Friday was a split day: we transferred from our hotel in the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu, and we did our first circuit hike at Machu Picchu.

From now on I’ll write MP to refer to the site.

Sally and I had joked that this trip was cars, planes, trains and boats. We already did many cars and four flights, we spent three nights on the Aqua Nera. This morning we completed the set by taking a luxury train, the Hiram Bingham (1), from the Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu.

If you picture the kind of old-fashioned luxury train epitomized by the Orient Express, you’ll get the idea. Well furnished booths with white tablecloths, uniformed wait staff, a kitchen that actually serves good food (which they are happy to customize to your taste). Food and beverages are included.

The train ride from Sacred Valley takes about an hour and a half, so we ate an early lunch and arrived around 1:00. You arrive in Aguas Calientes, and everyone has to take a 20 minute bus ride to get to the sanctuary. We were surprised when a huge tour bus pulled up, which had been hired just for us. Apparently no other vehicles are allowed, so it’s either a tour bus, or walking.

After quickly checking into our room, we went to see MP. We stayed at the Sanctuary, which sits right at the entrance to the site. All of the other hotels are in Aguas Calientes, and you take the bus ride up and down each day.

You experience MP by taking one of three routes through the site. Our first hike was Route 1, which took us up to the viewing platform where you get the classic view (and photograph) of MP. I took lots of photographs during the hike, but don’t really recall what most of the individual things we saw were.

But before you go, you have to suit up for the adventure and deal with the chaos of the buses and the entry lines to enter the site itself.

MP gradually reveals itself as you hike up Route 1. The first part of the hike is mostly a series of uneven stone steps. We’re now at about 8,000’. The two days we spent in the Sacred Valley (along with daily doses of acetazolamide) helped us with altitude sickness, but don’t help us with the lack of oxygen feeding our muscles. We needed to stop frequently to rest. You see some of the surrounding mountains, and then Huayna Picchu, a distinctive peak right behind the sanctuary, reveals itself. On one of the routes you can climb it, but we didn’t (2).

By this point you’ve reached one of the popular viewing platforms. But you’re not done yet.

We needed to climb a little more. At a few spots there are lines going through difficult areas, but overall the crowds were pretty reasonable. There are also some llamas living in and around the site, and we passed them resting in the sun. Now you can see some of the city itself.

Finally you get to the spot where you have the classic view you came to see.

I could write all about the historical significance of MP; our guide, Marisol, explained it all to us as we went along. But it went in one ear, and out the other. So feel free to look it up.

We got back to our room about 4:15, glad that we didn’t have to face the lines to board the buses for the 20 minute ride down to Aguas Calientes. Instead, we relaxed a bit, unpacked a bit (we’re only here one night), cleaned up and went to dinner in the hotel restaurant. Which was very good.

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(1) Hiram Bingham was an American archeologist who “discovered” Machu Picchu in 1911. His discovery required lots of deep and arduous work: he asked a local farmer where the Inca city was, and was taken there.

(2) The way up and down is about a 1,000’ climb on uneven stone steps, often with no railing.