Christmas Day at Machu Picchu...and the beautiful Sacred Valley

Christmas Eve in Yucay, Sacred Valley.
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Before leaving Australia on this trip we knew we were going to be in Machu Picchu for Christmas Day and were worried that the crowds would be awful. But it is low season in Peru in December and we really didn't need to be concerned. If we were doing this again, we would have found somewhere in Aguas Caliente to stay (the closest town to MP) and could have gone up the mountain a couple of times. There are plenty of hostels there that we hadn't found on our internet searches.

Staying at the Sonesta hotel in Yucay though was really special. The setting is beautiful and we were able to visit the fantastic handicrafts markets at Pisac on our way there. We celebrated Christmas dinner with the boys on Christmas Eve, at a lovely hotel across the road from our place (for less than half the price of our hotel) and then got up bright and early on Christmas day for the drive to Ollantaytambo to catch the first Vistadome to Aguas Caliente at 7am.  The weather was brilliant in the morning and we were glad about that when we were on the 20 min bus ride up to the top of Machu Picchu, on winding narrow roads with sheer vertical drops to the river below.

Machu Picchu deserves to be the most desirable tourist attraction in the world

Just one of the spectacular Sacred Valley views.
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Machu Picchu deserves to be the most desirable tourist attraction in the world. The location is just so stunning and unique, and the condition of the ruins is as if they were just built. Whatever posessed the Incas to build this city in such a difficult and awesome position, high up in the mountains is hard to understand. But we felt very priviledged to be there.

We lept all over the terraces and took the classic Machu Picchu view shots, before the high mist over the mountain tops started to descend and gave way to solid and steady rain. Wandering MP in the rain was cool...but not as much fun as in the sunshine.  After our lower bodies were well and truly drenched we hopped on a bus and went back down to Aguas Calientes for a vegetarian Christmas lunch of asparagus soup and Paella. A nice way to dry off and relax before we caught the Vistadome back tothe Sacred valley. The only thing we felt we missed out on was the chance to just sit and take in the surroundings. It really is a magical and spiritual place.