Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu: A Pre-Cruise Adventure in Peru

TRIP OVERVIEW

Before setting sail on a Panama Canal cruise, I spent a week exploring Peru with my nephew and his wife—navigating altitude, ancient ruins, and some of the most complex travel logistics I’ve ever tackled. From weaving cooperatives and salt ponds to Machu Picchu’s misty terraces and a cat-filled park in Lima, this trip was packed with culture, scenery, and lessons learned. I’ve included practical tips, personal moments, and a few things I’d do differently next time.

PANAMA CANAL CRUISE: WHY I BOOKED IT

So. I've been wanting to take a trip through the Panama Canal for a long time. Just had it on my bucket list ever since my mom talked about wanting to do it decades earlier. Sadly, she never got to do the trip so I decided I would for the both of us. I booked my cruise before anything else - about a year out. I saw a fantastic price for an ultra-luxury cruise line called Silversea and it had a very low solo supplement. I jumped at it seeing as I was going to go solo so didn't want to pay the double occupancy rate if I could help it. Silversea is all-inclusive including one shore excursion in each port. I wouldn't have to spend anything extra unless I wanted another excursion or go to the spa on board. Plus, through a connection on a Facebook group I had joined, I met a travel agent that was able to get me some discounts and on board credit - all I had to do was transfer the booking to her and her agency. No cost to me whatsoever and I ended up saving money and got to use on board credit to book a lovely massage.

PRE-CRUISE PLANNING: PERU ITINERARY

As I booked the cruise a year in advance, I had plenty of time to think about what else I could do and see. The cruise itinerary had me starting in Lima, Peru January 4th and ending in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 20th. I had vacation time late December so I started sketching out an itinerary that included Cusco, the sacred valley, and Machu Picchu. When I had enough of a plan, I shopped it around to my friends and family to see who wanted to join me. Drew and Abagail jumped at the idea! Woohoo, I'd have traveling companions.

LOGISTICS AND LOCAL SUPPORT

Looking back on it now, I really should have leveraged a travel agent to help with all the complicated logistics, but I spent countless hours piecing it all together and making the necessary bookings, including the flights to/from Cusco and the trains to/from Machu Picchu. It was one of the most, if not the most, complicated trips I've ever put together. Lots of moving pieces and confusing local authorities to consult for tickets, etc.

About 9 months before the trip, there had been some talk about privatizing the ticket sales at Machu Picchu and it did not go over well. There were protests that blocked the train tracks and so no one could go into or out of Aguas Calientes for days. I had bought tickets on the new site they rolled out during this time and then the government stepped in and reverted their proposed privatization plans. The website changed ownership and I freaked out. Did I still have tickets? Not only did the ticketing website change, but they changed the routes inside the citadel - twice since the time I purchased mine. I also couldn't purchase my tickets for New Year's Day as that is a different calendar year and they only sell tickets from January to December of the same calendar year.

But, even that would be too straightforward. They release tickets for various times of the year on a schedule, only they don't publish that schedule broadly. I was initially told that tickets for the first week of January 2025 would become available in December 2024. In 2023 it was just a random date in December and you had to just check every day. Thankfully, in about October 2024 they published an actual schedule of when in December the tickets for the first 5 days of January 2025 would become available. I was at my wit's end by this point and so reached out to a local agency based in Peru to assist with getting my January 1st tickets, the bus tickets up and down the mountain, a tour guide, and private transportation while in Cusco and Machu Picchu. Money well spent.

Travel Tip: Even if you enjoy all the details of planning a trip like I do, there are certain destinations or situations where working with a destination management company via your travel advisor can save you countless hours and avoid stress and second-guessing. Yes, you pay a bit more, but it's worth it to know every detail has been considered and you have someone there, in country to assist if needed. As a travel advisor myself now, I often work with local destination management companies to assist with your trips to places like Machu Picchu, Africa, and SE Asia where the logistics are more complicated.

LIMA TO CUSCO TO SACRED VALLEY

After landing in Lima just after midnight, we took an Uber to where we were staying. I had booked the previous night's stay so we could go straight there and crash. The next day we were able to check out some of Lima, where we stayed one day and night before flying to Cusco. When we landed in Cusco (only a 1 1/2 hour flight from Lima) we were immediately picked up by the agency I booked tours with and as it was a private tour with just the 3 of us, we took our time visiting sites through the Sacred Valley.

CHINCHEROS

The first stop was Chincheros which is at about 13,000 ft (Cusco is at 11,000 ft). It's a weaving area with a large cooperative. They weave with wool, alpaca, and llama. Got to see demonstrations of the process from shearing to dyeing with natural materials (including using the blood from a parasite that you find on aloe type spiky plants), and all the steps in between like cleaning and drying the wool.

Then we got to see the process of how they use handmade looms out of just sticks. They had some pet llama and alpaca just for show. Someone was feeding them near me and there was a fight between a llama and alpaca for the food. I got spit on as collateral damage. Green flecks of grass in my hair, on my face, and even on my new creme shoes!

SALT PONDS AT MARAS

Our next stop was to salt evaporation ponds at Maras (Salineras de Maras). There are over 5,000 small pools that have been used for over 500 years to extract salt from a natural salt water spring that emerges from a mountain in the area. They are locally owned by 600 families from the two mountains between the valley where the salt ponds are located.

The ponds are connected through an underground network of canals that feeds them with this natural salt water spring. The salt goes into these little ponds and the sun dries them. The salt is harvested by hand and packed into cloth sacks to be taken elsewhere in Peru for further processing. The ponds and how they are terraced down the hillside is a stunning sight with the backdrop of the brown and green vegetation and blue skies above.

MORAY MYSTERY

The next stop was to an archaeological site at Moray mostly consisting of several terraced circular depressions, the largest of which is approximately 100 ft deep and with an irrigation system. The purpose of these depressions is uncertain, but their depth, design, and orientation with respect to wind and sun creates a temperature difference of as much as 9 degrees between the top and the bottom.

This landmark is very widely believed and agreed to have been used for farming, and soil samples have shown that soils were brought in from different regions to be used in helping grow crops at the different levels of the terraces. The wide temperature differences in the terraces have created microclimates, similar to what is achieved in greenhouses in modern times. The landmark also looks similar to an open pit mine. After the mining was done, the Incas could have reinforced the walls to prevent landslides and started to grow crops on the terraces.

OLLANTAYTAMBO

Our last stop for that day was to a small town where we were going to be spending the night. Ollantaytambo (Oh-yan-tay-TAMBO). It became the royal estate of the Incan Emperor Pachacuti, who conquered the region, and built the town and a ceremonial center. At the time of the Spanish conquest of Peru, it served as a stronghold for Manco Inca Yupanqui, leader of the Inca resistance. It is now the most common starting point for the four-day, three-night hike known as the Inca Trail. We were not doing that trek - we were taking the easy way via the train.

The Inca that settled here did some farming with terraces built into the surrounding hills and built huge storehouses along the sides of the mountains, which still remain today. Pachacuti was building a temple to worship the sun. Impressive to see some of the huge stones that the Inca had brought there from a quarry 3 miles away over one of the small mountains. Then carried up the side of this mountain to be placed atop or sometimes below in other structures. Sometimes they carved them before transport and finished the carving and shaping when they knew where they were going to place that stone. Other times they just brought the raw stone to the site. Granted, this is without any forms of transport other than their own backs and arms and ingenuity (using the river, logs for rolling and ropes to make levers). Llama and Alpaca are not pack animals (too scrawny) and they didn't have donkeys or horses as those came with the conquering Spanish in the late 1500s.

Just mind boggling to see these structures, that are mostly still standing, and the level of precision they attained with just stone "tools" - rocks as hammers and sand + water as their "sandpaper". The Inca didn't use any mortar and tended to use huge stones in their construction. The pre-Inca used smaller stones and mortar made with mud/adobe and smaller rocks. The Inca structures are therefore incredibly impressive. They are so well-fitted together that you can't even get a piece of paper between the stones (again no mortar was used, just shaping with rock and water and sand).

Drew and Abagail were hit hard with the altitude that first day so they skipped the site at Ollantaytambo and just rested at the hotel. I climbed the 200+ steps up through 17 terraces (only for retaining walls, not agriculture at this specific site) to see the unfinished Temple of the Sun. You could see several huge stones that were being brought up to be used in the temple. They were just scattered around or in a line up the terraces, abandoned long ago.

MACHU PICCHU ENTRY AND CIRCUITS

The following morning we hopped on a train with a scenic observation car to travel 1 1/2 hours through the valley to a town at the base of Machu Picchu. Its name is Machu Picchu Pueblo but it's more widely known and referred to as Aguas Calientes (hot waters) as it sits near some natural hot springs. We checked into the hotel, grabbed a quick bite to eat, then it was time to head up to the ruins.

They have buses/coaches that take you 25 minutes up and then back down again, using switchbacks hugging the side of the mountains. You can walk it but it is steep (and up mostly stone steps put into place by the Inca so are uneven and there are no hand rails) and would take about 2 hours. We opted for the bus for many reasons, not least of which was we had a timed entry to make. These buses up to the citadel by the way, are the only vehicles allowed in Aguas Calientes. Most of the hotels are packed into the town, but a couple are on the outskirts. If you stay at one of these hotels just know you will have to walk - not far - but you'll be on foot. Porters will come and carry your bags for you though.

They have everything very organized these days due to the influx of more and more tourism and crowds. When some friends went to Machu Picchu in the early 2000s they said there were no defined circuits to choose from or timed entries or time limits inside the citadel and ruins. Just after COVID is when they started to lock things down more. You have to buy your tickets in advance and there are only so many sold for a given 1-hour time slot. Max time inside is 3 hours which they'll check on your way out and you pay a fine if you've exceeded the allowed time (this is what our guide told us but I don't know how they'd know for certain, though there always seemed to be someone watching).

Visits are capped at a max of 2,500 per day. It's further complicated by defined circuits that you have to choose when buying your ticket and stick to it or be harassed by the guards that patrol the site. There are ropes and wooden signposts that help keep the circuits separate and the one-way rule enforced. These guards have whistles and are NOT afraid to use them. There are also cameras in some places. They want visitors to show respect seeing as it's a sacred site and the guards will blow their whistles and chastise you for dancing or doing Instagram poses that appear to show disrespect, etc.

TICKET GUIDANCE

A few words of caution about the tickets. Yes, there are a handful that are released every morning for that day. Lines form in the wee hours and you take your chances. Hands down, you NEED to secure your tickets to the citadel as the first thing you purchase, even before airline tickets to Peru. Seriously, if you can't get tickets and your purpose for going to Peru is to go up to see Machu Picchu, you risk disappointment if you don't secure those first. You can then plan around your Machu Picchu ticket date/time. I was very worried that I wouldn't get tickets for January 1st as those weren't available until mid-December. To hedge against the risk, I worked with a local agency to secure them on my behalf. I just had to provide them with all our passport information ahead of time and the payment.

Some of the circuits have similar views of the citadel from above but you then visit different areas of the ancient city itself - the urban area with most of the buildings you see in the photos is accessed on circuit 2. If you just want the highest view of the citadel and aren't interested in going down into the urban areas or agricultural areas, then you want circuit 1. The agricultural terraces are on a different circuit entirely, circuit 3, and would be my recommended choice if you have any mobility issues.

Travel Tip: In the course of 1 year (2024) they changed the routes or circuits of the citadel 3 times. When I penned this blog, there were 10 circuits in total. Four choices of route 1, four choices of route 2, and two choices of route 3. The mountain treks you can do as an add-on were what accounted for the differences in routes 1 & 2 but they can only be purchased and used during the dry season.

AN UNSOLVED MYSTERY

There are over 200 full and partial buildings on the site, many of which were houses for those that lived and worked there and storage buildings for their crops. It was built around 1450 AD and abandoned around 1570 or so they think. There are many theories as to why it was abandoned, like smallpox or some other disease, but the local wisdom is that they didn't want the Spanish invaders to find and destroy it so they abandoned it to not call attention to its existence. The vegetation quickly overtook the site. They spend a lot of time and effort these days to maintain the site to preserve it. Restoration is ongoing and they estimate that over 70% of the buildings and stonework are original.

NEW YEAR'S AT MACHU PICCHU

We went to the highest terraces that afternoon on circuit 1 to get a bird's eye view of the entire site. It had been cloudy and raining up until we stepped off the bus. It slowly started clearing for us as we made our way up the huge stone steps the Inca built. We were hanging out on a large terrace waiting for the clouds to dissipate more for that classic view.

Our guide, who is Quechuan, descendants of the Inca, performed a blessing to Pachamama (mother earth). She likes sweet things so he spoke a prayer and poured out a soda onto the grass near where we stopped for photos. It worked as we were blessed with good weather. Not clear blue skies (not the right season for that) but it was kinda cool with the wispy clouds coming up from below to shroud the ruins then slowly move on and up.

It was New Year's Eve but when we got back into Aguas Calientes around 6pm, we were pretty beat. Thankfully the altitude of Machu Picchu is lower at just under 8,000 ft, but you still got winded easily and prone to headaches and insomnia. We had dinner in a local place and then crashed.

We had entry tickets to a different circuit (2) at 7am on New Year's Day so needed to be on the bus at 6am. We started lining up just after 5am. Thankfully it had rained but stopped while we were outside in line. When we got back into the citadel, we were rewarded with some patches of blue sky and a clear view of the ruins. As you keep climbing up, you get different views and vantage points over the impressive and expansive site. It is atop a mountain but also cascades down the sides too. It was a pretty epic way to celebrate the New Year.

RETURN TO CUSCO

After returning back down, we showered, had lunch, then took a quick nap. The prices in the off-season, even though it was New Years, were low enough that we paid for another night just so we could rest up a bit before heading back to Cusco. Could we have survived not doing that and just got directly onto a return train? Of course, but with the altitude hitting each of us differently, we were taking everything more slowly so didn't want to be rushed.

We took the train back to Ollantaytambo after our short naps and then a private van back to Cusco. In the dry season (June-September) the train goes all the way but there are too many slides and such in the rainy season to make it safe. On the drive from Ollantaytambo, we were forced down to a one-way road several times as rock slides were blocking a lane. Our guide came with us and dropped us at our hotel in central Cusco.

We spent a little time wandering around the main plaza called Plaza de Armas (we stayed about 1/2 block from it) and grabbed dinner, but the altitude was brutal. Constant headaches that got worse as soon as you laid down and insomnia to boot! Drew got nauseated with a bad headache and Abagail was mostly out of breath a lot and had a headache. I took Tylenol at bedtime and that helped a bit but still never got a good night's sleep. If I did this again, I would have gotten a prescription for Diamox to help with the altitude. As it was, we tried local remedies like drinking coca tea.

SACSAYHUAMAN AND FINAL DAYS

The next morning we went with our same guide to some Inca and pre-Inca ruins in the hills above Cusco to a site called Sacsayhuaman (SACK-say-wah-mon) which means fortress of the royal falcon (likely the condor). Again, very impressive construction with massive stone carved and shaped boulders/slabs, some as high as 28 ft and weighing over 360 tons - that's over 700,000 pounds!! Granted these largest ones were likely quarried near the site as it was a rocky area they made flat for their structures.

There were some alpaca in the field eating grass and we tried to touch them, especially the babies. Drew was successful but I almost got my kneecaps kicked in by an adult alpaca. The Spanish when they conquered the area in the late 1500s destroyed much of these Inca and pre-Inca sites. They used the stones to build their catholic cathedrals in Cusco and they also didn't want temples left standing that worshipped gods other than their god.

We poked around Cusco the rest of the day on our own then flew back to Lima the next morning. We were so glad to get on the airplane with the pressurized cabin then get back to sea level. The altitude effects went away immediately. Lazy day back in Lima doing some laundry and grabbing some food. On our first day in Lima I took them to a local park I read about that has dozens of feral cats, a few brought in years ago to control a rat problem.

They're well looked after with food, water, little houses (wooden boxlike structures) if they want to get out of the elements. There's a local group that even takes care of vet visits when they appear sick and they spay/neuter them as well. We had a grand time trying to get friendly with them. Some couldn't care less and would just lie there, submitting to the pets and attention. Others would run away. One maybe year-old kitten was playing with me. I grabbed a stem off a huge maple leaf and dragged it around the grass. It chased it for a long time. Might've been the only time it's played like that. We returned back to the same park once we returned from Cusco.

CRUISE EMBARKATION AND FINAL MOMENTS

I left the next morning to get on my cruise ship and Drew and Abagail went back to that cat park after buying some Churu (that liquid cat food/treat paste). Brilliant idea. They had the cats on their laps! That same little kitten still wanted to play so Drew sat with it for a while playing and feeding it treats. All in all, it was a fantastic week of amazing scenery, culture, and new experiences (we even ate alpaca meat but never tried guinea pig).