Puerto Maldonado, Peru
21 July 2023
I don’t think I had seen any location on social media as much as I had seen Machu Picchu. It deserves the hype. I was less prepared for how cool Cusco and the surrounding area were.
Día 1
- Corto Maltés Amazonia
- Nature Walk
- Caiman
- Fly to Puerto Maldonado
- Depart Cusco at 6:05 am
- Arrive in Puerto Maldonado at 10:40 am
Corto Maltés Amazonia
We walked to the Plaza Mayor de Cuzco. It felt like there were churches all over the city. Walking around, I was struck by how beautiful and ancient the city felt. Much of the architecture is colonial, some of it newer, but there were plenty of older Incan building remnants left.
Nature Walk
Lorem fistrum por la gloria de mi madre esse jarl aliqua llevame al sircoo. De la pradera ullamco qué dise usteer está la cosa muy malar.
Día 2
- Incarail
- Aguas Calientes
- Machu Picchu
We had to get up very early to arrive at the Incarail office at 3:50 am. We got on a train at 4:20 am that took us to Aguas Calientes – the gateway to Machu Picchu.
After we got there, I realized that the tickets to Machu Picchu I had bought were invalid. My credit card company had canceled the transaction because it looked suspicious. I didn’t catch the notification. I was sent tickets, but they were only reservations for the tickets, not the tickets themselves. This was a very stressful realization. There were a lot of guides trying to get business, I approached one of them and explained my dilemma. He led me to a building where you can buy same-day tickets if there are any left. We got super lucky and got tickets. I hadn’t planned on hiring a guide but felt obliged because he helped. So, we took the bus up to Machu Picchu with our guide in tow.
Machu Picchu
The bus ascended a series of steep switchbacks. The view of the mountains was stunning. Indi insisted on the window seat but then managed to fall asleep 5 minutes in.
I had seen so many photos of the famous view of the ruins, I was unaware how incredible the surrounding Andes mountains are.
I’m not going to lie, standing here was surprisingly anticlimactic for me. The view was spectacular, and we had perfect weather. I had just seen this view 1,000 times on social media, and that managed to rob the specialness of the moment for me. The memory is actually better and more special now that a few years have passed.
Our guide explained some things I knew and some that I didn’t. I became annoyed with him pretty quickly because he was going so fast. It was clear he wanted to rush us through so he could get more clients after us. You aren’t allowed to walk backwards, so once you pass something that’s it.
Despite our hurried guide and our sleep deprivation, it was really, really cool.
An unforgettable experience.
When we got back to Aguas Calientes, we got some weird food that looked like scat and tasted only slightly better. After that, we returned to the hotel and passed out.
Día 3
- Chinchero Archaeological Site
- Ollantaytambo Archeological Site
- Pisac Archaeological Site
Indi’s parents visited Peru the year before us and had a great trip. They hiked to Machu Picchu, which is no easy task. On their trip, they met a great tour guide and became friends. When we visited Peru they told us we needed to look him up. We did just that for our tour through the Sacred Valley.
Chinchero Archaeological Site
Our first stop of the day was the Centro Arqueológico de Chinchero. It’s a late 15th century Incan site that shows remarkable planning and engineering. I don’t have a photo, but there were massive terraces covering the surrounding steep hills used for agriculture. When the Spanish came, they built their church on top of the Incan foundations.
Locals sell artisanal goods to tourists in the square. There are sections where the rock is cut precisely, and others with uncut rock + mortar.
Ollantaytambo Archeological Site
Ollantaytambo Archeological Site was one of the most memorable stops of our Cusco trip for me. The town at the foot of the hill is charming. We walked through the plaza to the entrance of the archaelogical site, which is accessed by a long flight of stairs.
It is incredible to see the size and scale of the construction here. There are massive rocks cut precisely to fit in with others. It’s even more incredible that they don’t make them all a uniform size, The rocks are cut into all different sizes and shapes to create the walls.
There is one section of wall with incredibly tall stones that once sported the heads of animals. Some of them weigh 50 tons and were dragged from across the valley to this spot. I believe it was once a military fortress.
Pisac Archaeological Site
Pisac Archaeological Site probably had the best view of the three we visited. The site is set on a crest high above the valley floor. To get to the main area, you need to walk past the terraces and up some stairs.
On the way, our guide pointed out a burial site built into the mountainside. It’s one of the largest burial sites in the Andes.
Some sections of a few structures still had stucco covering the rock walls.
At this point in the day, we had walked up and down a lot of stairs, so I was beat. I’ve also neglected to mention that for most of my time in the Cusco area I was sick.
The view from the top was awesome and I still remember it vividly (At least, as of Feb 2026).
Pisac concluded our tour through the Sacred Valley. Thinking about it now, it’s one of the most memorable days of my life.
We got stuck in traffic on the way back because there was a parade on the road back to Cusco from Pisac. We finally got back and then found a place to eat. We ate dinner at Cicciolina – an Italian restaurant with great reviews. Peruvian cooks are so good that they do foreign cuisines extremely well. We both liked what we got.
Next time
On our next adventure, we go hiking through the Amazon Rainforest.
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