Today we hiked from Santa Teresa to Aguas Calientes. To make this work we made arrangements with the manager of the hostel to leave our luggage in storage and we packed enough clothing and supplies in our small backpacks to make the round trip.
The same set of train tracks that run from Ollaytantambo to Aquas Calientes continue on to a hydroelectric plant on the other side of Machu Picchu. We hiked the 15km on a path next to the train tracks. I was genuinely surprised at the number of people we saw along the trail. This appears to be a popular option for backpackers and families alike.
We grabbed a quick breakfast at the same restaurant and took a taxi to the dam. The hike is reported to take 2.5 – 3 hours. I think we actually took 4+ hours because of the many stops we made to take pictures and enjoy the scenery. It was a beautiful day, the views were incredible, and I for one was exhausted by the time we finished the hike.
As in other areas we had visited, the water levels were incredibly low here. In some of the pictures below there are large rocks sticking up out of the river. Those rocks are typically under water. Here is sampling of what we saw along the way.
Start of the trail 
The train tracks are active during the day so we were able to see multiple trains go by. Closer to Aguas Calientes it is possible to hike through a short tunnel the trains use, but one must time the hike carefully to avoid meeting the train in the tunnel. We took the “normal” route just before the tunnel.
Our route took us by the Machu Picchu sign and also to a butterfly park. I’ve been to butterfly houses before, but this was different. Here they focus more on understanding how the butterflies interact with their surroundings at every stage. We took a tour lead by one of the staff who was very knowledgeable about the entire life cycle. When we visited, the butterflies were a bit sparse due to the time of year, but there were caterpillars and cocoons everywhere. One of the butterflies has wings that look like an owl’s face to scare away predators. How cool is that?
We also made a stop at the Machu Picchu museum. Unfortunately, the hours posted online were wrong and they were closing an hour earlier than we anticipated. So, we made it through the entire museum in under 20 minutes. The museum, while small, was very well done and deserves more time. The provided information came in handy during our visit to Machu Picchu the next day.
The primary function of Aguas Calientes is to act as a coordination point for many of the people that visit Machu Picchu, which in recent years is around 1.4 million per year. The level of tourism has reached a point where the government of Peru has started to limit the number of visitors to the site. So, if you’re planning to visit, make sure to plan well in advance. We waited too long and were unable to climb the next peak over, Huayna Picchu, which is limited to 300 visitors per day.
The parts of Aguas Calientes we saw were basically hotels and hostels, shops, shops, more shops, restaurants, a couple of train stations, more shops, and soccer fields in the middle of it all. Very touristy. And yes, very hilly as well!
A tough way to move steel rods 
Coming in from the trail
For the first time on the trip, I thought it might be nice to have a guide for Machu Picchu. There were two reasons. First, we could only spend a very limited amount of time in certain parts of the citadel and I wanted to get the most out of the visit. There are staff everywhere making sure people don’t go backwards on the path, so you look at an area and then move on. Second, the new rules require everyone entering Machu Picchu to have a guide. Even though they are not fully enforcing that rule, there are accounts online of people scrambling to find a guide at the entrance because on any given day the rules are enforced. I didn’t see a need to risk that. So, we connected with a guide the night before our visit to understand the plan and set a meeting time.
After our meeting with the guide, we picked a restaurant and had what was unfortunately one of the worst meals of the trip (remember, very touristy). We also tracked down a pair of reading glasses for Tracy because hers had been damaged along the way. The shop owner had to run back to her home to grab the box of glasses for Tracy to look through. The shop was very small and I would imagine it is very difficult to figure out what to stock.
Tomorrow we visit Machu Picchu!!