Peru - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 757

ruins and Huayna Picchu. It's a longer
climb; most people take one hour twenty
minutes to two hours to reach the top,
but the trail is not as vertigo-inducing
as Huayna Picchu and you can climb at
your leisure; there are no daily quotas and
you will have the view largely to yourself
(as opposed to the overcrowded Huayna
Picchu). Take the path towards Intipunku
and then follow the signpost to the right
before leaving the ruins.

to their death from it a few years ago, but
it's certainly an impressive sight.

9

AGUAS CALIENTES
Anyone wishing to come to Machu
Picchu will invariably pass through
the settlement of AGUAS CALIENTES
(the official name is “Machu Picchu
Pueblo”, though it never stuck), which
is connected to the ruins by bus, though
the town itself is only accessible by train
from Cusco via the Sacred Valley. Its
warm, humid climate and surrounding
landscape of towering mountains covered
in cloudforest make it a welcome change
to Cusco, though it has even more of
a touristy feel to it: every other building
in this little town seems to be either
a hotel, restaurant or a souvenir shop
and you constantly run the gauntlet
of persistent touts. If you wish to see
Machu Picchu at sunrise and to enjoy
the surrounding scenery when it is not
overrun by day-trippers, you'll be staying
here for at least one night.

Inca drawbridge
If you don't suffer from vertigo, there's an
excellent scenic and level twenty-minute
walk that you can take from the Hut of
the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock
through the cemetery to the Inca
drawbridge. Follow the narrow path along
the tops of the southern terraces, along
the side of the cliff, and over a man-made
ledge until you reach the barrier several
hundred metres above the bridge, which
spans the gap in the Inca road that was
built on a sheer cliff face. You're no longer
allowed to get close to it, as someone fell

Mariana
(Laundry)

AGUAS CALIENTES

0 50

metres

Parque
Wiñay Wayna

N

INC Office:
Machu
Picchu
Tickets

Banco de
La Nación

Police

PLAZA

I-Peru

Bank

School

Market

Buses for
Machu Picchu

Bus Ticket
Office:

ACCOMMODATION
Camping Municipal
Margarita's House
Pirwa
Hostal Quilla
Rupa Wasi Condor House
Super Tramp Hostel

Caja Municipal

4
6
2
3
1
5

Football
Field

Mercado
Artesanal

Train
Station

Train
Ticket
Office:

EATING & DRINKING
Bistro Indio Feliz
La Boulangerie de Paris
Captain's Bar
Cupido
Govinda
Inka Wasi
Ollantay
Toto's
Tree House

3
7
3
6
2
5
4
8
1

Sacred Valley (Cusco)