The First Sighting of the Bunnysquirrel

My plane landed in Cuzco, Peru on time at 7am. I was in a hurry to catch my train, so I didn't have a chance to shop around for a taxi, and got hustled with a ride to the airport for $7. I later found out a ride to the airport costs $1, but I learned my lesson. I got to the train station in time to "shower" in their bathroom sink since I had not bathed myself in quite some time. It was a little depressing being by myself, but I also liked the alone time to enjoy the train ride.

The only company that runs a transport service (other than going by foot) to Machu Picchu is Perurail. They make a fair profit on the monopoly by charging around $100 round trip, but the train ride was great. The views were amazing, the mountains were truly awesome. We stopped in a small town for a connecting train, and I met some people my age at the station. Brett, Amanda, Ruth, and Katie. We chatted for a while and got back on the connecting train. When I arrived in Aguas Calientes (the closest populated area to Machu Picchu), I pumped gas over to the ticket station. I got my entrance ticket for the student price of $31, and hustled over to the buses that take you up to Machu Picchu. I was very excited to see the Citadel and to meet the girls up there and tour it with them. The bus ticket was $15 round trip.

I got up to Machu Picchu at 1pm...after a plane ride, a taxi trip, train ride, bus trip, and a hike up there, I somehow met the girls within two minutes at the top of the lookout onto Machu Picchu at 1:15pm, pretty good time. I am not going to even attempt to describe Machu Picchu because I will just be disrespecting it. The pictures can't even begin to describe the feeling of being up there, literally above the clouds. You can see the clouds in one of the pictures, at our eye level. After going to this World Wonder, I sincerely hope that every human gets the opportunity to do the trip. It blew my mind!

We walked around the ruins, chasing some wild llamas, pretending to be part of organized tours, and relaxing on the grass, gazing down 8000 feet into the valleys below. I won't write any more except a petition for everyone to try and make the trip! We came back down into town so the girls could catch their bus, and leave me once again.

We stopped in a little restaurant for dinner. A refreshment, nachos, and entree for $5, booyah. I ordered a traditional peruvian dish of papas rellenas. It was potatoes filled with heaven. I also had some Alpaca (llama meat) on the side. Delicioso! We got hustled when our check came with a $5 "local tax". We negotiated the price down from $7 a person to $5 a person before we ate, but they just add a tax at the end to make up for it...lesson learned. We split the bill and the girls got their stuff ready to do back to the train station.

I was tempted to go back with them, switch my bus ticket, and go back to Cuzco for an extra day. I went all the way to the train station with them, but when we got to the train station, we found some other people from our exchange program...small world!

The girls from our program said they did the Huayna Picchu hike that morning, and it was amazing. The HP hike is a hike up the mountain next to Machu Picchu, with an even better view of the ruins and surrounding nature. It is in high demand, and the government only allows 200 people to hike it at 7am, and 200 more at 10am per day. The girls woke up at 3am to get in line for the buses to do the hike. They said it was worth the effort, so I was contemplating my options.

I decided against being lazy and wasting a day in Cuzco when I had the opportunity to see more of a World Wonder, so I stayed behind, even if that meant being alone. I gave a farewell to the girls, and made my way through town trying to find my hostel for the night. I got to the street of my hostel, glanced over to my left, and Brett, Amanda, Ruth, and Katie were in a restaurant eating dinner. Cray-zay. I talked with them, and they were doing the hike the next morning as well, so we decided to meet in front of their hostel at 4:15am, dealio yo.

I went to buy ANOTHER entrance fee, and a bus ticket. The bus ticket stand doesn't open until 5am, so everyone buys their ticket the day before so they can wait in front of the actual buses instead of wasting time at the stand. However, it was late at night so I did not get the chance to buy my ticket. I went back to my hostel ($10) for an early night's sleep, with my plan in place to wake up, meet my friends, buy my bus ticket, get in line, and be one of the first 200 to enter in Huayna Picchu. Didn't work out exaaaaactly like I expected.