I was prepared to be disappointed by Machu Picchu. It has been featured on so many travel shows and the classic photos are everywhere in Peru. Besides, we have been to Petra, Tikal, Angkor Wat and seen the pyramids of Egypt, each of them a better bargain and much older than Machu Picchu.
Nevertheless, we got up at 5:00 to catch the first bus to the site, had breakfast then returned to the room until 6:30. It was still dark and it was raining! Our bus climbed the many switchbacks and arrived a little after seven. The rain had stopped but Machu Picchu was totally socked in by clouds. There would be no sunrise this morning.
It finally cleared around ten and I must admit the site is breathtaking. It isn’t so much the architecture; the Romans did it much better. Nor is it the age, only 500 years versus 5,000 for the Egyptians. There isn’t the mystical feel from Angkor or Tikal. It’s the setting that is unbelievable! The site is perched in a saddle between two steep mountains with terraces extending down each side. When Hiram Bingham ‘discovered’ Machu Picchu it was covered in jungle but today you get a feel for what it really must have looked like.
If you are in Peru – or anywhere in South America – Machu Picchu is a must do. But $150 and a full day of travel is a high price to pay for four hours of enjoyment. And that is doing it cheaply. A day trip form Cusco will cost about $250 and a stay on site at the Sanctuary Lodge will hit the MasterCard for about a grand a night.
