Cusco

[Aurab]

I am going to be in Cuzco on November 14 and planning to visit Machu Pichu. If anybody is interested to join me going to Machu Pichu, pm me.

Aurab

[Member #3437]

First, sorry I didn’t format my reply so you can clearly see what Steve 99 wrote in 183 vs. My questions, so here goes again. Steve says:

1. Fly to Cuzco

2. Taxi to Ollyanta

3. 255 train to Aguas Calientes

4. See Machu Picchu next day

5. Train back to Ollyanta

6. Taxi again to Cuzco

7. Fly back to Lima

Here is what I'm trying to do so I don't have to fiddle around at 5 or 6 a. M.

A)fly to Cuzco stay overnight

B)get to Aguas somehow middle of the day next day

C)stay 2 nights at Aguas, visit Machu Picchu

D)go back to Cuzco in the middle of the day

E)overnight again in Cuzco

F)fly back to Lima

So what is the best way to go from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes in the middle of the day?

I also need to know how long it takes to get a train ticket mid-November plus a Machu Picchu access pass for $43 (do I have to pay all that each day? ) plus a bus pass for $12.

Sorry to drive you nuts about this, it's a very long trip from San Francisco, don't want to screw it up.

There is another similar option, and that is to take the 1 day bus tour from Lima to the ruins and have them drop you off in Ollyanta and take the 7 pm train to Aquas Caliente. Once you get to AC, there are hostels along the railway track that back up to the river rapids so all night you hear the white noise of the rapids. My hostel was Adele's for $25 bucks a night, had a seperate entrance for privacy and nice bed. Good stuff. Steve's advice to spend the entire day at Macchu Picchu is noteworthy. Get up early and take the first bus, take a tour and then climb Wayapicchu and walk the trail to the bridge, go back and sleep it off and leave the next day. All worth it. the next day I trained back to Ollyanta and had a guy waiting for me with mountain bikes and spent the day going downhill. Another worthwhile adventure that was cheap, easy to arrange in Cusco and cost me about what it would have cost to cab back. I think, like Steve says, that it is a mistake to day trip to Macchu Picchu.

[Rick Williams]

Thanks a TON steve for taking all the time to put in the details.

I'll get everything arranged and post it here next week, then after my trip mid-November I will post what actually happened LOL and we can laugh over the differences.

Thanks again

Rick

[Steve 99]

So what is the best way to go from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes in the middle of the day?

I also need to know how long it takes to get a train ticket mid-November plus a Machu Picchu access pass for $43 (do I have to pay all that each day? ) plus a bus pass for $12.

Sorry to drive you nuts about this, it's a very long trip from San Francisco, don't want to screw it up.

Ok this is simple. Well kind of.

Understand that the trains that leave from cusco all leave early. No way around that from Cusco.

So you have to go to Ollantaytamo to catch a 2:55 train to Agus Calienete.

So how far is Ollantaytamo from Cusco -- FAR. Its an hour and half ride by cab. It costs about $30 though you could probably get it cheaper.

Now getting any ticket out of peru rail is a total pain in the ass. They only do it by email and it takes them forever to get back to you. Then you would have to pick that ticket up in Cusco somewhere in the morning so you would have it for the train ride. I don't think you can pick up the ticket in Ollantaytamo.

You want to go to Sacred Valley part of the peru rail site. Get the round trip ticket from Ollantaytamo to Aguis Caliente.

The hotel you are staying in Aguis Caliente will often pick the train ticket up for you and arrange the cab. Gringo Bills did that for me for a small fee. I would recommend this highly.

Now the benefit of this is you do not have to ride the train for 4 hours. It is only an hour and a half ride. You end of paying about the same when you figure in cab costs. The cab ride is cool.

Once you are in Aguis Caliente you can buy the Machu Pichu entrance ticket and bus ticket there. No need to pre-order that.

You could bypass the whole Ollyanta thing and get your ass up early and take the trains from Cusco in that you are staying in Cusco first night.

[Rick Williams]

First, sorry I didn’t format my reply so you can clearly see what Steve 99 wrote in 183 vs. My questions, so here goes again. Steve says:

1. Fly to Cuzco

2. Taxi to Ollyanta

3. 255 train to Aguas Calientes

4. See Machu Picchu next day

5. Train back to Ollyanta

6. Taxi again to Cuzco

7. Fly back to Lima

Here is what I'm trying to do so I don't have to fiddle around at 5 or 6 a. M.

A)fly to Cuzco stay overnight

B)get to Aguas somehow middle of the day next day

C)stay 2 nights at Aguas, visit Machu Picchu

D)go back to Cuzco in the middle of the day

E)overnight again in Cuzco

F)fly back to Lima

So what is the best way to go from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes in the middle of the day?

I also need to know how long it takes to get a train ticket mid-November plus a Machu Picchu access pass for $43 (do I have to pay all that each day? ) plus a bus pass for $12.

Sorry to drive you nuts about this, it's a very long trip from San Francisco, don't want to screw it up.

[Rick Williams]

What you are going to do is stay at Aguis Calenente the first night. This is the village below Machu Pichu. I stayed at Gringo Bills which is kinda expensive at $75 USD bucks but is cool built into the mountain. So you fly into Cusco from Lima in the morning. Then you take a cab from Cusco to Ollyanta. This is the last stop on the train before it goes onto to Ague Calentes. The train you want to get is the 2:55 pm train. The cab ride is about an hour and a half but is cool scenery going through the Sacred Valley. I paid $30 USD for this ride but you can get it cheaper. Gringo Bills can set it up for you. Also you need to get your train ticket through the hotel so the cab driver will have the ticket for you.

Then you take the train back to Ollyanta and take cab into Cusco and stay the night in Cusco and get a headache from the high altitude. I stayed 2 nights in Cusco which was about right. I planned on 1 but extended it to 2.

Thanks a ton for all the info but I'm still a little bit lost. Here's what I understood:

1. Fly to cuzco, I have a ticket already

2. I'll stay one afternoon and overnight in cuzco, sounds cool.

3. Then I had figured out that I need to stay in aguas calientes to be close enough to take a short bus ride to machu picchu. I was just going to take a daytime train (not some 6 a. M. Thing) and go comfortably the next day to aguas, sleep there overnight

4. See machu picchu next day and sleep over in aguas again.

5. Go to machu again if it was foggy day before or just take the train whenever back to cuzco sleep overnight there again.

6. Fly back to Lima

So where and why does ollyanta come into this?

What is the simplest and shortest way to get from cuzco to aguas calientes and back again?

I'm not in a hurry, just want it real simple.

Thanks a ton guys

[Psychman]

Can anyone give me a good monger freindly hotel, that is on the inexpensive side (say, 30bucks or under).

Any updates on MPs?

[Member #3437]

apparently the women in Cusco are free...just buy them a drink,dance with them and an hour later tell them you are going and ask them along.


ps...don´t tell anyone.

[Doc Bill]

You got it Polvo!

[Polvo]

...Go ahead, bust my balls, I should have listened to you.......I´d spend a couple of more days in Cuzco so I could relax a bit and take a slower pace.....Besides, I wanted to do it the wrong way as a personal sacrifice to this forum, to set an example and help others on the board who might have been considering doing it my way too, so that those who come after me can learn from my mistakes and not make them themselves.

Arequipa is also recommended but time is your enemy on this!! If you sink 5 days in Cusco, 7 days in Lima, 5 days in Iquitos - you can see the issue!!

Doc:
There are some who would say, "why make mistakes when you were carefully guided". Me, I'll accept a beer from you next week!! LOL

Suerte!

Polvo

[Steve 99]

Hey Steve - Thanks for the detailed report. My question - I have heard that you need reservations and tickets in advance to visit Machu Pichu. You report sounds like you can just folow your advice and do it "spur of the moment". Do you need advance reservations for the visit? Thanks.

YES!! The train is where you need reservations. I highly recommend wherever you stay to have your hotel get the train tickets. You pay a surcharge but it is small.

If you go my route and stay at Aguis Calente first night you need to have the hotel get your train ticket and arrange your taxi. That way when you get off the plaine the cab is there to take you to Ollyanta and also has the train ticket.

You cannot wing it with the train. They are full from what I saw. Now if it was off season maybe yes but I wouldn't risk it.

[Doc Bill]

Hey Steve,

Go ahead, bust my balls, I should have listened to you. I just had already had the hotel reserved and I thought, wrongly, that how big a deal can the train ride be? And as I said I had things planned too tightly and with early morning rises so I wasn´t into experimenting at night with some of the places you suggested. If I had it to do over again, and I will, I´d spend a couple of more days in Cuzco so I could relax a bit and take a slower pace.

Besides, I wanted to do it the wrong way as a personal sacrifice to this forum, to set an example and help others on the board who might have been considering doing it my way too, so that those who come after me can learn from my mistakes and not make them themselves.

[Clodbuster]

I will run down my attack on Machu Pichu for you guys. This may help some of you plan this part of a Peru trip. I got this plan from the loveme site that hooks up guys with chicas for big bucks. True love yea right.
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Hey Steve - Thanks for the detailed report. My question - I have heard that you need reservations and tickets in advance to visit Machu Pichu. You report sounds like you can just folow your advice and do it "spur of the moment". Do you need advance reservations for the visit? Thanks.

[Steve 99]

Hey Doc:

Not to bust you balls.

But did you read my post below???? I laid it all out for you. Oh well... Maybe you didn't read it in time.

I barely got my chica into my hotel. They do look down on it. I had to pay extra for her. There are a lot of chicas for the taking in the strip clubs.

And I can feel your pain on the train ride. I was only on it an hour and a half each way and that was PLENTY...

[Doc Bill]

But not really. This is a very conservative town. I toured the central plaza numerous times at night and the few times I saw a girl alone that I thought might be working she wouldn´t look at me. And I may not be Robert Redford but I ain´t ugly! I went to Mama Africas, some girls in there, but again no looks, it was as if I was invisible. I´m 50 and most people there were much younger, so that may have had something to do with it. Nice club, though, and great music.

I got some other options from you guys, which I appreciate, but I wasn´t willing to do the work for it. I had a whirlwind schedule and between that and the altitude I was in no mood to go out seriously exploring at night. Plus the hotels very strongly discourage guests. There are no love motels that I could find, and the massage parlors are really just that - no happy endings either.

Now read how I did Cuzco and Machu Picchu and do it any other way than mine. Mine was so wrong.

Fortunately the altitude didn´t bother me much. I got some pills in Lima called Acetazolamida (250 mg, one a day), and either they worked well or I´m just not prone to altitude sickness. I hit the ground running an hour after I got there with a city tour, then an all day (read: starts at 7am) tour of ruins the next day, then after 4 hours of sleep Machu Picchu the following and final day.

I didn´t get much out of MP, but it might have been different if I didn´t spend nine hours on buses and trains having to listen to¨"El Condor Pasa" over and over again, for a tour that lasted just shy of 3 hours. If I ever hear that song again I´m gonna rip someone´s eyes out, I swear.

So if you´re going to see Machu Picchu, go spend the night before at Aguas Calientes, get up in the morning, take a 20 minute bus ride to the site and enjoy it all day. It really is incredible, I just wasn´t in the space to really appreciate it.

I´m straying from the purpose of this forum so PM me if you want any more information on this.

Lots of tourists, lots of families. But a mongering town Cuzco is not.