Off to Machu Picchu!!

Peru Thursday August 11, 2011

We got up at 4:30 this morning, had a quick breakfast in time to catch the bus at 6am… that didn’t arrive until 7am! Peruvian time at its best! We had an hour bus ride to the train station, then a 3 ½ hour train ride to Aguas Calientes, the town by Machu Picchu! The train ride was beautiful!! We traveled into the Peruvian Andes, past little towns, saw gorgeous snow capped mountains and rushing rivers. There were some ruins along the way, local people working the land, and animals staked out to graze. I wanted to take a nap, but I didn’t want to miss anything!

Arrived in Aguas Calientes and got checked into our hotel: Gringo Bill’s! It was actually very pretty and a lot nicer than we were led to believe. We immediately noticed we could breath more easily. We had dropped from 11,000 feet to 8,000 feet elevation. Whew! What a difference!

We all scattered to find lunch, go shopping and wander through the town. There are no vehicles in the town itself. You walk everywhere. The roads are fairly steep and there are steps on one side and a smooth path on the other side. This allows wheel barrows and hand carts to be moved easily. It was very amazing to watch two men move a refrigerator on a hand cart, one pushing and one pulling up the incline, and even more exciting to watch them move something down the incline… often at a trot or run!

Aguas Calientes (means hot waters, named for the hot mineral springs) is a very tiny town and we had explored most of it by the end of the afternoon. We did get a little shopping done. Found a little Chollo for Woofie! I went ahead and bought it, I am not sure that Percy will really have one for Woofie… and I really want him to have one! He looks soooo cute in it! What a little Peruvian wolf!

We tried to go to bed early… we have to meet the tour guide at 5:30 am to go to Machu Picchu!!! Another early morning!! This is the highlight we have all been waiting for. We will be amongst the first groups to go up to the ancient Inca city in time for the sunrise. Exciting!!!!!

Hasta Manana!!