Machupicchu Trip!

Well Hello!

                I am back safely from Machupicchu :) if my mother goes a day without hearing from me she is sure I have died, but don’t worry, I’m perfectly safe. A little sore and pretty tired, but very good. Well, Saturday morning I met a guy from the tourist agency at my school, from there he took me to the agency while he gave me some papers, my ticket, bus pass, etc. and told me all about my trip. After that he dropped me off at the bus station and said “See ya later!” I got on a bus (which was really more like a van)  for an hour and  a half and headed off to Ollantaytambo. I was in Ollantaytambo last week as part of the Sacred Valley tour, but this time I was there for the train. From there I took a two hour train ride to the town of Machupicchu. I mostly slept on the train, and read a little, but I actually sat across from the Dutch couple who also go to the school. It was a very big coincidence, and it was nice to see some familiar faces. I’m actually not supposed to tell the school I saw them there because they don’t want them to pay their host family less because they were in Machupicchu for one night. But anyhow, we got to the town of Machupicchu at about 3pm. At the train station a girl from the hotel had a sign with my name on it (or close to it – Alicia Escalante is close enough) and led me to the hotel. There I got my room and met my tour guide for the next day. After meeting with him for a while and after he explained everything for me, I went and got dinner. The view from where I sat was pretty awesome. The food, it was okay. Peruvian pizza is good, but nothing amazing. After dinner I went to “Agua Caliente”, or the Hot Springs. Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting natural bodies of hot springs, but it was very developed. It was all tiled and whatnot, very crowded, and not very hot. It was more like Luke warm, very dirty water, in a small area with a lot of people. I saw the Dutch couple there and their friend, so I hung out with them for a while, but left pretty earlier because it just wasn’t all that great. And yes, I had to pay to get in, so that’s kind of lame. After the hot springs (and a well needed shower) I wandered the town for a little bit and got a massage. Because the town of Machupicchu is purely tourist, everything is overpriced. My massage I got in Cusco was about a third of the price as this one, and much better. This one was still good, but probably not worth 80 soles (which is about 25 American dollars). After my massage, I decided to go to bed early. Or at least try to. The next morning I had to be at the bus station before 5am so I could be up at Machupicchu and get in line before 6am. My tour guide would meet me inside the gates, along with the rest of our tour group, around 6:15. From 6:20 to 8:20 we had a walking tour. It was awesome to hear all about the history of Machupicchu and how the Incan people lived there! In comparison to the other ruins I have seen, they are very similar, but much more developed. Machupicchu was almost all the way done when the Incans left, unlike the ruins in Ollantaytambo, which are only 20-30% finished. It was way cool to see the temples and hear the explanations for the shapes of all the buildings and what it represented and to see the housing and know what each specific courtyard was for, etc. After the tour, I had time to explore on my own. I wandered around the ruins for a while and then hiked up to the sun gates, which were really amazing. It took me a little longer than I anticipated, probably because I was so exhausted. I had gotten a really poor night’s sleep the night before, maybe a good 4 hours, so my body was not liking all the hiking. Once I got up to the sun gates, I stayed for a while. I read some scriptures and my book I’m reading right now called “Spiritually Anchored in Unsettled Times” by Bruce C. Hafen, it’s a great book, I’m almost done with it. I also took a little bit of  a nap up there, but I had to be careful because there are so many bugs and such. Oh my goodness! I have never seen so many butterflies in all my life! In the ruins area, there were a few. But on the trail up to the Sun gates, oh wow! This part of Peru is like where the Jungles meet the Andes. It’s total mountains and peaks everywhere, but they’re covered in jungle-like plants and trees. Because of this, there are lots and lots of bugs. It was so cool to see so many butterflies all over! After the Sun Gates, I hiked over to the Watch Tour, and was going to hike over to the Incan Bridge, but my feet decided I should take a rest first. So I read on a little terrace for a while, just enjoying the amazing view. I was so exhausted and had already been there for 7+ hours, so my body decided it didn’t want to go hike up to the Incan Bridge. So I went and got some lunch, some ice cream, was around the ruins a bit longer, and headed back to the town. The road down/up to the ruins is pretty sketchy. I could have hiked back but that would have been another hour and my feet didn’t even want to stand anymore, much less go down rocky, steep stairs for an hour. Plus, walking anywhere that is that secluded by myself doesn’t sound too tempting. The people of Peru are wonderful and very loving, but I am still protective of myself. Once I got back to the town, I went into the Catholic church to read and rest a bit more. I feel asleep after reading some scriptures and was awakened by two gorgeous, Peruvian girls. One couldn’t have been more than 5, and the other was probably 2 or 3. The older of the two woke me up saying (in Spanish) “Don’t you know this is the house of God?” I nodded and tried to fall back asleep, but once again she said “The house of God!” “La casa de Dios!” Haha it made me laugh so I sat up from resting my head on my backpack and she continued to chat with me. She showed me how to use the holy water and how to pray. She made the cross sign on herself and her (what I assumed to be) little sister. After that they ran outside to play. The kids here are by far the worst birth control ever, Haha by that I mean they are so stinkin’ cute, they just make you want one for yourself. I got back to the town around 3 but my train wasn’t until 7:30. So I went to the internet cafe, emailed mother, checked my facebook, etc. Because it was Sunday I was trying to spend money on only essential things like communication and food. Well, there’s not much to do in a town that is purely for tourists that doesn’t involve spending money. So I mostly walked the town, read my scriptures by the river, read my scriptures in the church, got some hot chocolate to hold me over, read my scriptures in the Plaza. I read the whole book of Mosiah yesterday so that was nice to get so much scripture time in. I saw the Dutch people around town but they were shopping and going to restaurants, so I mostly chilled by myself. It was good though. And don’t worry, when I mean by myself, I’m still around tons of people all the time, so I’m still perfectly safe. I didn’t back to Cusco until almost 11:30. There were lots of taxi’s waiting by the bus so I immediately got in one and went home (to Rosanna’s house). Well, it’s the morning now :) I am feeling very tired and have a little bit of a sore throat but besides that I’m feeling good! Today I will be packing my things, and getting ready for tomorrow, when I plan to go to Ocongate. I still need to talk with Michael and figure out some of those details but I’m pretty sure I’ll meet Berta tomorrow after she is done with school in the Plaza of Ocongate. Starting then, I wont have internet as often, but there are a couple internet cafe’s so I’ll still be on every once in a while. I’m very excited to go to Ocongate, meet Berta, and start working in Huecco Uno. I am especially excited to practice my Spanish even more and work with all the beautiful children! I love you all very much and will post again in a few days and let you know all about Ocongate! Hopefully I’ll be able to post pictures of Machupicchu with this blog, if I can figure it out...¡Chow!