Tuesday, December 15. Today is the big departure for the Machu Picchu (MP), the largest Inca city. To not do as most tourists, we decided to go to Aguas Caliente (the town built just below the MP) in 2 days by bus detours through small towns: Santa Maria and Santa Teresa (first night there) then Hydroelectrica, where we have to walk 3 hours to Aguas Caliente (second night). The classic route is to take the train between Cusco and Aguas Caliente, which takes about 3 hours but costs very much. There are also version trek 4 days, quite intense but beautiful. We wanted to do it but here such as the agencies know that there will be always people to do it and they don’t hesitate on the price (around 400 USD). So, as good as "backpackers", we opted for the cheapest version. So we end up on the road between Cusco and Santa Maria (6 hours of bus, we arrived at 2pm). There, we planned to take a combi (minibus) to Santa Teresa to spend the night. Except that just exit from the bus, the guys we dock and we intend to take us directly to Hydroelectrica. As usual, we hesitate first, then finally we follow the group of tourists who choose to go too. We are 14 people in a minibus and it’s a little bit small ^^, and the road is not very wide with the ravine next to us...

After 2 hours, we arrive at Hydroelectrica where the bus leaves us. Well, it starts to feel a little hungry since it is 4pm. On the roadside, there are plenty of people selling a little of everything. Even if it is not very consistent, we bought a package of crackers (not really good ...) but also plenty of water to keep the road. And then it was gone. The road has nothing exciting except that it follows the railways. It is not difficult either since it remains relatively flat, but to walk on the lines of railway or on the boulders that border, it's pretty exhausting (it was a good idea to buy walking shoes in Cusco for only 20 €, because our baskets had suffered to much in the Colca Canyon!). During the journey, we cross train 2-3 (fortunately, they don’t go too fast and they honk regularly to prevent their arrival ^ ^). After 2 hours and some walking, we finally see Aguas Caliente, while the day goes down. We are not arrived in the city that a guy offers us a hostel. It is unclear. It isn’t very expensive, so we follow him to his hotel. The rooms are correct and we did not want to look more because we are tired, so we agreed. It's good to ask! After a good shower, you go out to buy the entrance ticket to MP and especially to find a good restaurant and then eat a real meal ^ ^ The ticket price is increasing every year because there is currently much more expensive than what is written in our book. Fortunately for us, student ID works, and even the French card. After that, we began looking for a good restaurant. In fact there are only restaurants in the city!! This city is summed up in two main things: hotels and restaurants. Finally, we choose one which offers a tourist menu. On the menu, soup, spaghetti, dessert and fruit juice (and a pisco sour for free ^ ^). We then decided to some course for our breakfast in the morning to go by foot to the MP. Everything is very expensive here (well, in comparison of the rest of Peru!), So we bought only 3 bars each and water. In addition, we read on our tickets for the MP that who had no right to take food on the site. Then we returned to our hotel to finally sleep because tomorrow we must get up early to climb the MP before the first tourist bus arrived (that is to say before all the people).

Wednesday, December 16th. It’s 3:30am, the alarm sounds. We wake up, and then we hear the rain falling in torrents. Disgusted, we decide to wait an half hour to see if it calms down. Finally, it stays the same ... At 4:30am, we must make a decision. Knowing that it takes about 2 hours to get to the MP, the first bus of tourists is at 5:30am and the steps may be dangerously slippery (the way to the MP is filled with steps...) We finally decide to take the first bus. There are already lots of tourists waiting at the bus stop, but must we buy our tickets before. It’s quite expensive, and there is no discount for students... After buying our tickets, we wait on the line for the bus. We begin to be afraid not to be able to get in the first because there are to many people. The problem is that we should be in the first 400 if you want to have the chance to climb the Wayna Picchu, the mountain that overlooks the MP. And we want definitively do it! It is 5:30am, the first bus arrives. It is very small. You say it's fucked, and finally, a second bus arrives, then a third and others arrive too to take all the tourists. We rise in the second and leave the first! After about one half hour drive, we arrive at the entrance to the MP. There are already more than a hundred people waiting in line and had climbed by foot despite of the rain. Until the opening, a guy goes in line and asks if you want to climb Wayna Picchu (at 7am or 10am). We say without hesitation that we want to do it at 7am, while there isn’t too many people. The guy then notes a number on our tickets: 24 and 25. And well, there are not many people who want to climb! At 6am, the gates open and you're off for adventure! To access Wayna Picchu, you have to cross the MP to the other side. It's impressive to be within this majestic site. We go quietly to the entrance of the Wayna Picchu. It opens at 7am, we must still wait 30 minutes. At 7am, a guy comes and gives access. Before boarding, we must register on a book (name, nationality, age, signature and time of departure). We are the first 2 to register this day, and it is even written on our tickets! A big "1" on the ticket, great isn’t it?! And we begin the climb... And it’s really not easy! Again there are only stairs, and often very irregular with large steps. In addition, as it rained, it was still wet and therefore very slippery. Again, we appreciate our shoes!

After 40 minutes of suffering, we finally arrived at the top, Nadège the first of the day! Anais arrived shortly after, in third. But now, the whiteness that surrounds us reminds us of something ... It has the same beautiful view than at the Corcovado Christ in Rio: white! ^^ It's okay, we have time, so we decided to rest a little until it emerges. After 3/4 hours, we begin to see some bits of the MP, but the clouds come back soon. And then finally we see each time a little more than MP, to finally see it completely. Wow! It's really beautiful. After some good picture opportunities and contemplation, we decide to return to the MP. The descent is not really evident either... Back to the MP, there are a lot of tourists (too many ^^) From 10am to 13pm, we visit the impressive Inca ruins along with our map from the main things to see. There arises a time in the grass at the top of the MP to have a nice view of all the ruins and then we made a little walk about twenty minutes to an Inca bridge (a little disappointing for a bridge, but the landscape was beautiful). Finally, around 1pm we decide to go because we start to be tired and hungry ^ ^ Oh yes, we are disgusted because everyone had something to eat on the site, except us...). At the exit we stamp our passports with a stamp "Machu Picchu" Beautiful memories! Just out, it starts to rain. We take shelter under the umbrella of the coffee shop. Of course, it is very expensive here, but we still take a piece of quiche and pizza. After several minutes, the rain finally stops and we decide to walk down to Aguas Caliente to avoid paying again the bus. The steps are more regular than Wayna Picchu, but anyway, it's tiring! After 1 hour walk and end in the rain, we arrive at the gates of Aguas Caliente.

We return to the hotel to take a shower and change into dry clothes. Except that our room was super poorly insulated, it smells inside and it's very wet ... We don’t stay there very long and we go for a walk in the city. We spent a quiet afternoon: we buy the cream for our buttons that we itch (other than mosquitoes, scratching a lot...), we follow the railway to the train station where we bought our tickets for the next day, then we get some internet. We end the afternoon on a bench of the main square by watching the kids play. Then around 6pm, we begin to search a restaurant. After a good half hour, we end up in a restaurant like any others, with a touristic menu! After some shopping for the next day (breakfast again ^^), we go back to our room that smells bad ... We go to bed early, with the fear of get other buttons...

Thursday, December 17. We wake up at 7:45am after a restless night because of these damn buttons ... At 9am, we take the train to Ollantaytambo. The train stops several times along the way to let trains in the opposite direction. Around 10:45am, we arrive at Ollantaytambo where we go down the train to a bus. And there again, a lot of people come to us to offer us a ride to Cusco in a minibus. At first we refuse because we want to take the bus which is probably a little cheaper. Finally, there is a cheap minibus, and we arrive one and a half hour later in Cusco.