but rather the surrounding Inca city ruins. So, if you are already not feeling well, don't book these tours until you are ready. Coca candy, lots of water, rest and advil seemed to help my fellow travelers and I. Some people don't get sick at all, while others feel horrible for a few days.

If you take the train in, stay in the town of Aguas Calientes the night before you plan to go to Machu Picchu. By staying in the town, you can get to the entrance first and snap some photos of the site without other tourists in your photos!

Machu Picchu for less than $80 dollars.
Going to South America? Or travelling Peru? No trip is complete without a visit to the lost city of the Inca's, Machu Picchu. But what if you're backpacking and trying to live on less than a minimum a day? The train from Cusco to Machu Picchu can cost up to $130 for a return (which is a big chunk out of your budget) and that doesn't even include things like accommodation, food or other transport. But as always, there's a way around (literally this time). I have to admit, it takes a bit longer but that doesn't mean a day wasted. It takes you over mountain roads and through lush green valleys, you'll pass scenic villages and sandy lost towns, you'll encounter some landslides and very steep cliffs. Even that would be worth the trip.

First, take an (early) bus to Ollantaytambo, 1.5 hours. Here you'll find the best remaining example of the planning of an Inca town. A little walk outside the town will bring you to ruins, a nice first stop. From the main square you'll need to catch the (big red) bus to Santa Maria. This ride takes about 3,5 hours and brings you up to about 4000 meters and then back down into the heat. During rain season (oct-apr) there are many landslides on the road. It's safe to drive there, though it might take a little longer because the men on the bus need to jump off to take away the rocks. In Santa Maria you haggle over a taxi that takes you through Santa Teresa, all the way up to the Hydroelectrica. This shouldn't cost more than 3-5 dollar. The road follows the river and goes along some really steep cliffs, don't sit at the window if you suffer from vertigo. You'll be dropped off at the Hydroelectrica, which is, apart from being a hydroelectrica, the train station at the end of the train track. The part from Aguas Calientes to Hydroelectrica wasn't in use for a couple of years but is used again. Here you can choose whether you want to take the train or walk along the train tracks. If you decide to walk, be careful and listen if you can hear the train coming. You'll hear it from quite a distance though. Don't forget to bring a flashlight since you'll have to go through a tunnel. It will take about 4 hours to walk, the train will get you there in about 30 minutes and costs $8. Either way, you'll end up in Aguas Calientes where you spend the night. It's best to buy your entrance ticket that day in Aguas Calientes to skip the queue at Machu Picchu ($20/$40 student/adult). There's two ways of getting to the archaeological site, by bus or by foot. The walk is quite tough, all uphill for about an hour. I would say, save your energy and take the bus so you can climb Huayna Picchu, the mountain towering over the lost city. The bus costs $7 and takes 40 minutes.
Then, enjoy!
For the way back, you can take exactly the same way. Unfortunately the train to Hydroelectrica only leaves at 7.00 and 12.00 am. This would mean a short visit to Machu Picchu if you want to climb the mountain as well. Though the site opens at 6.00 am so you should be able to catch the 12.00 am train (allow 2 hours for the mountain). Otherwise you can stay an extra day or take the train directly to Cusco or Ollantaytambo. If you're in the train to the Hydroelectrica, try to find some tour guides that go back to Cusco. They'll take you for about $15.
Adding up all the costs will leave you spending:
1. Cusco - Ollantaytambo: $4
2. Ollantaytambo - Santa Maria: $5
3. Santa Maria - Hydroelectrica: $4
4. Train to Aguas Calientes (x2): $16
5. Hydroelectrica - Cusco : $15
6. Bus to Machu Picchu : $14
7. Accommodation: $6
8. Food: $15
Total: $79
You can skip numbers 4 and 6, saving you another 30 dollars.

Welcome to Machu Picchu poor backpackers!

Try to get an accommodation in San Blas. For headaches, try Mate de Coca, helps a lot!

Without climbing onto Wayna Picchu... it is not the same! It’s the big mountain behind the Machu Picchu complex that gives the character to the whole archaeological site. Although the access is a little bit difficult, the view that you have from the top of the mountain is incredible and it’s worth the effort to climb it. It is a place that you won’t want to miss and will make an unforgettable memory of the citadel for you. After entering the Machu Pichu Citadel you will have to climb for a very narrow and steep path, it will take you 60 minutes to 1 ½ hour to complete it and you will arrive to a place where you will see and amazing landscape of Machu Picchu. You have to enter the Wayna Picchu before 2 pm, and leave it before 4 pm.
Only 300 people per day are allowed to climb on it. So if for example at 10 am 300 people went trough they close the entry!

If you plan to stay 2/3 days in Cusco don't miss the restaurant INKANATO you'll have a super idea of ancient  Inca cooking meals and ambiance !