Journey to Machu Picchu (Day 4)

We had all decided the night before that we were going to sleep in, and take a bus to our lunch destination. We were all very tired (especially for the ones that stayed up really late last night). It was a two hour bus ride (so worth it!) until we got to the begining of the train tracks (we were close!). When we stopped for lunch, it was in a restaurant. I wanted to drink something, but the owner was charging me 5 Soles (kind of expensive...). I noticed a market outside, and they were offereing a bigger juice bottle for 4 Soles. When I came back with the juice box from the market, the owner got really mad at me saying that she provides me with space to eat so I should buy from her. I told her that she was screwing me by charging such a steap price (okay, so it is not that expensive compared to back home, but when you stay in Peru for a long time, you get used to their prices).

When it was time to leave, I wanted to go to the bathroom. I needed a key for the bathroom. The owner told me that it was 50 centimos (when everyone else went for free!). She also took her sweet time before giving me the key...so I left her a very nice, big present in the toilet...

I had a fever when we left, and I really wasn't feeling well. We had a walk of about two hours along the train tracks to Aguas Calientes. I ended up talking with Wes and Danny almost the whole way. We talked about Sports in Montreal and Colorado. I aslo learned that Danny is a film major so we talked a lot about the different projects that he did and the amateur ones that I did back in high school.

I noticed that Hassan wasn't feeling good. He was very quiet, and wasn't speaking to anyone. When we were approaching Aguas Calientes, I wanted to talk with him to see waht was the problem. Hassan is someone that I know I can share anything with him (because he is so empathetic andf attentive), and I was glad that he was able to express his feelings with me. Our talk really cheered him up a bit.

When we got to Aguas Calientes, it was beautiful, and so modern looking! They were destroying all of the old buildings and building new ones. It looked very touristic (kind of like Niagara Falls). There were streets where the street was only big enough for the train. This was not a city with many cars. I bought pills at a pharmacy to survive the night. We got to our hostel and I did not expect how loxurious it was (it cost 45 USD a night, but was included in our trip).

Hassan and I went exploring in the city for a bit before supper. After supper, we explored some more, visiting some local clubs. I thought to myself that I had to come back and spend more time in this incredible city. If only we had more time...but we had to get up at 4am tomorrow morning. We had finally arrived to the purpose of our trek...Machu Picchu!