All The Good Stuff

So I realized on the train from Aguas Cailentes to some unpronounceable city that I totally forgot to write all the good stuff. I must have left a very bad impression of Machu Picchu, which would be entirely incorrect.

So here I am, to correct myself.

Even though the climb almost killed me, I am so proud of myself for doing it. I would have NEVER thought I could have done it, and I did it. So that definitely ends on a posivie note.

Also, it turns out that the climb to Wanya Picchu wasn't all that spectacular because it was really ridiculously foggy and you couldn't even see Machu Picchu.

And it supposedly started to rain and thunder right after I left and continued for the rest of the afternoon (I had beautiful weather).

On top of that, Machu Picchu in itself is absolutely breathtaking. I kept going through my pictures again and agian on the train ride, not able to believe I actually went there. It's. . . amazing. So intricately constructed. They didn't use anything to hold the rocks together because they carved them to fit together perfectly. And there are llamas everywhere. I love llamas!!

Oh! I realized that I didn't even write about getting to Machu Picchu, which, in itself, was quite an adventure. I got to Cuzco in the wee hours of the morning, when it got light I went and found a hostal. Then after sitting in the hostal for 5 minutes waiting for the owner to clean out a room for me, I decided that I didn't want to be in Cuzco. I wanted to go to Machu Picchu, and I wanted to go right then. Because I would have been REALLY disappointed if I ran out of time to go.

So, even though the only train had already left, I figured I would just start heading in that direction and see what happened.

But then I realized that my camera had been stolen, and I went and sat in the plaza and went through all my stuff. A little boy came and sat with me and tried to make me feel better. He was cute. Maybe 7 years old. He told me about a city between here and Machu Picchu that was really beautiful. In return, I bought an overpriced llama finger puppet from him. (Those of you who know me know how much of a sacrifice that was for me because I hate spending money on useless things and I really, really hate puppets).

Then I got a taxi to a bus station, a bus to Urubamba, and a shared cumbi to that unpronounceable city. A total of 11 soles, or about $3.75. Then from there, I went to the train station. There was a train leaving in 1/2 and hour for Aguas Caientes (train is the only way to get there). It was the most expensive type of train. There were three types, but the one I would have prefered (half the price)was booked for the next two days. So I thought "just suck it up" and I bought the ticket. I considered getting one back for the following the evening, but ultimately got one for two days from then in the morning.

The train was SO NICE. In my traveling, I'm used to ripped fabric seats. But these were huge leather ones. The food was that tiny kind of food that looks super expensive. Really good too! And the windows were HUGE! I saw the other trains, and their windows were tiny. It was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO beautiful; I was thankful for the huge windows.

You know in the beginning of the movie George of The Jungle when they show the whole jungle? It looks like that. Amazing.

So I went into Aguas Caientes, and you know the Machu Picchu story from there.

Another good thing: how often do you get the excuse to sleep 19 hours straight??

This morning I got back on my ridiculously nice train with men that get manicures and 12 year olds that wear more make up that I've worn in my whole life (accumulatively), and I rode to the unpronounceable city. From there, I got a ride to Urubamba with a nice Dutch family that had hired a car. From there I got a bus to the tiny city the little boy told me about.

And that's where I am now. A city of 900 people in the middle of nowhere. There aren't any resturants, are 2 hostals, and are really cute kids. I flew kites with them.

I know that I've written a lot of "bad" things, but I want to emphasize that I've really have had a great trip.

And despite (almost) getting roofied, almost killing myself on the mountain, and getting my camera & $100 stollen, I'd say BY FAR the worst, most frustraiting and disappointing thing that's happened to me is the horrid watch tan that I've acquired.

And when a watch tan is the worst thing that I'm most upset about, I'd say it's been a pretty good trip.

Lots of love.