Cusco and Machu Picchu

Not all travel is easy or goes according to plan. We left Iquitos early on Monday morning. We flew to Lima and were to connect to Cusco, where we were to be met by a driver and driven to a town a couple of hours away to catch a train to Aguas Calientes, where we would stay for the night. But when we got to Lima, we found we had randomly been bumped from our flight, which meant we wouldn't be able to make our other connections during the day. Jeff worked with the airline, trying to figure out our options, while I ran upstairs to the train ticket office to try to reschedule our train trip.

Eventually, we made it as far as Cusco, where by happy accident we had an apartment waiting for us, since we had booked it for the wrong night. We were worn out from a day of travel and stresses but walked over to one of the main plazas to buy our tickets for Machu Picchu, only to find that ticket office closed. Inquiries at a travel agency revealed there was another ticket office not far away that was likely still open. So, Jeff ran over there while the rest of us hung out in the plaza. Finally, with tickets in hand, Jeff returned, and we all breathed a sigh of relief as our last kink of the day worked out. Then we popped into a chocolate shop for some samples before eating dinner next door at Chicha. It was a nice restaurant with delicious food, and we got to try some popular local fare, including alpaca and guinea pig.

The streets of Cusco reminded us of Europe

A building in the plaza flying the Cusco flag

Double "Giddy-up Horsey"

The Choco Museo

Cuy (guinea pig) and blue corn crepes

Alpaca carpaccio

Alpaca curry

This morning, we caught a very early train at a station outside of Cusco and had a lovely ride up to Aguas Calientes, where we caught a bus that took us up to Machu Picchu. It was so surreal to be in a place that I have typically thought of only as a National Geographic photo. It was amazing and worth all the trouble, and we had a wonderful day making happy memories!

Train ride to Aguas Calientes
(Top left--There was no power in the train station when we arrived,
but there were several propane heaters set up throughout the station.)

Killing the Bucket List!

Machu Picchu