why I didn’t go to machu picchu

Machu Picchu. For most people, Machu Picchu is probably what they think of when they think of Peru. Maybe even when they think of all of South America. One of the Seven Modern Wonders of the World!

When you travel, things are not going to be perfect all the time. For me, my first big disaster happened when attempting to visit Machu Picchu.

The ways to get to Machu Picchu are endless. You can hike there (the famous Inca tral, Salkantay, etc), the train (an expensive, but easy option), or you can do it the cheapest way possible as I had planned (public transportation to Hidroelectrica and then walking 10km to Agua Calientes).

I planned to skip Cusco and Machu Picchu on my travels due to me being there during prime rainy season. However, while I was in Northern Peru, I continued meeting people who went and had similar thoughts, but ended up going and saying it was really unbelievable and it is a huge tourist attraction for a reason. Then, it seemed like fate when I met a girl in Arequipa who decided last minute to go to Cusco and Machu Picchu as well and wanted to do it the cheapest way possible.

So what exactly is the cheapest way to get there? (For the actual cheapest way aka a $1 option, head over to Along Dusty Roads!)

• 6 hour collectivo to Santa Maria
• 45 minute collectivo to Santa Teresa
• 30 minute collectivo (or 4 hour walk) to Hidroelectrica
• 3 hour walk along the train tracks to Agua Calientes

While not initially super excited about Machu Picchu, we were excited for our plan – get to Agua Calientes on day one, Machu Picchu on day two and walk to Santa Teresa to enjoy the hot springs, and head back to Cusco on day three.

Well. We never even got to Santa Maria.

Again, I had no idea just how far Machu Picchu was from Cusco, or the death road you need to take to get there (think entirely tight curves on the side of the mountain). Somewhere after about four hours on the road, the van came to a complete stop. The driver said absolutely nothing and after 30 minutes of sitting in silence, my friends and I hopped out to see what was going on. After walking about ten minutes past a huge line of stopped vehicles, we saw what was stopping us… a massive landslide blocking the road.

As it was raining, we headed back to the van thinking we for sure were going to head back to Cusco. However… not the case. We sat there for eight hours… It took three hours for a piece of construction to even show up to start to clear. It was only when the fog lifted we saw just how massive the landslide was. My three friends and I are rotated between walking down to check out the progress and sitting in the van during the downpours. We just couldn’t get over had this happened in our respective countries (United States, Australia, Germany), there would be the news there and cars would be told to turn around (oh and, there would be more than one piece of equipment clearing?!).

Cars finally started moving at 7pm (the rubble was cleared, but the nothing was stabilized) and when our van finally started, the driver announced our car was not safe and once we moved past the landslide, we’d need to jump out and change vehicles. Um, what! We had just been driving on a death road for hours?! My three friends and I were the last ones out as we were in the back and the driver of the new van told us… there was only one seat… (but we could stand).

This was when it started to sink in just how unsafe everything was… it was pitch black at this point, we were stopped on the edge of a cliff, and they wanted three girls to stand for a four hour drive along an unsafe road. Thinking we couldn’t understand Spanish, the drivers were discussing just how unsafe this journey was and how normally vehicles have to leave Cusco and Agua Calientes by a certain point so they don’t drive along this road in the dark. But when we asked them if it was safer to just head back to Cusco instead, they claimed it was a perfectly safe drive to Hidroelectrica…

Long story short. We finally ended up back in a van to Cusco – but not after standing on the side of the road in the rain on the side of a cliff (where a landslide had just happened) being told we were going to have to pay through the roof to get back. People were screaming, people were crying, people were filming what was going on. It was a nightmare. If there is one positive about all of this, it is that I was not alone for this experience.

The next day we headed to the tourism office to ask about some sort of refund. While the lady was nice, her statement of “we have no evidence there was a natural disaster” was an absolute joke. Our photos and videos meant nothing.

The day I left Cusco, I ran into the South African couple who was in my van. I asked them how everything went and they were just as livid about the situation. They made it to Machu Picchu, however, the van decided to stop for an hour for “dinner” in Santa Maria, so they decided to hitchhike to Hidroelectrica. They made it there around 10:30pm and then had to walk three hours in the pouring rain on train tracks – only to wake up at 5am to walk up to Machu Picchu.

I left Cusco and Peru somewhat jaded – we experienced firsthand just how important money is and how safety means nothing. Supposedly, these landslides are not uncommon, however never reported or covered on the news. With that being said, I still would like to visit Machu Picchu. Maybe that will be later this trip? Or maybe I’ll head back when the weather is more ideal? Only time shall tell!