¿Dónde esta el baño?
Trip Start
Sep 05, 2006
1
29
33
Trip End
Sep 04, 2007
Cusco,
Peru
Friday, July 27, 2007
Things started out alright. We went to a tour company. We booked a tour. We paid for it. We spent the rest of the weekend getting things together for the tour and relaxing. We packed. We stored our bags at our hotel. We waited for the company to pick us up. We waited some more. We waited longer. We called the tour company. We waited some more. We went to the office. It wasnīt open. We waited.
After lots of waiting and an interesting conversation with a woman named Rosa from Lima and her family, we went to find Victor the tour guy and get our money back. Thankfully, we suceeded and went in search of our little friend Joseph, who also ran tours and was much nicer
aguas calientes
. We booked a tour with Joseph or so we thought, but that also failed because of lack of return train tickets due to the large number of tourists in Cuzco.So we got tired of guides and decided to do it on our own. The third time was the charm and after we booked train tickets for a different date and a hostel in Machu Picchu Pueblo, we finally were on our way to get to the world famous, Seven Wonders of the World card-carrying member, impresionante Machu Picchu.
We woke up at 4:15ish on that morning with a serious desire to climb the ridiculously long hill to the top of Machu Picchu (because $6 for a bus was just too much and we wanted to feel like we earned it anyway since we missed out on the Inca Trail...). We were accompanied by lots of other Picchu wanderers climbing up the same hill. I particularly remember a group of Chileans yelling at their poor sister Isi... ĻVamos Isi, vamos!Ļ they yelled over and over at 5 in the morning. Poor Isi...
Becky and I swallowed back the churning yogurt at the bottom of our stomachs- a rookie mistake, drinking a pint of yogurt before walking straight uphill for an hour and a half. But we got there somehow and then cheered for poor Isi.
We wandered in through the Disney World gates and security where I willingly handed over my contraband banana to the security guard and told him that it was a present for him. I just didnīt want any trouble. :) We held onto the weathered and worn wooden hand-rails that led the tourist to the top of the hill- the best place to sit to watch the sunrise over the mountains and shine on Machu Picchu
becky and I!
. It was absolutely amazing and after a fun little photo shoot with Becky and our new friend Amanda, we wandered through the place a little before pangs of hunger started shooting from our tummies.So we were back down to the Disney World picnic benches to eat some cheese and bread, my favorite hiking food, and a chance to re-engergize before attempting to climb Huayna Picchu (the peak that looms over Machu Picchu).
Sadly, we were too late- only 400 visitors a day are allowed up and by 9:00, they were full. For me however, it was acutally very fortunate that I didnīt start to climb the mountain because shortly thereafter my carelessness of food choices from the night before caught up to me and I was immobilized for the rest of the day. After paying .50 soles for the bathroom on numerous subsequent visits I asked the attendant if there was a frequent user pass and was denied. I guess he didnīt think I was very funny.
So I found a nice patch of dirt to lay down on and watched the llamas frolick in the grassy area. Becky finished up wandering through with Amanda and then we paid the damn $6 for the bus to take us back to the Pueblo. The next few days all consisted of very similar events, me being sick and me having to travel anyway. But the good news is that they sell Pedialyte in Cusco. Hell, I`ll bet some of those restaurants probably have stock in the company....
