Machu Picchu- 9 year Anniversary trip

After a great Thanksgiving connecting with family, Dave’s parents offered (or were asked) to stay in
town longer so we could go on a trip for our anniversary.  We know how rare a trip without kids is so we wanted to do something that would be too difficult with kids.  Macchu Picchu in Peru was the top of the list.  As I looked into it, I found that it was quite expensive to get there (even with cheap flights).  The train tickets, bus tickets and entry tickets were crazy, expensive.  That was not what I expected from a 3rd world county.  We didn’t want to book anything in advance for fear we didn’t make it, but everything I read said that trains and entry tickets typically sell out days in advance.  Luckily, we weren’t going in high season, so we were hoping this would make it easier to get there.  Unluckily, the weather called for rain the entire time we were there.  Since it was downpouring in Dallas, I thought our trip would be somewhat miserable and very wet.   I laughed when I went to pack my sunglasses and left them out.
I was wrong..

We packed a few hours before our red eye flight, put our kids to bed and headed to the airport.  Our flight was delayed a couple of hours due to a mechanical problem, but this was a great thing for us.  We got a bigger plane with more seats and we both ended up with a row of 3 seats to ourselves.  We laid down and slept the whole way (5 hours maybe?)

Once in Lima, we had to make another connection on a different airline.  This is always a nerve-racking part for a stand-by passenger.  Flying on another airline means you fly the lowest priority and you can’t see how many seats are available or how many stand-by’s there are.  However, with 15 flights a day to Cuzco, we were pretty sure we would make one.  We made the first one we tried for and were in Cuzco by 10:30.
Once we landed in Cuzco we had no plans and no reservation.  We thought about booking a tour and
were quoted some prices and then we listened to a taxi driver.  He talked us in to going with him for $55 (it is a 2 hour ride to Ollantaytambo to catch the train to Macchu Picchu).  We thought that sounded very reasonable, but then the ride started and we felt like we were going to get swindled or taken for ransom or something.  We realized we had no proof they were really taxi drivers, no receipt, no info on them, etc.  Plus, there was no wi-fi and we had no phone service.  Letting your imagination run wild as you drive through the run-down, dirty city of Cuzco is not a good thing.  About half –way through our ride, we were starting to feel more comfortable and our driver said we were passing a yarn making, dying and cloth weaving place and did we want to see it.  We agreed not knowing exactly what that meant.  Our driver walked us in and showed us llamas, different kinds of corn and potatoes and  then got us a tour guide that spoke English and walked away.  We were trying to listen and enjoy the presentation, but the whole time we were looking for our driver.  We had already paid, so he could’ve just left us and if he left, would he at least leave our suitcase for us??  We were really scared, so when the presentation was over, we booked it out of there to find our car still there (with our luggage) and our driver in the bathroom.  Whew!  After we knew we were safe, we enjoyed that we learned about the textile making skills of the Chinchero

The drive through the sacred valley was gorgeous.

We were dropped off at the train station and we bought a ticket to the town of Auguas Caliente.  We had an hour before our train, so we grabbed a bite to eat.  The food was really good and it was only
$7/plate, which we thought was good until we walked the other direction and found hamburgers and
pizza and other Peruvian foods for under $5.  For some reason I thought all of south America ate food
like Mexican (beans, rice and tortillas) but the Peruvian food was very different from Mexican.  Rice and French fries were the main side dishes.

The train ride was beautiful.  The train had windows that wrapped around the roof so we could see the majestic mountains towering above us.   It was a beautiful afternoon and about this time we were
thinking we were lucky to get at least one day without rain.   We followed a river through a valley the
whole way.  It was interesting to get a glimpse of tiny homes or farms and see people as we crept
through the valley.  It is a way of life so foreign to my own.

I loved the little town of Aguas Caliente (Hot springs).  It definitely is a tourist trap, with many, many
shops and overpriced items.  There was one main road that followed the river up the mountain.  On the road were shops, restaurants (who try to get you to eat there everytime you pass), and hotels.  We
found a hostel online for $36/night.  I knew we were getting ourselves into what would probably be
dirty, but we like saving money enough to do it.  The room was pretty clean (although I was really
nervous about the bed) There was direct TV, hot water and wi-fi (in the lobby only).   We walked around town and found the really upscale hotels that made our place look like the doghouse.  We found the quaint town square and walked up to the hot springs.

view from our hotel room.  The no-car town was just perfect.  

When we woke up at 4:30 it was raining and we slowed down our plan of getting up the mountain at 5, hoping the rain would stop.  Continental breakfast was a roll and Tampico orange juice.  Luckily I
brought packs of instant oatmeal to supplement.  Halfway through eating I realized the water was
probably not purified so I was hoping it was hot enough to remove any diseases or parasites.

When we left the hotel it wasn’t rainy, but was very misty and foggy and wet.  We bought a couple
panchos and was happy with every moment we got without rain.

We originally bought tickets to hike Machu Picchu mountain at 7.  This is not the famous Wayna Picchu mountain, but one that is twice as high (and takes longer) but is actually the better viewpoint, with Wayna Picchu in the background.  

We rescheduled for the later hike time and then went back to the gate and got a guide who spoke English to show us around and teach us what the city was all about.  Patrick was dramatic and hilarious. We learned much more than we could've on our own. 

 this was a city in progress of building for the royalty to go to.  There were agricultural terraces.  storage homes, temples and sacrificial tables.

Door for the royalty to enter the temple area

The terraced land for agriculture

Temple of the 3 windows

 The ampitheater

another temple damaged sometime during it being lost.

At 10 am. We started our hike up the macchu picchu mountain.  I was pretty confident that the 4 hour round trip estimate would be much longer than 2 young, in-shape folks like us would need, but only a few minutes into huffing and puffing up the steep steps and I realized we may not even make it.  We stopped and ate a bunch of snacks to lighten our load and give us more energy.   I cannot express enough how difficult this hike was.  We could NOT catch our breath!  Even after a break only a few steps later we would be huffing.  The steps were steep and never ending.  The sun came out right before we hit the top.  It took us 1 1/2 hours.  We sat at the top forever!  We were so tired.  and the view was beautiful!  The city, Wayna picchu and the gorgeous weather was a perfect end to the hike.  But we were dreading going down.  We were very sore (but were using different muscles) and the hike down was significantly shorter, although the uneven steps made us take our time.

 We decided to save the bus money down the mountain and hike down ourselves.  Maybe we shouldn't have because I was so sore for days after this. This is was free for peruvians day, so we saw many festively dressed Peruvians. 

We bought tickets on the train and had enough time to grab some lunch.  We didn't feel hungry (just exhausted) but eating definitely revived us.
Stuffed avocado appetizer

Once in Ollaytaytanmbo, we literally walked 50 steps up the road and found a hostel for $24/night and crashed.  We were so sore and sunburned.  The water took 1 hour to heat up, the internet crashed 4 times (while trying to coordinate PTA items of business).  Finally, we fell asleep to the sound of the little creek running down the mountainside.  It was a gorgeous view in the morning.  After wandering around the small town and seeing the small marketplace, we took a minibus back to Cusco.  We ran out of soles when the driver dropped us off at sacsayhuaman.  so we drove around looking for someone who would exchange money.  We had plenty of cash, but the $20s had slight creases so no one would take them. Finally, someone exchanged enough to get us into the ruins, but not enough to even get us a taxi out.  This definitely helped us not spend so much on souveniers.  On most of our international trips we have had a few moments of panic not having enough of the right kind of money and wondering what to do about it, but we have always figured out something.

The  sacsayhuaman (sexy woman?) ruins were amazing, huge boulders carved into perfect cubes and stacked like a perfect puzzle.

The city also has a miniature (compared to Rio) Jesus statue watching over it.

A taxi driver drove us to several other ruins and sites (while waiting with our stuff in the car.. . this time we actually trusted him)

After seeing a few smaller ruins in Cuzco, we ventured into the town square.  which was gorgeous, esp compared to the rest of the city.

 We then tried for a flight to Lima to make sure we made it before our red-eye home. We made the first flight no problem. That meant that we had 8 hours of a layover in Lima.  We walked outside of the airport and then we ate dinner and watched a movie.  The long wait was made a bit more exciting by our flight completely filling up and us listing on another flight.  We had several hours of waiting with a pit in stomach.  But eventually we got tickets on a very full fight.  We didn't slept well being so sore, sunbuned and crowded, but we were so happy to be home.

 A quick little get away with my handsome husband.  I love exploring the world with him.