This weekend was an absolute dream. I went on a weekend tour of Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. Bright and early on Saturday morning I hopped on a tour bus along with a bunch of other people from Maximo Nivel and we started our bus tour of the Sacred Valley.
We stopped at the ruins of Pisac and Ollantaytambo, where our tour guide explained a lot of Inca history (such as how they believe the Inca constructed many of their towns and building with shocking precision).
After exploring the ruins, we hopped on a train leading into the town of Aguas Calientes, the main site for people to stay and rest before or after going to Machu Picchu. It’s a very touristy town and when a large amount of our group went out to dinner that night we actually had a problem with the staff trying to charge us a non-existent 30% service tax that we had to spend an hour arguing to get removed (we won).
The next morning, the group that I traveled with all met at 4:00 am to wait in line for the buses that would take us up the mountain. By the time we got up to Machu Picchu it was around 6:00 am but we made it in time to watch the sunrise. It didn’t even feel real.
After exploring the ruins and learning a lot about the history of Machu Picchu, its “discovery,” and its restoration in the present, I am extremely grateful for the chance to have seen and walked around this wonder of the world. Especially because our tour guide told us that in the near future there are plans to greatly reduce access to the ruins to avoid erosion and damage from all of the human foot-traffic.
After visiting the ruins and seeing everything up close and personal, it is not hard to understand why this is one of the seven-wonders of the world, nor is it difficult to understand why it is on the bucket lists of so many people. No picture that I took can do Machu Picchu justice.
This trip has truly been the experience of a lifetime for me so far, I highly recommend Peru to anyone with an adventurous spirit and open mind. Every single day I spend in Peru comes with more stories and memories that I can tell and hang onto for the rest of my life.
