Friday 9/26 at Machu Picchu and Aguas

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Here we are again in the internet cafe that is connected to our hostel in Aguas Calientes. We went to Machu Picchu this morning and it was amazing.

We slept great last night and didn´t want to get out of bed in the morning. Once ready to go, we had the hostel store our luggage for us and we went to the bus station. A ticket to Machu Picchu on bus is $14 USD round trip...and well worth it. I don´t know how some people can hike up that mountain...The buses are very nice but the ride up is a little scary. The road is not wide enough in some spots for two buses to pass eachother. So one bus has to back up to a wider spot in the road while the other one passes.

We could definitely tell the difference in altitude between Aguas and Machu. We were short of breath when we climbed the steps from level to level. Towards the end of our hike I started to notice that I had a metallic taste in my mouth...so I was glad to descend once we were finished with our site seeing.

The mountains and the city of Machu Picchu are absolutely breathtaking. It was very beautiful and I´m sure that pictures weren´t able to capture the true beauty of the place. Every time that we came to a spot at the top of a terrace we could feel the wind and the beauty was so awesome that we had to stand there to just soak it all in.

The trip to Machu Picchu didn´t really take as long as we thought it would. So, now we have a few hours to kill before our train heads back to Cusco. So far, we´ve wandered around the market again to see if we need any of the wares they are selling. I have successfully negotiated prices on 2 items for myself and I must claim at least partial credit for one of Renee´s price negotiations. Í´ve purchased a notebook and a n alpaca scarf. Renee got a pairof Peruvian pants (to wear while we do laundry in Cusco) and a flute type thing for her sister. We´ll probably pick up the rest of our souvenires in Cusco or Puno where we expect prices to be a little lower.

Speaking of prices, we have been pleasantly surprised at the low prices wé´ve seen. Over the last 10 years, people say that the cost of backpacking in Peru has gone up a great deal with increased tourism. This may be true but things are still quite affordable. $1 USD = about 3 soles. An expensive dinner costs 15 soles. A sandwich today cost 4 soles at the bus station (so you know they jacked up the price but it was still quite low). I was worried about the cost of bottled water before the trip...I was afraid it would be expensive. We´ve found it to be even less than in the States. We pay between 50 cents and $1 for a bottle of water. Now if we could only remember to use it while we brush our teeth! Every morning it seems like we accidentally start with tap water before realizing what we´re doing. lol. So as long as we continue to see the same type of prices, we should have no problem making it the rest of the trip with the money that we brought. We´ve already done the most expensive things on the trip (train ticket, Machu Picchu ticket, etc) so it should be smooth sailing from here.

That´s all for now. I´m sure we´ll have some crazy adventures in Cusco to write about later.

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