I recently received the following comment from jazzy_almond@hotmail.com.
…everything you want to know….about riding the bus/train?!?!? Ha… you’ve not been unless you’ve hiked the Inca Trail…and there are bathrooms there near where you disembarked. That would require more walking and you rode the bus/train because that’s not what you wanted to do. There are 13,000 stairs along the Inca Trail, not including the ‘tons’ you mentioned… wonderful wonderful experience until we ran into tourist complaining about the walk up from the bus.
So…what a bummer. I hadn’t realized I actually hadn’t been to Peru or Machu Picchu. I’m really sad that I spent all that time and money on an experience I didn’t have!
I’d like to address a couple of the things mentioned in the comment.
- Hiking the Inca Trail is not an option in February as it is closed for cleaning. It really is a shame that everyone that visits Peru in February is not able to actually say they have been to Machu Picchu …. according to Jazzy Almond anyway!
- Bathrooms in MP – The bathrooms at the bus area are not “in” MP. They are at the entrance, outside of the gated area. In order to use them, you have to leave MP, even if you are all the way at the other side, travel down the many stairs and then do the trip in reverse. This is not very practical for families or for people who have issues breathing or walking up many stairs.
- Taking a bus….not really sure what Jazzy is referring to. Does taking the bus from Aguas Caliente up to Machu Picchu make MP less awesome? The road up to MP is a very long, steep, windy and ‘unsafe for walking’ road. Why anyone chooses to walk up and possibly get hit by a bus is beyond my realm of comprehension. The bus costs hardly anything; do yourself a favor and ride it!
- Train rides…..again, was the only option to get to MP in February; however, did Jazzy hike the Inca Trail to MP and then back again? Perhaps, using any technology at all while in Peru makes your trip null and void. Who knew!
I’m guessing Jazzy isn’t a follower of my blog so he/she/it didn’t realize that I had done 3 days of hiking prior to seeing MP. Still, I don’t think hiking anywhere in Peru makes the visit to MP any more genuine. Machu Picchu is an amazing experience, no matter how you get there. I hope in your travels there, you don’t encounter bitter people like Jazzy Almond who seem to think they are better than everyone else because they made different choices in their travels than you may.
Peru is made for the young, the old and yes, even the bitter/cranky/better-than-everyone people like Jazzy.
Aimee Knows 