A Photographer's Journey to Machu Picchu

The mountaintop archaeological site at Machu Picchu is THE most impressive remnant of the Inca civilization that once dominated the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Andes.

A popular way of getting to Machu Picchu (‘Machupicchu’ is also an accepted spelling) is by train from Cuzco. However, there are backpackers who like to spend a few extra days and just walk there, generally following the railroad right-of-way or the riverbank adjoining it. Whichever you choose, you can easily shoot a roll of film before even getting to the ruins themselves.

Later in this journal, I’ll introduce you to a surprisingly comfortable place for you to stay when you get there. As for the journey from Cuzco, let the pictures tell the story ...

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Getting there:

In August, 1997 (early in the Peruvian tourist season), the train was an ideal way to go. To really maximize your sightseeing and photo opportunities, you could go one way by rail and the other by helicopter.

However, according to the June, 2000 edition of Cook’s Overseas Timetable, RAIL OPERATIONS HAVE CHANGED since my visit. Given the precarious state of rail travel throughout Latin America, they could change again at any time. On the other hand, Cook’s may only have been reflecting what for Peru might have been normal winter service reductions. After posting this entry, I’ll try to find some up-to-date tourist-season schedules and add them if I can.

(Before posting this journal, I debated the ethics of calling myself a ‘Guide’ based on a 3-1/2 year old experience. But I really wanted to share the pictures.)

There will undoubtedly be discrepancies between what I report here and what you’ll find when you arrive in Machu Picchu. But the scenery and friendly people won’t have changed.

The Hotel Pueblo, as visited in 1997, was not so much a hotel as it was a collection of small guest villas, clustered on various levels carved into a forested hillside. The reception area and central lodge were 50-75 feet above the railroad and river, and the guest rooms continued upward from there. The rooms furthest from the lodge required negotiating two or three (or more) flights of stone steps, but my own room was spacious and attractively furnished with native hardwood bed, chairs and table and Peruvian blankets and rugs.

The lodge contained a small bar and a restaurant capable of serving at least two mid-sized tour groups simultaneously. Food and service were more than adequate. My room and meals were included in a multi-day travel package, so I can’t advise on prices.

Hotel Pueblo had its own rail station, about a mile and a half from Puente Ruinos, the starting point for the trip up the mountain to the ruins themselves. You could walk a quarter-mile to the nearby village and take a bus from there. If you weren’t staying at the hotel, the train from Cuzco connected directly at Puente Ruinos with shuttle buses to the top of the mountain.

Some hotel details may have changed since my visit to Machu Picchu, but I doubt the cordiality of the staff there will have.

Charming, Spanish-Colonial Cuzco would be well worth visiting even if it weren’t the gateway to Machu Picchu. HOTEL LIBERTADOR CUZCO was equally inviting.

This classic Spanish-style property welcomes you with a lobby/reception area combining stone floors, wood-paneled walls and white stucco columns, tastefully lighted. Instead of overwhelming arriving guests, it whispers: ‘Bienvenido.’ It’s reached via a short, narrow street that tour buses can’t enter --- a plus if you’ve ever had one roaring underneath your window early in the morning.

My own room did face a busy street, but noise was only a minor problem. The room was comfortably and tastefully furnished and more spacious than in many European-style hotels.

Unfortunately, the heating system was overwhelmed by what residents called ‘the coldest August within memory’ --- but that seemed to be the case throughout Andean Peru that so-called Spring. Restaurant dinner hours were later than I prefer, but there were many other restaurants nearby.

Libertador is a chain with hotels in several Peruvian cities. This review is somewhat biased because management at another Libertador hotel went to great lengths --- at no charge --- to help me through a potentially-serious bout of altitude sickness. I stayed at Libertador hotels in Cuzco, Puno and Arequipa. They’re quality hotels run by quality people.

The price range above was only guess --- I was on a prepaid group tour rate.

There’s a reasonable admission charge, payable in either Peruvian currency or U.S. dollars.

You can make your tour as easy or as strenuous as you care to. Wherever you go, you’ll need to negotiate at least some moderately rough ground, but easy walking trails lead to most significant sites on the lower levels. The going gets rougher and steeper as you progress up the mountainside.

One of my friends --- a VERY serious photographer and hiker --- climbed to the top of the adjoining peak to re-create the famous travel-poster shot.

I passed on that, but here are scenes photographable from some of the easier trails.

The road from the Visitor Center at the ruins winds down the mountain in a long series of sharp reverse curves. A small Native boy --- maybe 10-11 years old --- met our bus at the apex of the first turn. Smiling and waving as we approached, he then shouted a hearty ’Good-byyyyyyye...!’ as we reversed and continued downhill.

At the next hairpin, another, similarly-dressed boy did the same thing. As we approached turn #3, still another! Then we realized: It was the same kid, chasing us all the way down the mountain. Turns out that, while were taking the long, slow way around, he was sprinting down a staircase built for locals who didn’t have cars or bus fare.

He’d be a husky teenager by now, maybe not even doing his routine any more, But it’s a good bet that if he’s ‘retired’, he’s groomed a sucessor. If your bus happens to be the one he chases, don’t throw money out the window for him. Save a few pesos and hand them to him when he greets you at the bottom.

Through an interpreter, the boy said he made the trip four times a day. When it comes to ‘Making money the old-fashioned way,’ this kid really does earn it.