Aguas Calientes—officially Machupicchu Pueblo—is the small town at the foot of Machu Picchu and the principal gateway to the famous Inca citadel. It sits in a dramatic gorge along the Urubamba River, surrounded by steep, heavily forested mountains. Unlike many historic Peruvian towns, Aguas Calientes is essentially a 20th-century creation. Its origins are connected to the construction of the railway between Cusco and the Santa Ana area. By the 1920s, a railway workers’ camp called Maquinachayoq had developed here, and the settlement grew around the railway. All photos created using the Nikon Z8 with the Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 or 24-200mm f/4 lens. Processed using Photoshop CC and Nik Collection’s Color or Silver Efex Pro.

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