Aguas Caliente is a small village boxed in by high mountains. It has a train station, a bus terminal, and as many hotels, pizza restaurants, and massage salons as can possibly be stuffed into the limited space in between. There is totally no reason to pay this tourist trap a visit – except that it’s the gateway to Machu Picchu. You don’t pay rent here, you pay ransom.
That said, we just had the best food here in our entire south America trip, at the Indio Feliz restaurant. The Lonely Planet guide book recommended it with the words “You have one night. Eat there.” This place would succeed in France.
Our hotel room looks out on a raging river. Better than the techno beats in the center of this gringo nightmare.
