How do you enjoy a town that is really little more than a tourist stop? Keep looking up. If you want a great place to stay a few nights near Machu Piccu, Aguas Calientes really isn't it, you are much better off in Ollantaytambo, a surprisingly amazing town.

My travel companion and I arrived in Aguas Calientes Peru at about 11pm via the 20:35 Backpacker train from Ollantaytambo. The train stops right in the center of town on the main street, which is actually the train tracks. We got off the train, walked about 50 feet and saw our hostal,the Hostal Machu Piccu.

We had made our reservation for the hostal about a month in advance, which I would recommend because Aguas Calientes is known for being booked up if you try to find a place when you arrive. There is a review of the hostal on TripAdvisor. Visitors should note that there are a number of hostals in Aguas Calientes that require you to pay in advance in Cusco, Hostal Presidente and Hostal Plaza are a few of them. Their office is very central in Cusco and is easy to find (The staff also seemed trustworthy so don't be weirded out when they ask you to pay in Cusco).

Our primary purpose of being in Aguas Calientes at all was to get up really early and head to Machu Piccu on one of the first busses, so we checked into our hostal and after about a half hour we were clean and ready to sleep. We set the alarm for 4am and hit the sack. Our plan was to wake up at 4, shower and be at breakfast by 5, get to the bus stop for Machu Piccu at 5:15 and get on the first bus by 5:30. Our schedule worked until we arrived at the bus stop and realized that many people had been there since 4am. There was a growing line at the bus stop and a VERY slow line to buy bus tickets. The line at the bus ticket office was one of the most frustrating experiences of my entire trip. In a nutshell, you are waiting in line hoping to get your ticket before the busses arrive, there is only one person selling tickets who has the speed of a lemur and it seems that everyone in line has the wrong change, is paying in the wrong currency or is buying tickets for their entire tour group. I was very anxious to get my ticket and get in the ever growing bus line and it took about 20 minutes for about 10 people in front of me to move. Luckily, my partner was standing in line to board the bus and just as I got my ticket I ran to her just as she was 2 people away from boarding. Great luck, but way too annoying. Why have so many busses and such an efficient way of picking people up, yet have a rediculously slow ticket office that doesn't even open until 15 minutes prior to the first bus leaving? Urgh..

Standing in line at 5:15 to buy the bus ticket to Machu Piccu.

For the next 20 minutes we wound our way up the foggy cliffs towards the gate of Machu Piccu. I write about Machu Piccu in another post.

After what seemed like a long day at MP we returned to Aguas Calientes around 1:30 pm. That might seem like a short trip to MP after such a long journey there, but considering we arrived at Machu Piccu at 6am and climbed Huayna Piccu at 7am, we were fairly wiped out after 6 1/2 hours. We saw everything we wanted and were ready to return for a good lunch and to catch our train, which departed from AC at 3:30.

Our attempt at finding an amazing lunch to cap off what was one of the most magnificent days of my life was not in the cards. In fact, our lunch was so uttery boring, flavorless and unexciting that it was honestly the worst meal I have had in years. The restaurant was listed in our guidebook (Rough Guides Peru) and wouldn't be the last poor recommendation we got from it. Granted, finding a decent meal in AC probably isn't easy, but you can probably do yourself a favor by NOT eating at the Restaurant XXX (I promise to update this most when I remember the name). Whatever you do, don't order the chicken unless you like two thin slices of meat on a plate with little to no spice alongside a pathetic salad that you can't eat anyway since you are a tourist and shouldn't be eating local greens in the first place. I could go on about this meal, but I already went on and on about it for a few days after my visit. Yes, I like to go on and on about mundane things like bad food.

The Urubamba River with Aguas Calientes in the background.

So enough about the negatives, Aguas Calientes is actually a fairly nice looking town even though it's primarily oriented towards tourism. No amount of bad restaurants, overly priced hotels and rows of souvenire shops can take away from the roar of the Urubamba river that goes right through town, the towering mountains or the fresh air. When in Aguas Calientes, it's best to just look up and remind yourself why you are there.

At 3:30 we caught the Vistadome train to Cusco (Poroy) and said goodbye to Aguas Calientes and Machu Piccu.