[gpa]

This is a nice thread. Am planning a trip there next year as well and this info is very handy. Thank you, for sharing.

[ajmat]

Amazing travelogue and with so much detail

5 stars

[mpksuhas]

Superb!!
Something many of us has on our bucket list for sure.

Also, road and rail infrastructure looks good in Peru from pics.

[Inquisitive]

I SIMPLY ENVY YOU

This travelogue is well beyond the star ratings....

Kudos.

[SajiNSalin]

Well written travelogue with beautiful photos. Lucky you, I have been planning this for some time, but I was not aware of this route. This is one place one must visit in the lifetime. Did you try to go to Huayna Pichhu? Is the view better from here. I understand very few passes are available for Huayna Pichhu.

[Gausum]

Awesome Travelogue. Thank you for taking the time to share your wonderful experience.
Will serve as a great guide to any one planning to visit Machu Picchu in the future!!

[DeadEnd]

This travelogue is certainly among the best I have across while scouting for Machu Picchu

This place has been on my wishlist for quite sometime now. The Incas is a very fascinating Civilisation

[BopsKA12]

Amazing travelogue and kudo's to your sheer willingness to take the offbeat path. Also a different perspective other than the touristy ones as seen on television and documentaries.

[naturaldisaster]

Amazing travelogue! Thanks for sharing. You visited one of the seven wonders of the modern world. I can only imagine how breathtaking it must have been. Just like other FM replies, have my sights set on this place too.

Cheers.

[sparky@home]

That was a very well written travelogue, and hats off for the guts to take the path less trodden. Nice photographs too.

[desiaztec]

You deserve some appreciation my friend. Your way writing felt I'm reading a manual, This is an excellent and detailed literature that you have penned down.

[Kumar R]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

May I ask, from where did you get the idea/inspiration to travel to Peru especially Machu Pichu?

I knew of it as a kid - from two photo filled pages in a TIME Life children's book that I had. Later I learned more as a historical event - the Spanish conquest of the New World. Tintin shaped many of my perceptions and Indiana Jones embellished those I also had a Peruvian classmate in my graduate programme at Columbia Law who gave some ideas - though he did not know of this route (residents get steep discounts on the train and the ticket).

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Also, road and rail infrastructure looks good in Peru from pics.

Like the other Andean countries Peru has very little meaningful rail network - due to the mountainous and uneven terrain. From Cusco there are two short stretches of rail - north to Aguas Calientes and south to Arequipa and Puno (Lake Titicaca) - both almost exclusively used by tourists. There is also a small passenger stretch between Lima and Huancayo.

That said the road and bus network is excellent. The chief problems are the ordinary risks of high altitude roads - landslides, black ice, slope, visibility, etc.

Originally Posted by SajiNSalin

Did you try to go to Huayna Pichhu? Is the view better from here. I understand very few passes are available for Huayna Pichhu.

Thanks for asking! In my opinion, it's difficult to climb both Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu on the same day in any meaningful manner; it's exhausting and takes away time and effort to see MP which is itself hard to see in a day. HP requires an additional two hours to the top and an hour on the way down - timings are restricted to two batches of 200 each at 0700 and 1000. Unlike MP there is no bus and the elevation gain (400m from MP) is quite steep. To undertake HP therefore not only requires a high degree of fitness but also an additional day - meaning another $50 ticket so it's not very cost effective either. The guides will not accompany you to HP and most of the injuries happen here. (This also applies to Machu Picchu montana, the extension of the mountain on which the Machu Picchu site is constructed). Overall not something I was comfortable with.

A better option, if time permits, is to climb Mt Pucatusi on the other side of the Urubamba which is just as tall, deserted, equally steep and free.

Some videos I've uploaded

#1 Hobbling back along the trail to the Hydroelectrico

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM9z2IHmTMI

#2 Crossing the railway bridge on the trail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yPxXzKrFMU

#3 Part of the onward drive from Santa Maria to the Hydroelectrico

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsUzljj2V08

[Baddychat]

Absolutely brilliant travelogue. Duly rating this a well deserved 5 stars.

Your attention to detail will help many on this forum and otherwise to plan a trip to Machu Picchu.

[govigov]

Thank you for a very detailed and motivating Travelogue. I am bookmarking this thread for future reference.

May I ask a few questions? Is one day enough for visiting this place? Can we club this trip with anything else in this near area? Any risks/scams (apart from the usual) that one needs to be aware of while on a solo trip?

Thank you once more, rated 5 stars.

[invidious]

Wow. You almost get the feeling of being there. It is amazing how much South America is like the Indian subcontinent in terms of infrastructure. Shame it is a pain to fly there, not to mention the tickets cost an arm and a leg. Still, what a wonderful travelogue. Thanks for sharing it with us.