Day 6 - Explore Machu Picchu/Return to Cuzco - April 1, 2003
We were to get up at 5:30 with a wake up call from the hotel. We did not get the call so we did not get up until 7:10 and we had missed the first bus up the mountain.
When Roberto called he told us he would wait for the 8 people to get up, take a shower and then have breakfast. We went to take a shower and there was no hot water. WOW! COLD!!! We washed as well as we could and went down for breakfast at 7:45.
At 8 the power went off for the city of Machu Picchu, again. The rain had continued all night and as we found out, those who had gone up at 6:30 spent the first two hours in the drizzle. We took the bus up at 8:30 and arrived at the top, 2000 feet up, 25 minutes later.
We were taken to meet David and we decided to explore the ruin some more. Roberto took four of us around for a while, explaining the agricultural area and some other things that we had not covered the day before.
There were many more people at the site at this time even though the weather was not as good. The sun was trying to peek out of the clouds during the morning and it did not rain at the top once we got there. I took a number of pictures, tried to fill in those things not seen the day before and then did a two 360 degree set.
We left Machu Picchu at 12:00 and had a leisurely drive down. When we got down, the power was still off so we could not use the internet. We talked to several friends, walked around a bit and then went to the restaurant for a 1:30 meal. We sat outside and had a couple of Cokes and Peruvian roasted corn nuts while others had Cusquena beer.
We had a nice lunch overlooking the raging river (color of hot chocolate). While there another group of musicians arrived and played Andean music - always trying to sell their CDs for $10. We have two already so we did not buy any more.
We finished our lunch and sat outside the restaurant and talking until the train was ready to leave at 3:30. Porters took our luggage to the PeruRail train and we picked it up when we entered. We sat on the same side as the trip up - so that every one could see a different view.
As the train left we took a little nap. We woke up to beautiful scenery of the high Andes with glaciers and we also saw the people and their life. They work very hard and have a difficult life.
The staff of the train gave us a fashion show with Alpaca sweaters & clothing but they are too expensive for our taste but are so soft. There was a traditional Peruvian Indian folk dance in the isle. It made the 3:30 trip go much faster.
We were picked up by the bus at Poryo so that we could get back to the hotel faster. We were greeted at the very new Jose Antonio in Cusco, checked in and went to our very nice room. We had 20 minutes before dinner so we got settled in a bit, went down to an elegant dinning room and dinner.
We had a Pisco Sour by the tour guide and then dinner. We asked about the INTERNET and the hotel staff offered to let us use their office computer with the high speed line. WOW - was this nice.
So we read our mail, sent the pictures, and then came back to the room to take a hot shower, only to find it cold. So we called them and they got on it and within 30 minutes we had nice water.
Another great day full of new experiences!
Hotel: Jose Antonio Meals: B, L, D
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Day 13 - Saturday, April 22, 2022 - Depart for U.S.
The hotel prepared a box breakfast for us as we had to be in the lobby way before the breakfast room was open.
Last night we found out that our departure flight back to...