EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Many people who want to spend more than just a day at Machu Picchu base themselves at the settlement of MACHU PICCHU PUEBLO (previously known as Aguas Calientes), which is connected to the ruins by bus and has good accommodation, restaurants and shops. Its warm, humid climate and surrounding landscape of towering mountains covered in cloud forest make it a welcome change to Cusco, but the main attraction (apart from Machu Picchu) is the natural thermal bath (daily 6am-9pm; $2), which is particularly welcome after a few days on the Inca Trail or a hot afternoon up at Machu Picchu; right at the end of the main drag of Pachacutec, around 750m uphill from the small plaza, are several communal baths of varying temperatures. There is also a recently restored trail (90min each way) up the sacred mountain of Putukusi, starting just outside of the pueblo, one a couple of hundred yards on the left if you follow the railway track towards the ruins. The walk offers stupendous views of the town and across to Machu Picchu, but watch out for the small poisonous snakes reported to live on this mountain.