laurieco

We will be spending a night in Aguas Calientes Sept. 8 and are hoping to see the sunrise at MP. I believe the first bus gets there at 6:30 or 7:00am. From what I've read, I don't think I can make the hike up from town to get there earlier, and even if I could, my husband would probably divorce me if I made him hike up so early in the morning! Does anyone know what time sunrise is at MP? Since it is their winter, I'm assuming that the sun rises later than than in summer. Also, Peru doen't follow daylight savings time so it would be an hour ealier in Peru than the east coast of the U.S., no? Would this make a difference? I REALLY want to see the sunrise but refuse to pay $650 for a night at the Sanctuary Lodge.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

I know of this great site that answers such questions. Go to:

www.timeanddate.com

Down at the bottom of the screen under World Time Search, type in Cuzco and hit the GO button. (Cuzco is the closest you'll get to Machu Picchu.) Next screen has a link that says "Find sunrise and sunset times for other dates," and it tells you that the sun rises at 5:47 a.m. on Sept. 8. It would actually be a couple of minutes later since MP is slightly west of Cuzco.

laurieco

Jeff, thanks, that is a great site. I've bookmarked it. It looks like we'll only catch the tail end of the sunrise. I don't suppose there are taxis that could take us up earlier than the bus. Anybody know? Are taxis allowed up there?

OaktownTraveler

Laurieco: No private cars or taxi's are allowed up the mountain. You have to take one of the many buses that go that route.

Ok, I was all fired up about seeing the sunrise as I was about seeing the sunset at MP which was magical.

MP is in the Cloud Forest and on my days I caught no sun at sunrise. It was great being one of a few (hundreds vs. thousands) at MP at that time of day. In short anticipate seeing the sunrise but do not despair if you don't.

The Sanctuary Lodge is simply awesome...
however, good spots are available in AC.

laurieco

We already have a reservation at the Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, which is supposed to be very nice, and about $400 less than the Sanctuary! I have four different guidebooks and they differ as to whether the first bus leaves AC at 6am or 6:30. If it leaves at 6, we could probably catch most of the sunrise, providing it's not a cloudy morning.

OaktownTraveler

The MP Pueblo Hotel is swell. I had dinner there and was most happy. Your bus times sound fine.

I just pulled my notes and I left at those times too. 6 on one morning and 6:30am on the other. I thought the bus, on the second day was late. It was not, the "schedules" are flexible and they did not want to take one or two people on a bus that holds 40 people...understandable.

Amy

I caught a pre-6AM bus, but the "sunrise" was pretty much just a lightening of the mist...Still very much worth it to be up there at that time! The buses just seem to go when they are full.

If you'd care to see a few Peru pix, you can go to http://community.webshots.com/user/missalg I've just finished the Amazon ones; I'm supposed to be marking papers and cleaning the house, but the call to Perusing was a pretty strong one .

kang

There are always mists early in the morning so you are unlikely to see a traditional "good" sunrise in MP. But that is in fact a blessing because the mysterious atmosphere created by the morning mist is really what makes MP so unique and spectacular.

As far as archaological sites concerned, MP is not the most impressive in the world(I have been to just about every one of them), but the combination of the ancient ruins, the landscape and the mysterious surroundings are, and the morning mist and cloud play no small part of it.

The best way to fully appreciate the beauty of MP, and the morning mist, is to view it from above. So I would suggest that after you get to the site by taking the earlist bus, walking up to the Sun Gate, which is about 30 minutes hike depending on your fitness. (It is not a difficult hike.) The Sun Gate is the final gathering point for the Inca Trail people(4 days and 2 days)before they decending to the MP site to complete their journey. Take a break at the Sun Gate and look down at MP, and you'll know what the fuss over MP is all about. Then slowly walking down to the site below and the view on the way is absolutely unforgetble. After you get to the site, you still have 3 hours to explore it before the tourists from CUSCO flood the whole place.

laurieco

I'm pleased to know that buses sometimes leave earlier than 6:30 to go up to MP. It gives me hope that I'll see the sunrise after all. The mist is what I really want to see so if it's not sunny, that's okay.

Amy, your pictures are great! I love the sloth, it's actually very cute. We're going to the Amazon after Cuzco. We'll be spending 3 nights at the Heath River Wildlife Center on the Bolivian border and one night at the Sandoval Lake Lodge. I'm really looking forward to this trip. It wasn't a priority for me, South East Asia being my favorite place, but my husband wanted to go to Machu Picchu and since he always goes where I want, I decided to go to a place that he picked for a change. Now I'm very excited and can't wait. We leave this coming Saturday.

Amy

Well, I was getting some flashbacks to the Mekong while floating down the Amazon, so you'll get a bit of the SE Asia feel! (I was at about the same latitude north as I'd been south in CanTho, and it felt kinda familiar.)

Happy, happy travelling! I wish I were going too!! (ok,ok, I know I just got back...)