April 26, 2025
Machu Picchu Pueblo
At about eight o'clock last night plans were changed suddenly. Instead of leaving at 4:30 am we would now leave at 2:40 am. A good night's sleep was not an option.
First a taxi to the train station (Bertha, the tour operator came along in the taxi), then a two hour bus ride to Ollaytantambo followed by a hour and a half train journey to Machu Picchu Pueblo, arriving just before eight o'clock.
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There we were met by Augusto who directed us to where Bertha was keeping us a place in the queue to be allocated a slot for the purchase of tickets to Machu Picchu (another process that takes place in the late afternoon). How she got there an hour or two before us is mystery shrouded in the system that gives local Peruvians access to other trains to get them to Machu Picchu Pueblo - foreigners have to take the tourist trains which are about ten times more expensive. Nonetheless, Bertha's place in the queue ensured we got slots 489 and 490, well within the 1000 limit for the day.
With the slips with 489 and 490 printed on them safely stowed in my handlebar bag, Bertha accompanied us to our hotel for the night. Check in only opened at 11:30 which gave us three hours to wander around the town.
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Once checked in we collapsed on the bed and enjoyed a couple of hours of good sleep. Latr in the afternoon we strolled back to the ticket office to wait for our numbers to be called. The queue snaked slowly through the building but finally we had our tickets and are scheduled to enter Machu Picchu at 1pm tomorrow.
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4 days ago