For us it was a long pending dream that finally came true. We have read a lot about it since our childhood and its portrayal in television made it even more mysterious. Sitting in one remote corner of India, we never imagined at that time that we will get the opportunity to visit this place one day.
Reaching there: The best way to reach Machu Picchu is from a small town in Peru called Cusco. It won’t be directly reachable from the place where you are reading this answer. Most of the international flights to South America outside of the Americas go to Sao Paulo. And then you have to go to Lima and then take a domestic flight to Cusco. The flights are frequent in these domestic destinations and finding the one that suits you shouldn’t be a problem.
Visa: From New Delhi, getting the visa was not difficult. They have a small embassy in Vasant Vihar and the staff is very friendly. They required the minimum documents for the visa and we got our passports stamped in 3-4 business days.
Accommodation: For us Cusco was the base and from here we went to Machu Pichu. There are lots of hotels as well hostels in the town. Try staying close to the city centre so that you try out the different local cuisines offered by the restaurants in that area.
Things to do:
Cusco:
–Town Square: It’s ideal to keep aside two days for Cusco in the beginning. You can simply walk around this pretty little town especially in the town centre. It’s very lively with lot of friendly locals willing to greet you and talk to you.
–Sacsayhuaman: This is a citadel built nearly a thousand years ago to protect the capital of the Inca empire. One unique fact on the construction is that the huge boulders are closely packed together due to the unique way they are cut and not because of mortar. This is now one of Unesco World Heritage sites.
Town Walk: The city does not have much motor vehicles and hence the lanes are very narrow. It was fun to explore the town by foot and navigate through the maze.
Shopping: They have a large flee market close to the city centre. You can purchase a lot of handicraft items from here to take back home.
Machu Pichu:
From Cusco to Machu Pichu you need to book through a reliable tour operator. A typical full day trip starts at morning 4 AM and you are back late at night to Cusco. The fully covered tour includes your drive, train tickets and guide. For the first time I saw a train with glass roof and the view was superb. We took their bus to the top and hiked our way down. The hiking routes are very clearly marked and you can easily find your way to the train station at the base of the mountain.
Once you reach the top you are simply blown away by the view and couldn’t help but appreciate the people who built this city at the top of the mountain. The most agreed upon hypothesis is that the Incas abandoned the city centuries ago. They were afraid that the Spanish people will reach there and take away all their secrets and occupy this sacred town. So they evacuated the city and blocked all the entries so that its hard to find. The city itself was only for the elite and the common citizen of the empire just used to come here in the morning to work and climb down from the mountain in the evening. A good guide is the key here as there is so much of history to Machu Picchu that only a professional can explain in detail. You will see a lot of interesting things around you related to their daily habits and the guide will be there to answer all your questions. Even a mummy was found in Inca empire which is not far away from Machu Picchu.
On your way back you can stroll around the market close to the train station. It is again a good place to purchase souvenirs.
You reach late night at Cusco and just keep wondering about the great civilization that occupied this land hundreds of years ago and cherish the memories that you have brought from Machu Picchu!