9 October 2009
...but we are certainly not the only ones. Actually we later learned that an average of 2,500 tourists visit Machu Picchu daily.
What makes this Inca site (built around 1430 AD and abadoned 100 years later) so special is 1) its amazing setting at 2,430 metres on a mountain ridge in the spectacular "Sacred Valley" of Peru, and 2) its relative intactness as it is one of few Inca sites that remained undiscovered (and thus escaped destruction) by the Spanish conquest. In fact, after the site was abandoned around 1530, it remained largely unknown and untouched until 1911, when an American historian brought it to the world's attention.
Nowadays it is a huge tourist destination. The two most common ways to get there are: 1) a very strenous 4-day trek aka the Inca Trail or 2) a very expensive train ride with Peru Rail, which takes you to Aguas Calientes, a town that did not exist 10 years ago, it developed merely to provide accomodation (overpriced) and food (bad) for tourists visiting Machu Picchu. We go with option 2.
The entry ticket to Machu Picchu costs about USD 45 and is valid for only one day. The site is open from 6am to 5pm. We are set to be amoung the first to enter Machu Picchu and plan to catch the first bus at 5:45am from Aguas Calientes to the site. We get up at 4:45am, have breakfast a bit after 5am (slightly annoyed that breakfast wasn't ready at 5am sharp, as promised), and make our way to the bus stop at 5:45am. We did not think we would be the only ones, but were certainly not prepared for this: hundreds of people lining the street, forming a very long queue for the bus. First we have to queue to buy a bus ticket at a seperate counter (USD 7 per person one way for a 15 min busride, possibly the world's most expensive bus ticket). 
Then we stand in line to get on the bus, watching one bus after another fill up with tourists and shipping them off to Machu. Finally, after about 10 buses, it is our turn. After the 15 minute drive, we arrive at Machu Picchu where the next queue awaits us: the one to enter the site. Despite all the queuing, we enter Machu Picchu early enough to witness the site slowly emerging from misty clouds - what a magical view. Later in the day when the real hordes arrive we realize that we were, afterall, among the priviliged few (300 hundred or so) persons to enjoy the site in relative peace.
We hike up the steep peak of Wayna Picchu which rewards us with spectacular views over the ruins, and the surrounding high mountain ranges. Funny: a dog followed the tourists on the steep trail up the mountain. On the top, it is exhausted and needs to take a rest. Another tourist mentiones that he's seen that very same dog in Aguas Calientes. We wonder if this dog with an obvious archeological interest had to pay the expensive entrance fee to the Machu Picchu Sanctuary. 
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