South America Adventure - Part V - Back to Cusco

After arriving in Cusco that night, we made it over to our hosts' home, an American family with 3-4 kids. They've been living there for several years and decided to settle in and make their family home there. They were still awake when we got there, so we got to chat for a bit. A couple other travelers were also there, so we said hellos. They live in a large place that can hold up to a dozen or so guests, so that's kinda fun.  We took a good shower that night and decided to sleep in a bit the next day. 

We had a late breakfast with the lady of the house before setting off on Cusco adventures. We ate the best honey I've ever had, then she gave us a recommendation and made us a reservation for lunch. 

First we walked over to Qorikancha, a major Incan temple back in the day. The Spanish colonials kinda ruined it when they came into town, but it's still there and definitely worth seeing.

The murals around the plaza were really wonderful.

I wasn't supposed to take a photo of this, but I snuck one anyway.

Next stop - the artisan neighborhood of San Blas for some shopping! The shop ladies were so funny - buy more, great price, buy more!

Those skirts were so beautiful, and if I had a place I could wear one regularly, I would've gotten one. We even looked later in the day to try and get one, but only ended up at a rental place. None for purchase - too bad. 

We also hit up the cathedrals in Plaza de Armas. There are two or three that are connected and magnificent. I wasn't supposed to take photos in here either, but I tried to sneak a few. Meghan said the guard guy was totally following me, but he never said anything.

This white ceiling was something to behold. I loved it.

Next stop - lunch at Pachapapa for cuy!

Good thing we had a reservation - this was a hot spot, especially on a nice day. Their back patio was lovely and got packed.

The cuy takes awhile to cook, so when Nic had called for us earlier, she had them start cooking so it'd be ready by the time we got there. It looks pretty crazy, but when in Peru, right?

We named him Enrique.

They bring you the whole one for photos, then take it back and cut it up for you to eat.

Verdict - a bit fatty and greasy, and tastes like chicken. Their seasoning was great. At lunch we saw an American guy that we'd seen earlier in the day at the cathedral. He kept coming over to our table to chat with us. He's a businessman from Chicago and looked like he was at a business lunch with some local contacts. As we were leaving, he invited us to meet him at his hotel later for a drink. Meghan was quick to decline, but I protested that he could've been our sugar daddy! Alas. It was a smart decision, and he kinda didn't know what to do when we said we don't drink.

Adventures continue. More shopping at a local chocolate shop and llama photos and buying golden mirrors.

Then we decided to get on a double decker tour bus to see some sights outside the city. Smart move, right? Not if you're the first ones on and circle the plaza 30 times waiting for it to fill up. We ended up chatting with a Canadian couple most of the time - they'd come to run some marathon along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. They hadn't exactly trained, and I think they must  be kinda crazy. Hope they survived it!

Drove out to Sacsayhuaman (sexy woman) to see those ruins on a driveby, and that was fine. I was kinda Inca'd out  by this point.

Mandatory twenty minute stop at a shop so we could buy more stuff. Glad we bought stuff in town - way cheaper!

I actually liked a couple of these, but my feet were too big!

After we got back into town, it was pretty cold, so we ran back to the house to change into something warmer. We headed out to find that skirt shop we'd passed on the bus, but rentals only. Then we hit Starbucks for some internet time, as the room we stayed in at the big house didn't quite get good enough reception.

A couple other French travelers had come into the house, so we headed out with them for some drinks and food. Yos and Flo were awesome and so much fun - they were in the process of moving to Australia from Paris, and they'd been traveling for a few months. They'd even gone to Utah and Arizona recently, so we chatted about the sights they saw. They ended up giving us their National Park Pass to use. We were also the first Mormons they'd ever met, so we had a really fun time talking about that. Note to self - email them and see how they're doing down under.

We hung out for a couple hours then caught the town festival as we walked home.

Meghan and I had an early wake up at 530 to catch our flight back to Quito. Our cab to the airport cost about 2 bucks. Long layover in Lima - we had Cinnabon to tide us over and fill our bellies.

Hello again, green Ecuador.

South America Adventure - Part IV - Machu Picchu

Finally, the day to go to Machu Picchu! It was June 6. Meghan and I got up early and walked to the train station. There were tons of tourists, as expected. People from all over the world. We waited in the station and had a little snack, then finally it was time to board.

We booked the Vistadome train - more windows to see from, less overhead bin space. We'd left our big luggage in Cusco and only had a small backpack with us, so we were able to stuff it under our feet.

This train really doesn't go very fast - it's a couple hours for not so many miles. We settled in and met our seatmates, including Father John Paul, who was visiting from VA. He came to visit a family from his parish in VA, who were living in Peru as expats. They were all seated next to us too - Dad in the military, Mom, and two kids. The daughter, Sofia, sat next to us and had a sad incident spilling pineapple juice all over herself. We told her that at least she'd smell nice. She later told us all about her international school in Lima and the annual trips each grade takes, like to MP and the Amazon and such. Pretty cool. They were a really nice family.

Then we arrived in Aguas Calientes. It was a maze through the markets to get into the town and streets.

Up the hill to the edge of town to find our hostel.

We walked through town to find a lunch we could take with us, since food is pretty expensive at the site. We grabbed some empanadas and drinks to go, then headed over to the bus station. Nearly $20 to take the bus round trip, but it sure beats walking very steep stairs for 2 hours. 

It was around noon, so only 2 other people on the bus with us. Half hour ride with crazy switch backs. These mountains are something else - so different from the ones where I live. 

Yay for electronic entrance tickets working once we got there - you don't know how difficult it was to try and buy these things online. So much to see right when we walked in - where to start?!

 

The grounds aren't the big, I suppose, but there is a lot to explore within the park - hiking trails and mountains to climb. We decided to hike out towards the Sun Gate to see the views as if we'd come off the Inca Trail.  I'm pretty glad we didn't actually do the Inca Trail. Slight relief when it was all booked months in advance and we were too late.

We probably hiked most of the trail, but it was kinda long and we were hot, so we came back down into the main area. Lllamas and making dance videos awaited us.

This guy wanted nothing to do with me.

This first day was all about wandering around - no tour guide, just our guide book and trying to see what we could see.

It's pretty amazing how they made all those stones fit together just right.

There may be a lot of these mountain photos, but I really couldn't get over their grandeur.

Then we got ridiculous and started doing jumping photos. There are not the most flattering, but I'll share anyway.

We relaxed and took a few minutes of shut eye here. I just wanted to hang out right there for a long time.

This photo  below is one of my favorites.

My Machu Picchu advice - don't try and rush this as a one day trip. A lot of people do that, and they have to head out of the park around 3 in order to catch the train back to Cusco. Stay another night in Aguas and stay in the park til it closes at 5. Fewer people, and the way these clouds roll in and how the light hits and how the sky is - it was pretty amazing. Those last couple hours were so great.

Hiram Bingham - the man, the myth, the legend. So many stories floating around about what this site actually is - who really knows?

We headed out of the park finally and stamped our passports. Definitely more than 2 people on the bus going back, but the wait wasn't bad. We chatted with a tour guide on the way down who gave us some good dinner advice.

We came back to the hostel, got our Instagram on, then changed into swimsuits to hit the hot springs. We rented a towel on the way, since we didn't want to stink up our hostel towels in the sulfur. It was a bit of a hike, and when we got there, the only hot pool was crowded with the party crew. Eh, no thanks.

We hung out in the lukewarm pool for a few minutes then left. Kinda underwhelming. On the walk back, we ran into a couple guys from Arizona. I think I made a comment about a baseball hat one was wearing, and we kicked off a conversation. Kinda wish we hadn't. One of the guys was a news anchor who wanted to interview us about our visit to Machu Picchu, and it'd air on local Tuscon news. He was way too excited about it, and one of his buddies whispered to me that the guy would probably get to write off his whole trip if he got a work story out of it. He needed AZ natives, which I wasn't exactly anymore, and we didn't hike the Inca Trail and he wanted us to stretch some details. We gave them our contact info and said we'd meet up the next day in the park, but.....yeah, we didn't....

We rinsed that grossness hot springs stuff off then headed out for dinner at the recommended place - Indio Feliz, run by a French guy. After walking down the streets of Aguas and getting hassled at every place, and realizing that every single place has exactly the same menu, this place was a breath of fresh air.

All I wanted was some fresh veggies. This plate delivered.

I had a steak of some sort.

Meg had mango fish.

And of course, dessert. Followed by an awesome Celine Dion lip sync by Meghan.

The tacky sign with a pirate may throw you off, but this is easily the best place to eat in Aguas. 

As we were falling asleep, we debated whether or not to do the sunrise thing at Machu Picchu. That would mean waking up at 3am or so and heading over to catch the bus. I'd heard there could be long lines for the bus, and if you missed the first bus, you missed the sunrise.

We decided against going, and that was a smart decision. It can be so cloudy in the morning, and the mountains are so tall that by the time the sun gets over them, it's way above the horizon and the cool colors. So not worth it.

Breakfast at the hostel. I think we were the last ones to eat.

We checked out of our room and got a locker to leave our stuff in - someone even left us a lock. Back up the mountain we went on the bus.

We had reserved tickets to hike Machu Picchu Mountain that morning. It's only open til noon and takes a couple hours to get to the top, so you've gotta get a move on. Most people try and hike Huayna Picchu (the one in the photo below), but it sells out so quickly. I was glad to do the other one, so you can have the view of HP in the background among the ruins.

Stopping for one of the many breathers. Not gonna lie - this hike was kinda hard. It was a gain of about 2000 feet.

The sun was out and it wasn't too terribly hot, but we were glad for some shade and cool breezes along the way.

Finally hit the top.

Going down was much easier. Somewhere along the way I cut my finger, and a girl came to the rescue with a first aid kit and a bandaid. Also, we passed one of the guards heading up to the top to herd everyone out by noon. I'd hate to have that job. We also ran into one of the AZ guys - not the news caster, but his friend. We never did find that guy and his cameraman...ooops.

We headed back to the entrance to hire a guide. Most of them were already out for the day, but we found one who said she speaks English. Eh....not so much. I'm glad we got a guide though - we saw some things we wouldn't have seen, and we learned a little bit. Sometimes it was just easier for her to say it in Spanish, then I could tell Meghan, but I think we all got along pretty well.

Their fountain systems were impressive.

How'd they get that stone so smooth?

Water mirrors for looking at the night sky.

I really didn't want to leave, but it was time to head down and catch our train. Machu Picchu really does live up to the hype - I was amazed the entire time. This place is magnificent.

Back to town to grab our stuff. We were sweaty and dirty and cleaned off with wipes. The train station was so crazy crowded.

We browsed the markets while we waited - so many pretty things to buy, but I think I resisted.

Adios, Aguas. 

On the looong ride back (4+ hours), we were stuck next to the most obnoxious, loud, American girl ever. Oh man - the girl on the far left. Everyone told her to shush, but she was drunk and didn't care. People complained to the train conductor, some European guy yelled at her, it was not fun. We were all so tired and just wanted some peace and quiet.

Finally made it back to Cusco - we had to cab into town (overpriced) to grab our luggage from our first hotel, then we cabbed over to our Airbnb place to stay with an American family. More Cusco adventures up next.