Machu Picchu
Michal had been in charge of setting her alarm to wake us up and, sure enough, I was woken up early the next morning by the sound of it. What we didn't realize for about half an hour, however, was that her phone was still set to Bolivian time, which is an hour ahead of Peruvian time. It was annoying to have been woken up so unnecessarily early but at least we hadn't woken up an hour late.
When we left our hostel it was pouring rain and there was already a long queue at the pickup spot so we waited for half an hour while the rain crashed down around us. I'd expected that the buses wouldn't actually leave on time but they ended up being surprisingly punctual. The ride to Machu Picchu took us up some treacherous mountain roads but treated us to scenic views in exchange. After getting to the site, we waiting in another queue to get in, while I ate four of the sandwiches our hostel owners had graciously prepared for us and we acquired a tour guide.
The ruins themselves were spectacular and even the rain that haunted our first couple of hours could not diminish the experience much. After our tour ended, we left the site to buy outrageously priced drinks and food, wishing that we'd brought more water with us. Then we returned for a more free-form exploration of the ruins. At one point a few llamas showed up and defecated right in front of us. Good times, indeed. Although we'd originally expected to stick around until late afternoon, we were so exhausted by noon that we hopped on the next bus back to Aguas Calientes.
We'd also been planning to return to Cusco late the next day but, since Aguas Calientes doesn't have a whole lot to do, we decided to leave in the morning instead. Changing our tickets wasn't too hard and after getting that out of the way we retired to our room to relax while felines and canines crashed down around us in watery form.
