Wonders of the World at Machu Picchu

We arrived into Pisac in the afternoon from a collectivo in Cusco, paying just 12 Soles each. The Hostel we chose to stay in was called Antiques Homestay, a rather fitting hostel to Pisac's vibe that we would later discover. It is a cheap stay for a couple of bunk beds, but it is ran by some super chill volunteers - a little more chill than we were expecting. The place is well kept enough, especially for the price.

The hostel just is not super inviting to stay and relax, mainly because of how cold it is. Stepping outside the hostel you instantly feel the warmth of the Sacred Valley's dry season sun. We explored the small town and some of its many markets and found that the 'hippy' vibe of our hostel matched that of the entire town. We relaxed in the Plaza Constitución de Pisac and did some people watching whilst soaking up some sun.

Keen to get an early night in we found a great family run Mexican restaurant literally called Tacos & Burritos - Carlos Restaurant. You can honestly enjoy a great meal for anywhere between 20-30 Soles ($8 AUD). It was the perfect hearty delicious meal to finish off a travel day.

We had heard about the amazing hike of the Parque Archaeologico de Pisac from some of the fellow travellers in our hostel. Before our hike though we were in need of a good feed, and in typical South America style the markets produced a great breakfast for an incredible value! We got a huge oat pancake and a vegetable omelette for just 20 soles at La Canelita. We thought we would grab a egg and avocado sandwich from there too for our hike - but even by the end of our hike six hours later we weren't hungry, we just ate the sandwich for the sake of it.

We arrived at the archaeological site at about 12:30pm unaware of the steep incline we were about to partake in. The kind administration lady warned us that it was two hours up and two hours back. I was naïve in thinking she was just over-exaggerating to help us think we were making a faster track upon ascending. But, she really wasn't. It ended up taking us over three hours to get to the final ruins.

But my word, these ruins are spectacular! The hike was incredibly worth it. You get to go through some smaller ruins on the way, and see beautiful sites of the entire town of Pisac from the tops of the highest peaks. These are the types of places you see in life that logically just don't make sense. Maybe, taking a guide would be worth it - but you don't need one to respect how incredible the ruins are.

We rushed our way to the bottom in the end, taking just 45 minutes. And, enjoyed another night of Tacos and Burritos.

To save as much money as possible - or so we thought - we had organised our train to Machu Picchu from Ollantaytambo rather than Cusco. We later found out that if you are really interested in saving money, then don't take the train at all - IT IS EXPENSIVE.

Ollantaytambo is a beautiful small sacred valley town, and we would highly recommend staying at Hostel Ollantaytambo Apartments for a relatively cheap and great value stay. The rooms are super comfortable, they are fitted with great bathrooms and hot showers, there's kitchen facilities, and if you are lucky enough you can get a view of the stunning Sitio Archaeological de Ollantaytambo - saves you having to trek it I think.

We wandered down to Mercado de Abastos to grab some snacks and sandwich material in preparation for our day at Machu Picchu the following day. We essentially sorted out a day's worth of food for under 20 soles ($8 AUD). And, after preparing our bags and food we explored the PLaza de Armas de Ollantaytambo and found a local restaurant called El Gran Palacio serving Menu del dia for just 9 soles ($3.50 AUD). We loved the soup they served and the Pollo a la Plancha; delicious and great portions!

One of the very few early wake ups necessary on our travels so far, but it was pretty easy getting up knowing we were seeing one of the wonders of the world! Our train from Ollantaytambo was at 6:40am, and the hostel was only a 10 minute walk to the train station entrance - lots of coffee and breakfast spots open early if you need a coffee to get you going. If I'm completely honest, if you're solo travelling or couple travelling I would not recommend the train. Even as luxurious as it is, you are essentially paying a ridiculous train fee to sleep for an hour and a half. Call me cynical, but I think walking the Hidroelectrica track would be much more fulfilling. The views aren't even that spectacular taking the train, you can have better views driving through the sacred valley.

We arrived into Aguas Calientes about 8:20 and walked with some pace to join the ginormous line of people waiting to catch the bus to get to Machu Picchu. Luckily, the buses are so regular that you fly through the line pretty quickly. I would recommend booking the bus tickets online though to save yourself having to buy them in town (https://comprar.caminoalamaravilla.com/ - link to buy them for $12USD one way or $23 return).

When we booked Machu Picchu about 6 weeks prior we could only get tickets for the Circuit 1A (Machu Picchu Mountain and Panoramic Views). As we discovered when arriving in Cusco a week earlier it is possible to get other Circuit's (2A and 2B being the most popular to be in the ruins) in Aguas Calientes. It just requires you to line up for potentially a day or two because there is no guarantee's that they have openings.

Nonetheless, Circuit 1A is incredible. We had to rush to the Machu Picchu Mountain entrance quickly because it closes at 10am. We started the 4 hour trek around 9:45am, and honestly we could recommend this circuit more highly! The views you get of Machu Picchu are unbelievable. It is one of the more challenging hikes we had made, but just so worth it. There are some nervy moments having to climb stairs on the edges of some cliffs, but there's no rush from others to climb at speed. Despite the entrance feeling like there is heaps of people, they manage the numbers seeing this wonder very well so there isn't any feeling of overcrowding.

There are endless spots for great photos, and no amount of pressure for you to be quick with your photos. We rested at one of the panoramic views for an hour jumping up every now and then to grab some shots, but mainly to enjoy some snacks and the sunshine.

All up we were at the park from 9am to 3pm and then hiked down to Aguas Calientes instead of catching the bus to save some cash. We of course found another Menu del dia for just 13 soles in the Mercado Aguas Calientes. Our train wasn't leaving till 9:30pm so we relaxed in the Plaza Manco Capac for a couple of hours people watching and meeting some locals. We ended up arriving back in Ollantaytambo after 11pm, well and truly ready to fall asleep damn near straight away.