Aquas Calientes

Another early morning. Luckily I’m a morning person, otherwise this would be a difficult adventure. What bothers me most is not having the comfort of my own bed. It takes time to fall asleep at night which can lead to a restless sleep.

Our breakfast was very basic this morning so we supplemented it with some fruit. We took a moto-taxi to the train station, which was a bumpy experience. It’s basically a motor cycle with a coach attached that can fit 3 to 6 people, depending if you get the standard or deluxe version.

As a group we bordered the PeruRail train and made our way through the mountains to Aquas Calientes, a small town close to Machu Picchu. My eyes were glued to the view of the mountains, river and lush vegetation.

We met the group at the hotel and walked through the town. We travelled down the road next to a river to Mariposas de Machu Picchu (Butterfly House). It was a small butterfly conservatory where we saw a few different kinds in action. It’s fascinating how they can adapt to their environment and prevent being attacked by predators. Can you see the snake and owl on the butterfly wings?

We ate lunch at a restaurant. I opted for something familiar versus something local....chicken stuffed with ham and cheese. No one ordered Coy from our group. Ha!

Part of the group wanted to do the 8 hour Inca trail so they got off the train earlier and are going to meet us later tonight. We will see how they faired on their hike.

We ventured out for a stroll around the city. It seems cleaner and much more up to date than some of the other cities we visited. We window shopped at some souvenir shops but they sell basically the same things and the items may not even be authentic. We opted out of the hot springs. Apparently if you go later in the day, the water is not as clean. We found a local market and bought some fruit and water, in preparation for our journey to Machu Picchu tomorrow.

Dessert for dinner since lunch was very filling. I think we all should have dessert for dinner tonight! What do you think?Read more