Aguas Calientes

October 31-November 3, 2022

Aguas Calientes was a place for us to chill for a few days before seeing Machu Picchu. It is a stunning little town only reachable by train and the only way to get to Machu Picchu. It was one of the smoothest train rides we've had in awhile and it was a beautiful ride through the mountains.

The town is also know as Machu Picchu Pueblo and is surrounded by high mountain bluffs on all sides with the Urubama River and train tracks running through the middle of the town. It sits at an elevation of 6,000 feet and is filled with backpackers and people who come to visit one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.

We checked into our $24.00 a night stinky hostel/hotel where people were sleeping on couches and room doors open with people laying on beds hoping to catch a breeze, most rooms were windowless. Thankfully our host gave us the option of one with a window, except leaving the window open, we later found out, meant you'd be eaten alive by bugs.

We spent that day walking around the town square, across the bridges to the local vendors, visited the market, the church and then found us an amazing taco place. Most of the restaurants had Mexican food and pizza on the menu.

Since it was Halloween we found some face paint and figured it would be fun to paint our faces and surprise Jim's sister Terri, who was arriving later that evening. I practiced my face painting skills on Jim first, to test out the paint to be sure it really washed off, since technically the package said it was water color paint and not face paint.

We turned a lot of heads, got a few thumbs up, stares and laughs as we headed to the train station. After picking up Terri and heading back to our place a woman asked if we would take a picture with her two young daughters who were dressed as princesses. After we were done taking pictures the smallest little princess gave me the biggest hug, holding me tight and refusing to let go, it was the sweetest thing.

The next morning the three of us walked up and explored side roads and back roads. We crossed over the bridge, where we left our lock of love on one of them and ventured into the local area. We talked with two older gentlemen, who sat shucking some sort of peas. They offered us one to try, Terri and I both opened them and did what they were doing, got the peas out and placed them in the bowl, but not Jim. He opened his pea and popped them in his mouth. Thankfully they weren't too hot like the men said.

After our Machu Picchu hike we decided to celebrate at Chullos Restaurant and Craft Beer right on the river. They had an assortment of different beers with funny names and being adventurous we decided to try cuy (the local dish) for the first time, which we all split. Tasted like chicken!

We contemplated visiting the hot Springs but the reviews were poor and you had to make the hike up with only your bathing suit and flip flops and it was just too chilly. The day we were leaving, Terri got a hot stone massage for $17 an hour and said it was one of the best massages. We decided to skip the massage and had a few beers across the street from the school and watched kids get picked up that day, that brought back so many wonderful school memories.