Wow, it looks like I haven’t posted in a year! We have still traveled, but more to places we’ve loved and I’ve already covered on the blog before. We revisited Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and England. In late September, we had an extended stay in Rome to attend the Ryder Cup golf tournament.

But this fall, we decided to go back to “work” on the bucket list (getting shorter every year). Daughter Liz, the extreme (in my couch-minded view) adventurer, always talked about Machu Picchu. I didn’t know much about it, but when I saw the photos and read a book about it, we had to go. But not to hike, camp in the wild, or climb mountains – we splurged on the easiest, most comfortable way. We feel a little guilty about that (very little, though). I’ll give a little more detail in this post as I’ve been asked by a number of you about the logistics if you want to do it right (or wrong depending on your perspective).

We flew from the coast over the Andes Mountains to Cusco, Peru (11,100 ft. altitude) and had a gorgeous mountain view as the sun set. Then we drove directly to Urubamba (9,400 ft.) in the Sacred Valley to altitude acclimate for a couple of nights and did some local touring of Inca ruins. After that, we went to nearby Ollantaytambo, where backpackers start their 4-day, 3-night trek on the Inca Trail over the mountains (13,800 peak) to Machu Picchu.

We, on the other hand, boarded a luxury train called the Hiram Bingham. Seats with nice dining settings, and an observation car (open at one end), a delicious lunch, and a fun bar with live local musicians. The service was wonderful, and the view was stunning all the way as it cuts through the mountains along a river. I can’t imagine the hike! (I understand there are also inexpensive train options.)

The trains stop in Aguas Calientes, which is about 1500 ft. below the Machu Picchu entrance. A scenic bus up switchbacks took us to the only hotel at the entrance, the Belmont Sanctuary Lodge. Then at 3 PM, we toured Machu with a guide for two hours. We took Circuit #3, which was a bit of a climb (about 25 stories) and were rewarded with an exhilarating view even though it was mostly cloudy.

The next morning, I signed up for a private “sunrise” tour to enter the grounds at 6 AM open. I got up in the dark to complete fog and rain. I almost went back to bed. Fortunately, I hiked back up to the higher platform (not the two major mountain climbs that some do) and set up my equipment in the hopes of clearing. While waiting, I set up my iPhone for a time-lapse just in case. Then this happened:

In conclusion, Machu has always been a great destination for hikers, climbers, outdoor enthusiasts. We’re not into the “expedition” life and I was worried my photos would be full of people. But Machu Picchu was fabulous – way better than I expected in almost every regard. The views, the history, the visitor control. It is hard to get to, even if you do it the luxury way, and probably only worth a day or two – a lot like Petra, Jordan in that regard. But as photography was my mission, it did not disappoint.