• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • What is Queventure?
  • Blog

Queventure.com

Family of Five Traveling the World

You are here: Home / family / Peru – Home of the Inca

Peru – Home of the Inca

August 9, 2018 by Diego Quevedo

The Spanish conquistadors “found” everything. Except for a handful of countries, all of the Americas were at one point under Spanish rule. Beginning with Cristopher Columbus and continuing for over three centuries, the Spanish Empire would expand across the Caribbean Islands, most of South and Central America and much of North America.

Today, many of the historically indigenous communities show the effects of the Spanish crusades. You can see the effects by the number of Catholic churches in even the most of rural indigenous communities.

In the small Mexican town of San Juan Chamula, you can experience first hand a modern day hybrid of indigenous ritual and Christianity.

The effects of the Spanish Crown on the Western Hemisphere can not be underestimated. They ‘discovered’ everything. Well, almost everything. They never found one place:

Machu Picchu

After a fun week through Uruguay, it was time to get into some serious adventuring. We left Punta del Este and headed back to the Carrasco International Airport in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo. We caught our 5-hour flight to Lima, Peru and we were on our way. After a short layover in Lima, we took another plane to Cusco. Cusco serves as the starting point for most tourist looking to venture into Machupicchu. It’s the closes airport and biggest city before embarking. Surprisingly though, although it is the ‘closest’, it is still pretty far. We’ll get to how to get there in a moment.

But first, let’s talk about Cusco for a bit…

Scoping out the local Cusqueñan artisanal work.

Cusco

Cusco was a welcomed change of pace from the large metropolitan cities of Montevideo and Buenos Aires. 

In planning for our trip to Machupicchu, we read up on tips for a successful trip. One of the tips that came up over and over again was to arrive at least a couple of days ahead of your Machupicchu visit to get acclimated to the high elevation.

I’m glad we listened.

Cusco is situated at 11,152 feet (3,399 meters) above sea level. Our bodies took notice within a few hours of landing. By the following day, I was nursing a mild headache and our kids were nauseous. Fortunately it wasn’t too bad but the possible effects should not be taken lightly.

We spent the next three days exploring the town, eating absolutely delicious Peruvian cuisine, Lomo Saltado anyone? We even got a chance to watch Peru’s third and final World Cup game at a local restaurant. The pride the country felt for their team was palpable. After 36 years of not qualifying for the World Cup, they did so this year!

  • Saltado de Pollo
  • His fave!
  • You want to be loved the way he loves this desert.
  • Ceviche is Peru’s specialty.
  • Local beer!

How to Get to Machu Picchu

One thing that no matter how many different sites and blogs we visited, still left us a bit confused was how exactly do you get to Machu Picchu. The reason it’s so confusing, we found out first hand, is there are quite a number of ways to get there. The easiest, most straight forward way is to buy an ‘All Inclusive’ tour package. However, that can get costly real quick. I write ‘all inclusive’ because it really isn’t. The entrance tickets to Macchu Picchu are sold only by a couple of government offices in Cusco and at the actual entrance.

We decided to break up the cost and purchase everything as we went. Here in detail, is exactly how we did it with a few notable alternatives.

They don’t stir your drinks here, the train rattles everything and does it for you.

Costs, Fees and Waiting

*You should buy your Maccupichu entrance tickets ahead of time. We bought them in Cusco a few days before we visited MP.

We booked a Cusco AirBnB for 7 nights.

  • On day 4, we took the ‘Machupicchu By Car’ option
    • 7am shuttle on a 6hr. drive takes you to ‘Hydroelectric Station’ ($120 roundtrip for the 5 of us, just the minibus)
      • Alternatively, you can purchase PeruRail tickets directly from Cusco to Machupicchu Town (~$150 per person roundtrip but only 3hrs each way)
    • At Hydroelectric Station, we purchased train tickets to get to Machupicchu Town ($210 roundtrip for 5 of us, this is a 25 minute train ride)
      • Alternatively, you can hike along the train tracks for about 2.5hrs. You see many backpackers doing it. No cost.
    • We stayed the night in a hotel ($90 for two rooms)
      • Arranged at Hotel guide for following morning. $30 for the 5 of us as part of a 15 person group (you MUST enter with a tour guide)
        • Alternatively, you can get a private tour guide for about $25 per person
    • This same day, we bought roundtrip bus tickets from Aguascalientes to the entrance of MP (~$100 for all five of us)
  • The next morning
    • Met with tour group at 5:45am
    • With bus tickets purchased the night before, we got in line at 6:15a
    • Hopped on bus and by 7:30a were at the entrance to MP
      • Alternatively, you can take a 2hrs hike up to the entrance. Many people do this to be the first ones in the park.
    • Spent the first hour with the tour guide and then about 2 hrs. exploring the site
    • At about 12p, took the bus back down Aguascalientes (about a 30min ride)
    • Had lunch and walked about the souvenir shops
    • 1:30p took the PeruRail train back to ‘Hydroelectric Station’
    • 2:30p left Hydroelectric Station back to Cusco on minibus
    • 9pm arrived in Cusco and back to our AirBnB
    • *phew!*
Still with energy but you should’ve seen us on the way back!

Would We Do It Again?

All things considered, it took us approximately 40 hours to get to Machupicchu and back – all for just under three hours at the actual site. And you know what? IT WAS MORE THAN WORTH IT.

  • Their first look
  • Making dreams come true
  • Beauty at every turn
  • Queventure!

When our family first decided to sell everything we owned and go on this wild adventure, these types of experiences are  exactly what we had in mind. It was truly a spectacular place. From a ‘making-dreams-come-true’ standpoint, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Filed Under: family, queventure, travel

About Diego Quevedo

Family travel is more than margaritas on a secluded beach and overpriced Disney Cruises (although they are so much fun!).

Irene started as an entry level case manager and eventually became her organization's Executive Director, where she is still involved to this date. Diego climbed the corporate ladder and was a Director for one of California's best health systems. He resigned from his job.

Together, they started a humble blog with visions of becoming a leading force for families online.

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

Instagram
RSS
Facebook
Facebook

Email Newsletter

Love your family, travel? Love to travel with your family?

Sign up for some good stuff delivered right to your inbox.

We value your privacy, your email will not be shared.

About Us

Family travel is more than margaritas on a secluded beach and overpriced Disney Cruises (although they are so much fun!).

Irene started as an entry level case manager and eventually became her organization's Executive Director, where she is still involved to this date. Diego climbed the corporate ladder and was a Director for one of California's best health systems. He resigned from his job.

Together, they started a humble blog with visions of becoming a leading force for families online.

Recent Posts

  • Peru – Home of the Inca
  • Uruguay – How’d We Get Here?
  • Bienvenidos a Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • We could have lived in Medellin, Colombia…
  • Let’s Get Real for a Layover Minute…

Archives

  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Load More...Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2023 · Lifestyle Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in