Machu Picchu 2016: A Guide For Low Budgets

A few internet searches quickly discourages a cheap backpacker or financially challenged college student from bothering to visit this Wonder of the World. My goal here is to provide updated information so you don’t have to miss out on an unforgettable hike, regretting it until you one day return, something that is never guaranteed and always more expensive.

Photo credit- @wcoburn_

Tickets

Tickets can be bought the day before, but the popular add-on allowing access to Huayna Picchu sells out weeks in advance. This includes extensive hiking trails that lead up to the peak at 2,720 meters, for sweeping views of the ruins and the Machu Picchu Mountain sitting behind it. The path winds through small caves and another small temple. I highly recommend paying extra for this add-on because I spent most of my time exploring Huayna Picchu as opposed to the ruins themselves, and could not imagine my experience without it. It’s $7 more than a regular ticket, but remember how much you saved by avoiding the train (see below), and how much energy you’ve already invested to reach this point. After all, MP is one of Seven. Also, a shorter peak called Huchuy Picchu is only accessible in this way, and was the best part of the day (more on this later). 200 people can enter at 7am and another 200 at 10am each day. I liked 7am because it I could take my time, and continue on trails even when the second wave started.

Machu Picchu Mountain, also called Montaña, is a good alternative at 3,050 meters. The hike is longer and more strenuous, and the ruins will be smaller in your photos. When I went in March, others seemed able to book this add-on a day or two in advance, albeit they were exhausted from climbing it.

To reserve, I used these instructions as a baseline, on this official site, for a total of $46. The main difference from the linked instructions was that now you provide an email instead of a home address. Because this purchase is through Peru, it is recommended to call your bank to make sure payments go through smoothly. Other websites selling tickets are more expensive. If you have an International Student Identity Card (ISIC), it’s half off, but only in person once in Peru. To get the discount online, you have to book with a third party agency that charges a fee. Between this and ordering and paying for the card, and waiting for it to ship, all benefits are totally offset.

Photo credit- Will

Getting There

From Lima, most travelers pass through Cusco in the highlands of the Sacred Valley. Here, numerous companies will take you on package hikes including the Inca Trail, sitting around $500-1,600 per person to trek straight into the ruins themselves. I say save your money and get the same jungle experience for a fraction of the cost elsewhere in Peru, or even Bolivia or Colombia (while teaching in Bolivia, Stephanie said she did a lesser known “Inca Trail” and her $70 got her a machete as she and her group hacked their way through the bush).

Assuming you’re in agreement so far, skipping the trek means bussing to Urubamba and then to Ollantaytambo.

From Ollan to Aguascalientes (AC) is the tricky part. Once a rural village scattered with children in traditional costume and singing Quechua poems, AC is now developed with French bakeries and more restaurants selling pizza than the neighborhoods surrounding my university campus. The only way to this lone town within any reasonable vicinity of MP is by train, 2 hours, and usually at least $130 for a round trip ticket. Or you can take a bus to Santa Maria, shared taxis to Santa Teresa and then to Hidroeléctrica, a hydroelectric power plant where you will walk along some train tracks straight into the heart of AC.

I despise reserving anything so I didn’t do a package tour, but if a set itinerary is better for you, I met some Americans while walking on train tracks without all their gear. They said in Cusco they walked into some office called “Viva” and for $100 they got entry to the ruins, four meals, two nights of hotel stay, and transport to and from Cusco. They just had to walk the last leg. I wish I could provide more info on their exact deal, but everything I looked up has failed to show me anything close to that price. This method is also too last-minute to include Huayna Picchu.

UPDATE: Due to potential complications with locating the correct bus at the correct hour in Ollantaytambo, it is easiest to catch the same blue bus in Cusco, where it is originating from anyway, and visit Ollantaytambo on the way back after visiting Machu Picchu. The bus should be bound for Santa Maria, and cost around 40 soles or $11.

What the Sacred Valley looks like in my head

My notes for each portion of the journey are as follows, but be sure to talk to hostel staff and locals ahead of time for clear prices as there are many scams that’ll upcharge you, i.e. a woman telling us paying her 40 soles on the spot in Ollan, promising it would get us all the way to the hydroelectric power plant, which in reality is impossible without transferring to smaller vehicles.

Lima to Cusco: This depends on how much time you have. With only eight days, the cheapest flight I found was $114 (can be lower) with LCPeru. We had to deal with being moved to a later flight on the way to Cusco. For our return we had an afternoon cancellation and were put on an early morning flight the next day, with no compensation. For a little more, people fly LAN Airlines.

The cheapest way is to take a couple days bussing to Cusco and see sites along the way. Arrange this after arriving in Peru because most of the online options are for foreign tourists.

Cusco to Urubamba: Take a shared minibus, or colectivo, bound for Urubamba, $2-3, 2 hours. Move on to Ollan for lodging.

Urubamba to Ollantaytambo: Colectivo, $1, 40 minutes. Don’t get put off by the gringo filter smothering the town center. Ollan is gorgeous and has free ruins to hike up to. If solo, stay at Mama Simona Hostel, $10 including breakfast. If traveling in a group, pick their next door neighbor Munay Punku B&B, hands down the best stay of our trip. The included breakfast was above and beyond, the rooms were beautifully done with down comforters on every bed, and Ruth was the sweetest. Also the perfect recovery for after MP at $38 for a double and $45 for a triple, we had to stay an extra night and thoroughly enjoy our slice of paradise.

Ollantaytambo to Santa Maria: Busses usually come from Cusco and we were asked for 40 soles per person, around $11.50. I believe this is actually too high and closer to the price if you had started your journey back in Cusco. They asked other tourists with us for 50, which was blatantly inconsistent. Ignore anyone who approaches you in town offering package deals and NEVER pay until after the ride, a mistake we made here that ensued arguments later on. There’s supposed to be collectivos for Santa Maria starting in Urubamba for cheap, but in Urubamba the collectivo station denied this.

Expect parts of the highway along the cliffs to be semi-flooded or cracked, and enjoy the glimpses of the sweeping green valley.

Santa Maria to Santa Teresa: A bumpy ride in a shared taxi will connect these hot and dusty towns, both of which have cheap lodging and small convenience stores. This should have been$2-3, but after being zip-lined in a steel-framed cart across some rapids due to a broken bridge, no one ever showed up to meet us again.

Santa Teresa to Hidroeléctrica: Standing on the muddy banks in the middle of the jungle, we agreed to be taken to the hydroelectric plant by the next of many leaving minivans, $1.40, half an hour. There is a short pause to sign-in near the entrance.

Hidroeléctrica to Aguascalientes: You’ll be ready to move your feet after sitting all day! At the beginning of your walk follow signs to go uphill through a short patch of jungle that connects the tracks you were dumped at, to the tracks going straight into AC. From there, it’s a flat walk on chunky gravel with many other tourists. Even past sunset, you won’t be alone. Going in the eight-ish miles took almost 3 hours, but we picked up the pace and hiked out in 2 hours the next day. The ugliest thing you’ll see is the overpriced train coming by to release a column of black smoke. Members of my group reported that with the constant presence of strong rapids and majestic peaks, it was the most beautiful hike of their life.

We stayed in Supertramp Hostel for $9, with hot showers, tea, lockers, and a breakfast of eggs, rolls, jam, and butter starting at 4:30am. For other meals, there are convenience stores selling fruit, and street vendors selling banana breads and traditional fruit drinks. Our favorite was pulled chicken sandwiches loaded with all the available sauces, French fries, fried egg, tomato and lettuce sold by some lady in a side alley that I don’t have directions to… leaving the hostel it was on the right side, on the same street as the soccer field, right before one of the bridges. For lunch after spending all day in Machu Picchu, one option is to look for deals that offer a Peruvian three-course set menu for less than $5, but don’t expect high quality or authenticity.

Getting Away: We wanted to take a one-way train out of the tourist nightmare of a town, but they were at minimum $70 at the ticket office. So we backtracked. There were still collectivos around 6pm at the hydroelectric plant taking us to the broken bridge for $1.40 and from there another vehicle took us to Santa Maria for $3. This time, Santa Maria to Ollan was much a more reasonable $7, perhaps because we had Argentines with us, and we arrived at 1am.

Photo credit- Will

The Actual Ruins

Getting to the site entrance: Bring headlamps and head out of your hostel by 5am to reach the entrance around 6:40, just in time for Huayna Picchu at 7am. Follow the river and cut through town, continuing until you reach a checkpoint, show your tickets and passport, and go on, following signs. Soon marked staircases connect switchbacks. I enjoy the workout, but alternatively you can wait in a long line and take a charter bus for 20 minutes up the hill, at an outrageous price of $8.

Food and restrooms: Food is overpriced and sold at the entrance, so bring snacks. You’re not supposed to eat, but security turns a blind eye. The only toilets are also at the entrance for under $1.

Weather and views: There is no consistency but do not fret if your day starts with zero visibility, as ours did. The ruins will periodically clear up, another reason to do HP at 7am—to max out your time up high for the best photos.

In March it was humid and although we didn’t get the worst of the sand flies, don’t show up without ample amounts of water and bug spray.

Huayna Picchu: Cross the entire complex to reach a second checkpoint office, wait in line until they start letting you in, and enjoy the solid hiking.

Temple of the Moon: This was an unimpressive site, part of the HP add-on consisting of stone blocks and a small shrine with a beat up sign, but meant an opportunity to hike more. Getting here is ambiguous, the easiest way is to follow signs once you summit HP for the “Gran Cavern.” A “90-minute” descent that took us 40 at an average pace, you’ll see some stone blocks to the left of the trail. Two more minutes on the right of the path is the actual Gran Cavern, which appeared to be more stone blocks out in the open, and not at all a cave. To return to the main trail, go back the way you came, or follow another uphill path on the right side when facing the temple.

Huchuy Picchu: The best part of Machu Picchu in my opinion, this is also within the HP add-on. Soon after sign-in a labeled side-trail veers left. Following a 20-minute ascent, we had the entire peak to ourselves, which means elbow space and no randoms ruining photos. This peak is lower than Huayna Picchu so photos turn out even better. Do this first thing on a clear day!

Sun Gate: The end point of the famous Inca Trail is free and accessible from the ruins, a good alternative adventure if you are not preoccupied with HP.

Central complex: It’s a bit annoying to look for iconic components when they control where and which direction you’re allowed to walk these days, but definitely visit the left side of the lawn (facing HP). Giant stones holding up the Temple of the Three Windows remarkably have no mortar between them. The Royal Tomb sits just under the conical Temple of the Sun. Intihuatana is an astronomical structure that predicts solstices. There is much more, but this is what we had energy for.

Opposite to these is the residential sector, where you might be able to get away with doing handstands. Close to the main entrance are agricultural terraces. The lawn itself sometimes has grazing alpacas(: