mineral baths in Aguas Calientes
 

Have read the good and bad about the baths up the hill in AC. Has anyone been recently? Were the baths affected by the flooded river?

The mineral springs are open, but they close aroun 7PM. You can rent bathing suits and or towels. I did not go, but I know they were open a week ago when I was in Aguas Caliente.

Don't expect some fancy spa. It's a little on the basic side, but okay.

the "baths" are just concrete pool slabs

giant tourist trap/scam

worst I have seen worldwide lukewarm water lots of thieves.

$3 and not worth it...watch your stuff if you go...

I did this just on the heels of the Inca Trail and I must admit I enjoyed it. I met some really interesting people there and we enjoyed a few beers in the pool.

Took one look at the state of the water - i.e. backpacker soup and decided not to bother!

qwovadis, you mentioned thieves but when I was there they provided lockers. Is that new?

Hmmm, thanks all, perhaps a clean shower and walk elsewhere sounds like a better use of time. Backpacker soup, ugh. Sorry P_M, as much as I enjoy a cold beer and people, that doesn't call my name. Appreciated all the replies!!

"backpacker soup". Ewwwwwwww. LOL. I think you have to plan to get to the bath early if you're interested in doing it. I definitely wouldn't go at the end of the day after hundreds of tired and dirty tourists and porters had already been in there.

I'll be there in 2 weeks & thought visiting the baths after our hike would be a great idea until I found this post. I hadn't thought of it as backpacker soup but more along the lines of the hot springs in Costa Rica. I'll be crossing this off my "must see" list.
We're staying at the Sanctuary Lodge & plan on doing the 7am Huanya Picchu/Temple of the Moon hike but check out is at 11:00 so I'm not sure what to do once we finish our hike. Since we're taking the Hiram Bingham back to Poroy we should have some time to fill in the afternoon...any suggestions?

Assuming at $1000 a night they will hold your luggage until you are ready to go down the hill. Most people who stay up there are trying to max out their time at MP.

If you don't want to see any more of MP that day, why not switch to a lesser train back to Ollantaytambo and see the ruins there? There is luggage storage at the train station in Olly.

If you have to kill hours in Aguas Calientes there should be shopping for souveniers.

Yes, they will hold our luggage so that's not a problem. After reading the description & feedback on the hike, I'm assuming my legs are going to feel like rubber (along with my brain since I'm so afraid of heights) so I was trying to find something relaxing to do. I'm going with friends so if we all have the energy then seeing more of MP will work.

I like your suggestion for Olly but we're not able to change our itinerary. Since I can always find energy for shopping that may be an option. Any suggestions for lunch in Aguas Calientes?

Thanks!

No, I only at the overpriced Sanctuary Buffet! I have no firsthand experience at the restaurants in AC and really didn't want any.

They should feed you on the Hiram Bingham? Maybe you could get by with breakfast and that, plus a snack (maybe the hotel could let you take a snack from breakfast).

I definitely would recommend skipping it as well. Long walk uphill to get there combined with general dirtiness and disgusting locker room = not relaxing in the least. The water's not even very hot.

We spent an afternoon shopping for stuff at the market. Toto's House restaurant (somewhat across from the bus drop off area) was fine, nothing spectacular but seemed much better than the other options.

I was there at the end of July. Several of us walked through AC up to the hot springs to check it out. We had a variety of opinions!

Mine was that the pools looked less unpleasant than I had imagined after reading some comments here, but still a little too murky-looking for me. However, my friend and her college-age kids and her husband decided to hang out there; they settled into the couches in the funky lounge area(think hippie-ish murals, crystals, dream catchers, wood carvings, bright colors) and dozed/read, while mom donned her suit and was quite happy with her soak in the water. She said it was hot enough, not dirty, and relaxing.

I've been to a lot of less than pristine hot springs, but this one just didn't appeal to me.

Thanks for all the feedback! Since most of my vacations are spent very close to nature & are definitely not luxurious I am looking forward to some pampering on this trip so I think we're going to treat ourselves to spa treatments at the Sanctuary Lodge after our hike:)