{"id":1561,"date":"2018-08-23T23:52:22","date_gmt":"2018-08-24T04:52:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maycas.us\/wordpress\/?p=1561"},"modified":"2019-08-28T18:56:53","modified_gmt":"2019-08-28T23:56:53","slug":"22-hike-to-aguas-calientes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maycas.us\/wordpress\/?p=1561","title":{"rendered":"22: Hike to Aguas Calientes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Breakfast<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n