I spent a lot of time on internet trying to find a cheap way of visiting one of the seven new wonders of the world.

Being a very non-organized person, doing the Inca trail was close to impossible. You either need to book it pretty far in advance, or you luck out and there is a last minute cancellation.

Initially, I was leaning towards one of the Jungle Tours (cycling, zip-lining, rafting) -which I’ve heard are amazing – but my dad ended up joining me last minute, so I had to find a new plan.

They advise you arrive in Cusco, or somewhere with similar altitude, 48 hours before heading up the 2430m to Machu Picchu, to get acclimatised. I did not experience it myself, so I can’t testify, but altitude sickness shouldn’t be taken lightly.

After having a few too many beers at The Cross Keys gazing over la Plaza de Armas, my dad and I decided to take a walk around Cusco and see what options we could find. We ended up booking with “Fredy Llanos” – the cheapest option we found (April 2016).

Remember the key word here is Budget

We chose a far-from-luxurious option. We managed to negotiate a 2 day-1 night tour at 80$ for my dad and 70$ (with student discount) for myself this included:

• Bus to Agua Calientes
• 2x lunch + dinner + breakfast
• 1 night hotel with breakfast
• Guide
• Entrance to the park

We were picked up from our hotel in Cusco early morning on Day 1. Despite it looking very close on a map, and there being a mere few hundred kilometers separating Cusco and Agua Calientes, the mountainous roads make it for a long journey. It was undoubtedly the scariest drive I have ever experienced, around narrow windy roads crossing rickety bridges and praying not to cross another vehicle at each bend. My dad, I and the six Koreans (who all had purple hair or purple strands of hair) sharing the van with us held on tight and tried not to look down whilst still admiring the breathtaking views. Every now again there are little wooden crosses on the side of the road, we chose to believe they were for stray dogs and not people who had also been cheap and opted for the not-so-reliable looking van.

We stopped at a village a few hours from Agua Calientes in a strange little local restaurant for lunch and arrived close to Agua Calientes early afternoon. We were dropped alongside multiple other group’s of travelers at the train station. Here you could catch the old-style train, or walk along the tracks, we opted for the later (again budget budget budget). We had left our bagage in at our hotel’s luggage room back in Cusco which also made this option easier. From memory it is about an hour/90minute walk, we were lucky it was not raining and wasn’t excessively hot so it made for quite a pleasant walk. There were little huts to stop at for a drink or snack along the way.

We dropped our bags at our hotel and headed to a nearby restaurant for our dinner. Our guide (whose name I can’t recall) met us at the restaurant and told us how the next day was going to pan out. We had been in Cusco for a couple of days already and quite liked the quirkiness of Agua Calientes, we asked the tour company guide if we could stay an extra night and bus back the following day, he agreed for I think an extra 20$ each. This proved to be a wise decision.

We enjoyed a few beers in some of the local bars, played some jenga (it is everywhere) and some pool and headed to bed to get some sleep as we had to get up at 4am to trek up to Machu Picchu.

Unfortunately, it was absolutely pouring down when we woke up. We decided to queue to buy a ticket for the bus. (We therefore can’t say we climbed to Machu Picchu…). We got one of the first buses up but the entrance was still packed with families and group’s of travelers with/looking for their guides.

We spotted the group of Koreans (made easier by there purple hair), met our guide and the best of our group and headed inside. It is one of those places you cannot put into words. You’ve seen hundreds of pictures and heard the stories but it is very surreal – or a “lot of stones” as my Dad pointed out.

Deciding to stay an extra night was definitely a good choice. As you can see it was very misty up at the top early in the morning (mid April). Most tours get up to Machu Picchu at about 6am and leave at 9am. That day the mist didn’t clear until about 10am, so had we not opted for the extra night, we would not have got to see half of the Inca citadel.

This extra day also enabled us to enjoy another of Agua Calientes, translated literally as “Hot springs”. This little town offers a few different hot spring pools as well as many spas and beauty salons.

We enjoyed (way too many) 2×1 Mojitos and set off to bed.

We left early back along the train tracks to wait for our van “home”. We got caught on our own in a tunnel with the train coming towards us which made for a small heart-attack. We didn’t find the way around the tunnel so be careful with that one….

After a struggle to find our van  (as we no longer had the Koreans as a marker), we set off back to Cusco.

The 9-hour drive ended up a bit longer than planned when our van broke down a few hours in. But not to worry, within seconds a man appeared with a bucket full of beer to keep us going whilst we waited on the side of the road.

TIPS

• Remember that everything can be negotiated

• Try an plan to be there during the day for the mist to clear

• If paying in dollars make sure they are recent and in mint condition (not folded).

• You can stamp your passport on the way out

• Pack a poncho and wear comfortable shoes

• Bring a swimsuit