Day 67: Mixed Feelings About the Town of Machu Picchu Pueblo, Peru

Despite the beautiful setting, we don't have all positive things to say about this town that has, for the most part, been developed to meet the tourist influx to the famous site.

Machu Picchu Pueblo, formerly called Aguas Calientes, is a very small town that sits in a narrow valley flanked by the tree-covered granite faces of the imposing mountains rising above.  Río Aguas Calientes runs through the valley in which the town surrounds.  The main access is by train or by foot along the Inca Trail.  We have no idea how the buses and cars arrived here because there seems to be no roads leading in and out of the town.  Therefore, it is quite isolated and similar to living on a small island.  Because the town was built over the shores of the rocky river banks, there is no grass and not a lot of trees in town.  They built one fútbol field with faux grass for recreation, and the kids just play on the concrete streets and stairs.  There are lots of stairs!  Although the town is surrounded by nature, the nature seems difficult to access since the mountains are so severe and the river is too swift and strong to get in.  

Our lukewarm feelings about Machu Picchu Pueblo may be due to our not-so-great hostel stay, or getting price-gouged for mediocre to bad food at almost every restaurant we ate at.  This town is clearly in the business of tourism, but also in the business of taking advantage of tourists, which is not a very welcoming feeling.  They do have the upper hand, however, because most tourists have to go through this place to get to Machu Picchu.  

Our initial immersion into Machu Picchu Pueblo was at a restaurant where we ordered our a la carte meals and got charged for the more expensive platter versions (that was almost double the price).  Then, they added 20% service fee on top of an already outrageous price, so this meal ended up being one of our most expensive meals we've had in South America and the worst tasting.  It was just easier to pay than to try and argue in Spanish that this isn't what we ordered, etc.  

We also found our hostel, Margarita's House, to be rather mediocre for the price and felt there was almost a bait-and-switch because the experience was so unlike the reviews we read online.  We knew that there would be situations that didn't meet our expectations, but since we have had great hostel experiences thus far, perhaps this made it more difficult to accept our disappointment.  Regardless, the whole experience was just strange.  Read our rants about it here.  

For such a touristy place, we only found 3 ATM machines: one required their bank card to access the locked door; one was broken; and one that actually worked. And, why do ATM machines only spit out large bills that no business can provide change for? Not helpful. 

However, any tourist staying at one of the nicer hotels like Inkaterra Lodge for $800/night would have found this town very charming, quaint, and beautiful to look at.

The silver lining to Margarita's House was its close proximity to Inkaterra Lodge, where we ended up spending quite a bit of time in their lounge, enjoying the ambience, service, and free wifi.  We also ended up eating a few meals at the Lodge restaurant because unexpectedly, the price was comparable to the tourist restaurants in town, but far better quality.  

We also unexpectedly stumbled upon the biggest outdoor party at Plaza de Manco Capac on Saturday night.  It was the 50th anniversary party of something major in Machu Picchu.  There was live music, food vendors, beers, Pisco sours, and people dancing everywhere.  Families with small children were still partying when we went to bed at midnight.

We are not traveling in a bubble, so these mixed feelings will occur again. Overall, the experience - good or disappointing - is all part of our collective memory and we are glad to have had the opportunity to visit this town.