We got off the train and got our luggage and wound our way through a series of shops to the river. At the river we took a quick selfie on a footbridge and then got to where they were loading the buses. To go up to Machu Picchu you have two choices, take the 20-person van or take 30 thousand steps straight up. We chose the 20 person van. We were standing in a rather long line when one of the bus drivers came by and said in Spanish "dos" Knowing some Spanish now, I knew that that meant two so I volunteered us to to get onto the bus. It may have saved us a half an hour. However we were crammed in there like sardines! I tried to take a couple pictures through the windows and even tried to take a movie. The movie was so jumpy I could not watch it later because I was getting car sick. There is a picture from Google Maps with shows you how many times it switches back and forth. Also pictures from up top that shows you a rock slide and some of the roads.
Dropping off her luggage at the Belmond desk
River from the footbridge
View from the station
View from the station 2
We have almost arrived
This is how close the van got to the rocks on this one lane road. The other vans are coming down hill while we were going uphill and it was not just clear who got to stop and who got to go. One time we had a backup to let the other van proceed.
Would this bent rail stop a 20 person van?
Our route up the mountain
The switchbacks
The tarps are an area where a rock slide close the road and they are fixing it
