The rest of the group was either staying an extra day or leaving in the morning. I was the only one leaving in the afternoon. My flight didn’t leave until 8:16pm, so I had all day to explore. Since I had plenty of time, I slept in and then hung around my room until it was time to checkout at noon. Then I checked my luggage at the hotel so I could explore Cusco without dragging it around. I grabbed a map at the front desk and planned my excursion.
I first decided to walk to San Pedro market, which was on the other side of the town. It took me a while to get there because I got a little lost, but I did eventually make it. It was okay. They had a lot of stuff but I liked the one in Aguas Calientes better. I didn’t find anything I needed to buy so I wandered back to the hotel. The first day we did a walking tour of Cusco, so I already saw the highlights of the city. I started getting hungry, so I went to a restaurant that was by the hotel. It had good reviews, and I had plenty of time to kill. I took my time eating while I read my book and people watched. In the same square was the Quechua museum, which is free so I decided to explore it. It was only a couple of rooms, so there wasn’t much to explore. They had some pottery and exhibits about Quechua life. I took my time wandering through it. I still had about 2 hours after I finished exploring. So I went into the hotel so I could use their wifi to look up a place to buy chocolate and coffee. Peru is known for their chocolate and coffee, so I decided to buy some as a souvenir and so I could use up my remaining money. There was a shop a couple of blocks away, so I walked over there and bought 3 bags of coffee and 2 chocolate bars. I didn’t have anything else to do and I only had 3 sols left (about $1), so I decided to hang out at the hotel until my driver picked me up to go to the airport. I found a comfortable couch that was near a plug and charged my phone while I read and waited. The van picked me up with no problems and took me to the airport. The guy escorted me up to the counter to check my bag and deal with any airline questions and then escorted me to Security. I had no issues with Security and sat down to wait until it was time to get on the plane. There was a long line to get on the plane and I was patiently waiting my turn. There was another shorter line, but I didn’t know what it was for. Then I heard another tourist say in English that it is for people that only had 1 bag. I only had my backpack so I decided to switch lines. He was right and it didn’t take long to board the plane. The flight to Lima took about an hour and then I had a 2 hour layover until I finally boarded the plane at 11:47pm to DFW. I was so tempted to abandon ship at DFW when I landed at 7:20am, but I waited the hour and a half so I could catch my flight back to Austin. Mom and Joe picked me up at the airport and took me to lunch. The next day, I had to drive back to DFW in my car. But it was definitely an amazing trip and worth the money.
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Sleeping in a bed is a lot more comfortable than a cot. I will never take sleeping in a bed for granted again! We had the option of waking up early to go back to Machu Picchu in order to hike up Huayna Picchu, which is the mountain beside Machu Picchu. We had to make the decision last night, and I decided I just wasn’t up for it. If the whole group was going to do it, I would have forced myself to go, but everyone preferred to sleep in. Except Jim, I could tell he wanted to do it but he didn’t want to be the only one. So we got to sleep in and then go to breakfast before packing up and meeting in the hotel lobby. We left our bags at the hotel and they are supposed to transport them to the train station for us. While we were in the lobby, Jim was missing. John talked to Jon and told him that Jim was throwing up in the bathroom. For some reason he started getting really sick last night and into this morning. It’s a good thing he didn’t plan on doing the Huayna Picchu hike. We walked down to the bus stop in Aguas Calientes to take the bus back to Machu Picchu. Along the way, we stopped at a local pharmacy to get some medicine for Jim, but he didn’t want to buy any. I was tired of having coughing attacks, so I asked Jon what the local cough medicine was and bought some. The lady at the pharmacy prescribed cough drops, so I bought some and a huge container of water. Then we got on the bus and took the switchbacks up the mountain to the Machu Picchu entrance. Machu Picchu was a lot more crowded today! We first went to a scenic overlook of the site. Along the way we passed the Sacrifice Rock. It is called the Sacrifice Rock, but no one actually knows its function. It was used in some kind of ritual, but we don’t know what.
After making it to the bridge and taking pictures, we headed back up the path. On the way, we decided to stop and make a wish on the cocoa leaves the shaman had given us. He told us to take the 3 leaves, blow on them and make a wish, and then leave them at Machu Picchu. We took a minute to make our wishes and then released them over the side of the path. What we didn’t count on was the wind blowing them back towards us, so we had to literally toss them over the side to make sure they didn’t come back.
Jon took us to the train station. Surrounding the train station was a market where we could shop for souvenirs. We had about 2 hours to shop or find somewhere close by to wait for the train. I didn’t have any money, but the closest ATM was inside the train area. But when I went there, there were people crammed into every corner. I decided to browse the market while I waited for the next train to come so all the people would clear out. Every 10 minutes or so I would check to see if I could get to the ATM until I finally accepted defeat. I decided to look outside of the market to withdraw money. Luckily, while I was looking for another ATM I found Jon and Chris and they pointed one out to me that was just up the street. I withdrew the money so I could finally shop. On my way back to the market, I found Tessa and her family. They had just bought “I survived the Inca Trail” shirts. I definitely wanted one of those and they showed me where they found them. So I bought a shirt, and then I found some shot glasses to give out as souvenirs when I get home. By this time it was almost time to gather by the trains, so I returned to the train depot. There was a guy selling his artwork to tourists outside, so I asked to see his work. I was able to find an oil painting of Machu Picchu that I really liked. My goal is to get a local painting at each of the Seven Wonders. I have a spray painting of the Coloseum and now I have an oil painting of Machu Picchu. He originally wanted the equivalent of $99. I was willing to pay that, but I knew I was supposed to haggle so I talked him down to the equivalent of $90. We both left happy. While I was haggling, the rest of my group showed up. Tessa also decided to buy a painting of Machu Picchu and Allison bought a painting of some llamas. A guy also showed up with the group picture we had taken at the start of the hike. He knows the tour guides and how long the trek takes so he just waits at the train station for us to eventually show up. The train is the only way into and out of Machu Picchu. I, of course, also had to buy that picture. Once we all gathered, Jon led us into the train station. Our bags from the hotel were waiting for us, so we grabbed them and then got on the train. I was really happy that I was assigned a window seat so I could watch the passing scenery. The seats are set up 4 to a table. At my table was me, Jim, Jane, and Aubrey. We joked that our table was the sick table because we were all sick except Aubrey.
Once the train got to the station in Ollantaytambo, we grabbed our bags and got off. We then met up with our bus driver to take us back to Cusco. It was a long drive in the dark. On the way, Tessa realized that the painting she bought had fallen out of her bag on the train. It was too late to go back and get it, so she lost the painting. I could see she was upset about it, but at that point there was nothing anyone could do. Once we got back to the hotel we finally had access to our suitcases again. We had time to go up and change for dinner. Dinner was the last time we were going to see Jon and Chris, so I went down early so I could use the ATM to withdraw money for their tip. They really did an amazing job! I gave them about a hundred dollar each. Everyone else also came down to give them their tip and say goodbye. Jon and Chris were taking us to dinner, but half of the group decided to stay at the hotel. Jim and Aubrey were already sick so they stayed. Bill also started feeling bad on the drive back to Cusco, so he and Allison decided to skip dinner as well. Jon, Chris, Tessa, John, Cynthia, Aubrey, and I were the only ones to go to dinner. We rode the van over to the dinner place and had a great last meal. The place was right by one of the squares and through the window we saw a guy selling paintings. John took Tessa over there to replace the painting she had lost. He bought her a new one, but it was smaller and cost more than the one she had in Aguas Calientes. The guy apparently wasn’t willing to go down on the price. Then Jon and Chris walked us back to the hotel and we said our final goodbyes before going to bed.
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June 2022
AuthorThese are details from my adventures around the world. |