After our hike, we stayed in Aguas Calientes for the night. The city resides below Machu Picchu and is surrounded by giant mountain tops. The river runs through the town, and as soon as we got off the bus from Machu Picchu, we looked for a restaurant and a beer. We met up with the group for the last time, and I had a bit of Jason’s cuy (aka Guinea Pig). When it arrived, it looked as a rotisserie chicken would look, but in the form of a guinea pig. It didn’t have much taste and had the texture of chicken.
We dropped off our things at our hostel, and then Jason and I went for 4-for-1 happy hour drinks with the other group that we met on the trail. 4-for-1, we found out was a tourist scam. The restaurant first tried to overcharge our group by “forgetting” to remove another person’s bill off ours. And then that group left. Then they overcharged some of our other friends in the restaurant. And suddenly Jason and I were the last to leave while we finished our beer. The owner then pleaded that we didn’t pay, which we paid earlier. After a long argument, and then giving the owner 1/3 of what he was trying to get us to pay, we left without his consent.
The next day we went to Aguas Caliente’s famed hot springs. The rule is to get their in the morning before the springs get too dirty. We arrived around 8am, and saw the locals washing themselves with soap. Pretty funny. We jumped in and now I realized that Aguas Calientes should be renamed Augas Tibias because the water was luke warm.
We jumped out after about an hour, and then explored the town. There were a lot of butterflies, birds, and wasps around town. Those wasps we’re red, looked mean, and could be mistaken for a bird. Yikes.
We had a great dinner and then jumped on the train back to Cusco. We bought some wine to share on the train and bus. It was pretty decent stuff for coming in a box. We took our last day in Cusco, learned a bit about the famed king’s rock in the middle of town, drank our lost coca tea, went to the local’s market which had a ton of juice bars, and then began our flight home.
We had an overnight layover in Lima, which I think we all could have done without. Lima is just too big to get any real value out of. In fact the place we stayed at was close to a Chili’s, Dominoes, and a KFC. I even saw a few casinos. Lima is right next to the coast, so it was nice to watch the waves roll in while we at dinner.
But now we’re back home, and I have to say our travels in Peru were quite amazing. Something I recommend for everyone to try to do.