We were still alive on this earth when we woke up, and a glance out the window brought further relief, showing that the wildfire on the mountainside had not moved much nearer than where we had left it last night. In fact, it was difficult to discern clouds from smoke, but stepping outside, the eerily-massive… Read more…

When plotting our visit to Machu Picchu online, I immediately knew that we’d like the “base camp” town of Ollantaytambo, but had no idea we’d end up spending two full weeks here (plus two days on our Machu Picchu out-and-back)! It was our longest stay in Peru since our initial month in Huaraz, but now… Read more…

Days 15-16 Rett had come up with a whole line of sites she wanted to see in the Sacred Valley, and initially we’d assumed that we would slowly hop with our bikes from the west “end” at Ollantaytambo, to the east end at Pisac, 37 miles away. But the Incas seemed to revel in making… Read more…

It’s technically possible to train into Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu Pueblo, visit Machu Picchu, and train out all in one day. Not actually possible for us or anyone like us who needed to buy next-day tickets on-site, but we still could have escaped last night if we’d really wanted to. But we didn’t want to! Instead… Read more…

Rett had been hoping for 6am tickets to Machu Picchu in order to see the Lost City of the Incas revealed by sunrise. But upon leaving our hotel and getting a view of the fog-draped mountains, it was obvious that even with our 7am tickets, we were unlikely to see sun at all. So at… Read more…

The archeological site of Machu Picchu, “The Lost City of the Incas”, roosts 1,200 feet directly above the Urubamba River and Aguas Calientes (aka “Machu Picchu Pueblo”), the modern village where visitors can spend the night. A trail of stairs connects the two locations, but the vast majority of visitors take a bus run by… Read more…