Aguas Calientes, also known as Machu Picchu Pueblo, is the closest village to the ruins of Machu Picchu. Every day, this small village nestled in the valley welcomes thousands of tourists, who come here with one goal: to conquer Machu Picchu.

Part 1: Travel Diary Part
2: Practical Tips

Part 1: Travel Diary

Ollantaytambo

Today is the big day, we must be in Aguas Calientes to visit Machu Picchu the next day.
We decide to leave with only one backpack, leaving the other to our hostal in Cusco.

We have to be at the Ollantaytambo train station at 12 o’clock, but as we travel by colectivo, we add a little margin and are already at 8 o’clock at the Pavitos street. At our arrival, we see only 3 cars, including a minivan. We still haven’t said anything that the driver of the minivan calls us: “Ollantaytambo…”. Yes! Are you going to the station? Yes! At what time do we leave? (the minivan is empty, we don’t want to wait here until it fills up). He explains us that he leaves in 5 minutes to pick up 9 other people in the city center. OK, we go up in the minivan after having negotiated the prices from 15 soles to 10 soles/person (it is the good price, we should not take us for pigeons either). We don’t give him immediately the money, so if he doesn’t leave in the 5 minutes as planned, we’ll change colectivo.

The 9 other people are late, so after much irritation on the phone, our driver finally manages to gather them all in his minivan at 8:45 am.

It is starting to rain. Beautiful landscapes pass in front of our eyes, we saw them yesterday while doing the “Sacred Valley” tour (I’ll talk about it in another article) but it’s always a pleasure to see them again.

We arrive at the train station at 10:30 am. After having spotted the entrance of the station, we move away from it to return to the ruins that we visited the day before. Normally, our ticket isn’t valid any more because the box “Ollantaytambo” was punched yesterday, but the controller closes his eyes and lets us enter anyway.

The visit of the almost empty ruins does not have the same effect as the crowded visit we had yesterday. We will not climb the 200 steps like yesterday, preferring to explore the fountains that we did not have time to visit.

If you take the train like us, try to come early to Ollantaytambo to visit its ruins.
In the morning there aren’t many people and the town itself is very pretty.

There are even undomesticated llamas in the area, but they don’t like forced selfies.

We have 45 minutes to eat and let us know at the restaurant. Finally, the cook will take 30 minutes to cook and we only have 15 minutes to eat. He makes us a price on the meal (20 soles for everything!! too nice!) and apologizes flatly for the delay. Today, his wife is sick and cannot cook with him. Knowing that, we leave him a small tip even if the meal was super disappointing.

The train

When we see just a small wagon in front of us (cream color), we tell ourselves that it’s not possible, it must just be the locomotive. But no, there is only one wagon!

This big blue train of PeruRail is just a local train, it isn’t the train for Machu Picchu.

We will see the trains of PeruRail pass in the other direction, the same, they have only between 2 and 3 cars 🙂 From the little I saw, our IncaRail train has not much to envy to PeruRail, despite the cheaper price. The only reproach that JB can make them is the lack of space for the legs and the uncomfortable seat for the big ones. But hey, for 1h30 of trip, we aren’t going to cry.

As you can see, the windows are super large, there are some windows on the ceiling too, allowing us to be amazed at the many peaks rising on the sides. I think this is the first time we are in a valley where the mountains stand like columns, we have to look up to the sky to see the peaks. We have never experienced this before in other countries.

A snack and a drink (hot or cold) are included in the ticket and are served to us during the trip. Beautiful landscapes pass by, we discover very pretty ruins hidden in the jungle. I think that we can visit some of them, but only by making the way the Incas (4 days 3 nights).

As we approach Aguas Calientes, we come face to face with ruins of breathtaking beauty set against the slopes of a mountain, with a very large waterfall as a backdrop. The whole is enchanting! It looks like Rivendell, of the Lords of the rings.

I don’t know if the option Rafting is possible but we just follow/descend the river in fact, it would have been fun to say to ourselves that we went to Machu Picchu in rafting.

Aguas Calientes

It is raining ropes, the river crossing Aguas Calientes seems to be very angry

Some people complain because when you leave the station, you inevitably fall on the tourist market. But as we know exactly where is our hotel, we could follow Google Maps and leave quite quickly this maze. I also advise you to invent a fictitious destination, in order to get out of the market without damaging your wallet.

Our hotel (Booking link) is located next to one of the bridges that decorate this pretty little town. The receptionist is so used to receive tourists that she manages to explain, with a very understandable Spanish, where to buy the bus tickets to Machu Picchu as well as the locations of ATM and the local market. We ask her if it rained like this these last days. The answer is negative, “just today”. We cross our fingers so that the rain stops for our visit of tomorrow.

The local market is appreciable when the prices in town are multiplied by 1.5 or 2 vs. Cusco (which is already very touristy). Bottled water costs 9 soles instead of 5 soles, and the tourist menus aren’t very attractive. We will find the local market without too many worries, and will pay 5 soles for a bottle of water (the right price). On the 1st floor is a local food court, at 8 soles the menu (vs. 25 soles in town). There are only Peruvians. I opt for a hearty plate at 12 soles: montado steak, composed of rice, french fries, a huge piece of beef, egg, salads and bananas. Luckily the dogs were there to help me otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to finish my plate. JB opts for a steak frito, 6 soles.

Next to me, an American woman is having her meal. She seems very confident with her fluent Spanish. At the time of payment, a tense discussion takes place: she blames the saleswoman for telling her that the menu cost 5 soles instead of 8, and that if she had asked the price at the beginning, it was because she only had 5 soles. The saleswoman answers that 8 soles is the price of the menu. 5 soles is the price of the dish. In the end, the American left paying only 5 soles, leaving the saleswoman confused.

We are also super shocked by the conversation, especially since it is absolutely impossible for anyone to leave Aguas Calientes without money (at some point you had to pay a colectivo). She was lying for sure, she had Peruvian money on her. We are all the more shocked as the stakes were 3 soles (0.8€) and the price of the menu was already 3 times cheaper than in a restaurant for tourists, and she could see that she had been served 2 plates. Frankly, if the American had a more humble tone and not haughty as she had, I would have taken out 3 soles and paid for her. If all this was happening in a restaurant in Vietnam, the American couldn’t have left like that with impunity.

Peruvians are really too nice!

We buy our bus tickets for Machu Picchu (just the outward journey because we aren’t sure we want to go back by bus), 40 soles/person (12$). As everywhere, each time we buy a tourist ticket, we have to take out our passport. We see people getting off the bus (return from Machu Picchu) and die of envy to ask them the question “So? How was it?” but when we see them with their rain poncho and their tired mine, we say to ourselves that it is perhaps not the good moment nor the good question.

JB too happy to have his bus tickets

On Instagram, we see people posing in front of Machu Picchu today with their rain poncho. We can read in the comments “how much did you pay for your poncho?” ahaha! Definitely, the high prices in Aguas Calientes seem to frighten more than one.

• Read also our Machu Picchu travel diary here
• How to go to Machu Picchu by train + bus
• And the 10 things to know before visiting Machu Picchu here

Part 2: Practical Tips

Budget

• Lodging :
  
  
  • Cusi Qoyllor, 24€/night double room with private bathroom (link Booking)
  • You can find cheaper here, for 8€/night/person in dormitory. We have reserved 2 nights to make the most of the ruins
  
  
• Food (local market rates, 1st floor) :
  
  
  • 8 soles the menu (soup + main course)
  • Main course more consistent: 12 soles
  • Normal main course: 6 soles
  • Water bottle: 5 soles for 2.5L
  • Fruit juices: 7 soles for 1L
  
  
• The budgets of transport for Machu Pichu as well as the entrance ticket have been detailed here

Practical advice

• Contrary to popular belief, Aguas Calientes can be very economical as a spot. Ask upon arrival where the local market (Mercado de Abastos) is located, go to the second floor for lunch and dinner. The market closes at 19:30. On the first floor, you will find water and cereal bars at low prices for your day in Machu Picchu.
• If you don’t have any anti-insects yet, this is your last chance to get some, don’t forget that Machu Picchu is in the jungle.
• If you are numerous, don’t travel by colectivo to Cusco-Ollantaytambo, ask your hotel to book a minivan for you, it’s the same price.