Economics With A Face

Once there we headed directly up to the area of the ruins where you can take the classic photo overlooking the site. One retired couple got there the same time as we did, and there was another young couple sitting on a rock taking in the view, but for the most part we had the place to ourselves. The fog was rolling in and out below us. It was amazing.

Next we headed higher up and realized there were llamas roaming the site too. Em got some pictures of them and some more of the view. For the next few hours we continued to explore the site as more and more people began to arrive. Machu Picchu is hands down the most impressive ruins I have visited yet. I encourage everyone to head over and to take a look at the pictures, although as good as they are, they are not going to do it justice.

At about 10:00 we decided to hike up Huachu Picchu, one of the peaks that sits directly behind Machu Picchu. It was a strenuous hike that took about an hour but it was well worth it. Atop the peak there were workers restoring more ruins. One of them, who was a pretty rotund guy, bragged that he made it up every morning in 20 minutes. “You’re in better shape than I am” I conceded.

Once we made it to the summit we sat there for about an hour and just watch massive clouds pass one-by-one over Machu Picchu below. It was well worth the hike. We finally made our way back down. Passing people on their way up I felt like saying “I don’t envy the hike your about to do”. I couldn’t believe how many steps we had climbed.

When we left the site to catch a bus back to Aguascalientes, it was pouring rain, the lines were long, and there were mobs of people flowing in. We definitely made the right choice getting here early.

Back in town we grabbed some lunch and sent off some postcards before we were back on the train heading towards Cuzco. The train, though, didn’t get into Cuzco until 9:45. We had to be on a bus to Bolivia at 10:00pm so it was just cutting it too close.

Instead we exited the train in Ollatantambo, the small town where we caught the train on the way up and grabbed a taxi back to Cuzco to cut more than an hour off the journey. Out driver was actually a elementary school teacher, but tried to look for passengers after classes to make some extra cash.

We arrived at the bus station and got 2 of the 6 remaining seats on the bus. We had dinner in the bus station at a small place run by a woman with four kids. They were ages 4, 7, 9, and 14 and all kept us entertained during dinner. We started a family feud between the two middle children as after the meal we left a banana we had from earlier in the day that we were not going to eat. The 7-year-old girl and her 9-year-old brother both dove for it and started wrestling over it before mom jumped in and said that everyone would share it tomorrow for breakfast.

When we were back in the terminal we were informed that our bus would be delayed for 30 minutes to an hour because of some mechanical problems. Another 20 minutes passed and we found out that it had actually been canceled. The agents were scrambling to try to find another bus as other passengers were getting frantic. One guy had a flight from La Paz the next day and the options they were giving us didn’t give him much hope of making it.

In the end, instead of a sleeper bus leaving at 10:00, everyone crammed into a regular bus that departed for Puno (a town near the border) at midnight. It was really hard getting some sleep on the bus but at least we had seats. The isle was packed with people who were not as fortunate as us.