Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [207]
Transportes Gallito de las Rocas (22-6895; Diagonal Angamos) buses depart to Paucartambo (S7, five hours) daily and to Pilcopata (S18) Monday, Wednesday and Friday. To find the office, look for ‘Paucartambo’ painted on a lamp post between auto shops. It’s on the first block off Av de la Cultura.
REGIONAL SERVICES
Minibuses to Calca (S4, 1½ hours) via Pisac (S3, one hour) leave frequently from the terminal at Tullumayo 207.
Minibuses to Urubamba (S3.50, 1½ hours) via Pisac (S2.40, one hour) leave frequently from the terminal in Puputi, just north of Av de la Cultura.
Minibuses to Urubamba (S3.50, 1½ hrs) and Ollantaytambo (S5, two hours) via Chinchero (one hour) leave from near the Puente Grau. Just around the corner in Pavitos, faster colectivos leave when full for Urubamba (S6, one hour) and Ollantaytambo (S10, 1½ hours) via Chinchero.
Colectivos to Urcos (S8) via Tipón (S3), Piquillacta (S5) and Andahuaylillas (S7) leave from the middle of the street outside Tullumayo 207. For S80 they’ll drive you into the ruins at Tipón and Piquillacta, wait and bring you back.
You can also get to these places, and Saylla, by catching a minibus headed for Urcos (S8) from a terminal just off Av de la Cultura opposite the regional hospital. Buses to Lucre (S2.50, one hour) depart from Huascar, between Av Garcilaso and Manco Capac, between 7am and 7pm.
Minibuses for Limatambo (S8, 1½ hrs) and Curahuasi (S11, 2½ hours) leave Arcopata a couple of blocks west of Meloc when they fill, until about 3pm.
Unless otherwise stated, these services run from at least 5am until 7pm.
Car & Motorcycle
Given all the headaches and potential hazards of driving yourself around, consider hiring a taxi for the day – it’s cheaper than renting a car. If you must, you’ll find a couple of car-rental agencies in the bottom block of Av El Sol. Motorcycle rentals are offered by a couple of agencies in the first block of Saphi heading away from the Plaza de Armas.
Train
Cuzco has two train stations. Estación Huanchac (58-1414; 7am-5pm Mon-Fri, to midnight Sat & Sun), near the end of Av El Sol, serves Juliaca and Puno on Lake Titicaca. Estación Poroy, east of town, serves Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu. The two stations are unconnected, so it’s impossible to travel directly from Puno to Machu Picchu. (Downtown Estación San Pedro is used only for local trains, which foreigners cannot board.)
A tourist bus to Estación Poroy departs every day at 6:15am from Av Pardo (S6). The bus also meets returning trains, dropping passengers off in Plaza Regocijo. You can also get to Poroy by taxi – S30 for a radio cab, S15 off the street.
You can buy tickets at Huanchac station, and there are ATMs in the station, but the easiest way is directly through PeruRail (www.perurail.com).
Over many years of monopolistic bad behavior as the only transport provider on the only route to Machu Picchu, PeruRail earned a bad name. It now seems to be smelling the winds of change, as competing operators get serious about getting started, and the alternative Santa Teresa route gives tourists a different option. Stations have been spruced up, the website is user-friendly and up-to-date, and, yes – the trains run on time.
TO OLLANTAYTAMBO AND MACHU PICCHU
To get to Aguas Calientes from Cuzco by train takes about three hours, and you have two options. The Vistadome service costs S227.20 each way. It leaves Cuzco at 7am each day and returns at 3.25pm. The Hiram Bingham costs S1881.60 and includes brunch, afternoon tea, entrance to Machu Picchu and a guided tour. It departs Poroy at the civilized hour of 9am and gets you back there at 9pm, and gives you three to four hours at Machu Picchu. It runs daily except Sunday.
The cheapest and quickest way to get from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes is to take a combi to Ollantaytambo and catch the train from there (for more details, Click here).
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TO PUNO
This train ride retains a