4/10/2015 Cusco Peru

We’ve been moving fast with little down time. We left Lima behind and traveled by bus to Cusco. It took 21 hours and Jill was under the weather most of the time. We got here at 3 pm and found our way to the hostel in the rain. We spent 2.5 days wandering around Cusco. It rained and was a little on the chilly side. Finally we discovered the vegan restaurant Green Point. We fell in love with a $3 set 4 course menu. Twice we had that lunch and the sun came out and warmed us up. 

We moved on to Ollantaytambo last night. Reminded me  of San Marcos in Guatemala. It’s a small town with a healthy tourist infrastructure. Our hostel was adorably painted with cats and cat silhouettes. We caught the 7:20 train to Aguas Calientes or Machu Picchu Village. It’s a town built upon tourist money. I immediately thought I was in No Name City from the movie, or Rumpson from the play, Paint Your Wagon. AG is full of bars, hotels, restaurants,convenience stores, and massage parlors. I immediately wished I could stick around. 

After brushing off guide offers Jill and I took several wrong turns each and walked through town. After finding our way to the correct gravel road. Did I mention it was raining steadily. We each had our rain gear but it’s uncomfortable in the best of times. We walked up to Machu Picchu in the rain and clouds and spent about 3 hours wandering it’s mysterious buildings. The rain stopped and we had a wonderful time. The clouds parted for some nice pictures. We took a train back to Ollantaytambo, and a taxi back to Cusco. Now it is morning and we are going to jump back on a bus for Arequipa in a few minutes.