Advertisement
“Your true traveler finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. It is the symbol of his liberty-his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure.” – Aldous Huxley
July 4, 2011.
Took the train to Aguas Calientes, which is the town you must go through to get to Machu Picchu.
The train ride was three hours long but very nice. I met a German couple and a guy from New Jersey. They were seated with me as the seats were in groups of four with a table in between.
We had some very enjoyable conversations about culture, language and traveling.
After getting to AC, I had the problem of not knowing whether I really had a room since my reservation was kind of dodgy (and my bank decided not to pay the $6.00 deposit (long story). So I get to the station and no one was waiting for me. I decided to walk around and see if I could find it, but I couldn't. Several of the citizens tried to help me and told me to ask a "Sereno" or a security person (I guess they are the police..I
don't know) one girl also suspected that the hotel might be across the bridge. Remember, this is a small small town. OK, so I asked the security and found the address and just walked to the hotel.
When I got there, this young girl named Marta answered. Yes, they had my reservation, but i didn't tell them what time the train was arriving. OK, it's not like there are so many trains in this little town. Besides I let them know when I was leaving Cuzco. Anyway, I said forget about it, I have a bed, a bath, and a roof over my head for the night.
Marta just smiled a lot and called me "amigo" I just couldn't get mad.
I love Aguas Calientes. even though it is extremely dominated by tourism there is one main street and it is devoted to restaurants, massages, hotels, and bars. What more do you need. It beats television. The people of the town want our dollars, but they are not so aggressive. They take no for an answer. I wasn't there five minutes when the people who tried to help me find my hotel knew me. Hola amigo". Did
you find the hotel. "Come sit down and talk" So I would.
I guess I need to say that I arrived in AC at about 11:00 a.m. and was going to Machu Picchu at 5:30 am the next day. So, I had the day to explore Aguas Calientes. I hear a pisco sour calling my name.
I met a guy from Milwaukee and a woman from London who was traveling with a tour group. We had a couple of pisco sours and just talked about the same (travel, culture, and language). They had already been to MP, and said it was amazing.
I decide to do some more walking around and then get some lunch. I picked this restaurant in the plaza and asked for some ceviche, which I never had before. There I met Ruben and Alicia who worked in the restaurant. They were very nice and willing to talk. I finally had ceviche for the first time. It was raw trout marinated with lime and onions, served with fried sweet potatoes. It was so delicious. I took a photo of if but only until after I had started eating (I hate that).
So, basically
I whiled away the day visiting shops and bars relaxing with a beer here and there and I decided that maybe I should go back to my room. As soon as I got in the room, there was a knock on the door. It was Marta wanting to know what time I wanted my breakfast. There's a breakfast? Yes it's included. I agreed to scrambled eggs with ham.
Did I mention that this room cost $21.00?
After a while in my room, I thought "this is stupid and i am bored so I went back out and hung around for a while. I had a waiter named Miguel ask me to write something down about my country for his nephew's project at school, So I did. I wrote about the 13 colonies and what the stars and stripes represent. I don't think he knew that we have 50 states. Why would he?? I also wrote about the US being occupied by England France and Spain.
This was my Fourth of July duty!!
By the way the two Americans that I did meet forgot it was the 4th. We did wish each other a Happy Independence Day
though.
Anyway when I get back to my hotel it is locked and no one answers. I felt a slight panic since it was getting late and I was trapped outside. After repeated knocking and ringing the buzzer/intercom thing (which I believe doesn't work). I went to a little store next door and told her my dilemna. this. She came outside, looked up, and started yelling "MAAARRTAA"
Sure enough we could see Marta running down the stairs with a great big smile on her face"
"Que susto!"--what a fright, I told her. I had been a little worried.
"Pense que mi amigo ya estaba dormido"--I thought my friend was already asleep. She had a great big smile on her face. I just had to smile too. All's well that end's well.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.063s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 11; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0339s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Calinda
non-member comment
4th of July
What a crazy up and down day! The cerveza looked good.