This past week has been so hectic but I am completely grateful for the friends I have here. I started out my hectic week by moving all of my stuff from my host family’s house to my friend Xuan’s house at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Then, Xuan and I met Marie Louise, Gabriella, and Laura at a grocery store near the plaza to pick up snacks for our trip to Machupicchu. We had to be at the travel agency by 10 a.m. to take a bus to Ollantaytambo. From Ollantaytambo we took the Peru Rail to Aguas Calientes which is one of the two ways to get to Machupicchu without walking. There was a cheaper alternative to go by bus but the route took longer and the route was said to be more dangerous because of the rainy season. Several people told us the week before that there had been some landslides last month so it was not safe to take the bus. We ended up finding a fairly priced tour which included transportation from Cusco to Aguas Calientes and back, one night at a hostel, and entrance into Machupicchu with a two hour tour guide.
We arrived in Aguas Calientes around 2:30 in the afternoon on Saturday. When we got there we realized that we had no idea where our hostel was but luckily a security guard at the train station helped us track down our company representative who directed us to our hostel. The town of Aguas Calientes (Machupicchu Pueblo) was actually quite small and, not surprisingly, incredibly touristy. We spent the afternoon wandering around and looking for a good place to eat. We found a place that offered us the tourist menu which is basically a three to four course meal, depending on the place, for a set price. The service at the restaurant was terrible and we had to remind them about ten times to bring out some of our food, but the food was good. In general, restaurants in Peru do not have a sense of urgency. After dinner we went to the hot springs which was a hilarious experience because all of us were so uncomfortable in the pools. They were located in the most gorgeous location in the mountains but the pools smelt funny and had way too many people. After the host spring we wandered back down the mountain to our hostel where we were greeted by another representative from our tour company who was so mad at us for not having arrived earlier to go with him to buy our ticket for Machupicchu although we had absolutely no idea we were supposed to do that earlier in the day. After much confusion, we followed the guy to the ticket office and everything worked out in the end.
That night, Marie Louise and I decided to go to bed early while the other girls stayed up. We all woke up around 4 a.m. the next morning to start the hike early and hoped to head up the mountain to Machupicchu to see the sunrise. We ended up underestimating how strenuous the hike would be and we got a bit lost along the way but we were all up the mountain a little after 7 a.m. We hung out at the top of the mountain and checked some of our bags in until about 9 a.m. when our two hour tour started. Right off the bat we lost our tour guide and somehow got split up from each other but about 45 minutes into the tour we were all back together again. After the tour we wandered around some more and then bought a bus ticket down the mountain. We were all tired and we were afraid that the trail down would be slippery because of the rain.
When we got back to Aguas Calientes we spent some time in the market and ate lunch until our ride home to Cusco. We got back around 11:30 that night and I was welcomed back by an e-mail that my flight to Quito had been canceled and I did not have a permanent place to stay for the week. I ended up staying with Xuan for a couple of days until the school found out and freaked out because I had not gone through them to request the homestay (liability or money issues…). I ended up staying in different hostels for a couple of nights until it was approved that I could officially move in with Xuan and her host family.
During my nomadic week the transportation drivers went on strike so we all took advantage of walking places without drivers purposely speeding up when we crossed the streets. Also, I spent a couple of days eating my lunches at the market. I found that I could get a whole place of rice with an egg on top with fries and veggies on the side for S/3 or a little over $1. Also Carnival is going on so I got hit by water balloons for the second time. I also enjoyed seeing people walk around with confetti or foam in their hair. On Saturday morning I woke up to a bunch of noise on the street. I jumped out of my window onto the balcony and watched a Carnival parade on the street in front of my apartment building. The people in the parades in Peru are so enthusiastic. It also added to the excitement that they people watching on the sidewalk were throwing buckets of water at them.
We arrived in Aguas Calientes around 2:30 in the afternoon on Saturday. When we got there we realized that we had no idea where our hostel was but luckily a security guard at the train station helped us track down our company representative who directed us to our hostel. The town of Aguas Calientes (Machupicchu Pueblo) was actually quite small and, not surprisingly, incredibly touristy. We spent the afternoon wandering around and looking for a good place to eat. We found a place that offered us the tourist menu which is basically a three to four course meal, depending on the place, for a set price. The service at the restaurant was terrible and we had to remind them about ten times to bring out some of our food, but the food was good. In general, restaurants in Peru do not have a sense of urgency. After dinner we went to the hot springs which was a hilarious experience because all of us were so uncomfortable in the pools. They were located in the most gorgeous location in the mountains but the pools smelt funny and had way too many people. After the host spring we wandered back down the mountain to our hostel where we were greeted by another representative from our tour company who was so mad at us for not having arrived earlier to go with him to buy our ticket for Machupicchu although we had absolutely no idea we were supposed to do that earlier in the day. After much confusion, we followed the guy to the ticket office and everything worked out in the end.
That night, Marie Louise and I decided to go to bed early while the other girls stayed up. We all woke up around 4 a.m. the next morning to start the hike early and hoped to head up the mountain to Machupicchu to see the sunrise. We ended up underestimating how strenuous the hike would be and we got a bit lost along the way but we were all up the mountain a little after 7 a.m. We hung out at the top of the mountain and checked some of our bags in until about 9 a.m. when our two hour tour started. Right off the bat we lost our tour guide and somehow got split up from each other but about 45 minutes into the tour we were all back together again. After the tour we wandered around some more and then bought a bus ticket down the mountain. We were all tired and we were afraid that the trail down would be slippery because of the rain.
When we got back to Aguas Calientes we spent some time in the market and ate lunch until our ride home to Cusco. We got back around 11:30 that night and I was welcomed back by an e-mail that my flight to Quito had been canceled and I did not have a permanent place to stay for the week. I ended up staying with Xuan for a couple of days until the school found out and freaked out because I had not gone through them to request the homestay (liability or money issues…). I ended up staying in different hostels for a couple of nights until it was approved that I could officially move in with Xuan and her host family.
During my nomadic week the transportation drivers went on strike so we all took advantage of walking places without drivers purposely speeding up when we crossed the streets. Also, I spent a couple of days eating my lunches at the market. I found that I could get a whole place of rice with an egg on top with fries and veggies on the side for S/3 or a little over $1. Also Carnival is going on so I got hit by water balloons for the second time. I also enjoyed seeing people walk around with confetti or foam in their hair. On Saturday morning I woke up to a bunch of noise on the street. I jumped out of my window onto the balcony and watched a Carnival parade on the street in front of my apartment building. The people in the parades in Peru are so enthusiastic. It also added to the excitement that they people watching on the sidewalk were throwing buckets of water at them.