there and back

Ahoy,

Tonight we made it back to cusco after Machu Picchu. The day after we landed, we made the journey to Machu Picchu. A woke up feeling better after a restless night for both of us (a symptom of the altitude). I was so relieved he was returning to normal. We descended to about 8,000 ft, which also helped. We sat on the train across from these 2 girls that had gone straight from the airport to Machu Picchu. Witnessing the state of those two had me glad we stayed the one day in cusco first. I think A would have been so much more miserable had we continued onto a 90 minute bus ride to a 90 minute train ride after flying for 24 hours. But then I'm also not sure if staying at 11000 was wise either. It could have gone really wrong. I do not approach the state of A's health with as much hubris. But we were both able to enjoy the ride and views a lot, and we were both happy that he was not miserable anymore.

We arrived to a tree hotel, which I would definitely recommend. After wandering around and seeing pretty much all of Aguascalientes, we found food in a typical tourist restaurant. This little town is so interesting to me. Everyone in that town was pretty much on the same journey as us. You arrive one day, tuck in early to wake up early and hike around Machu Picchu the next day, and then you're out of there back to cusco. Every single person visiting that place, was in the same boat as us. People have done the trip, and people will continue to do so. Everyday the trains bring in hoards of people to go on this same pilgrimage. Same routine. Same steps.

We woke up at 4:30 AM. And the hotel delivered breakfast to our room. Our room had a great view of some rocks, and the sounds of the raging river. Seriously, I've never seen a river rage so hard. It was rainy and dark as we stumbled to join the crowds boarding the buses up. A almost went on this trip with his regular sneakers that are not at all waterproof. At my behest, we found boots in Chicago literally the day before we left. Life with me is a life of nagging. Very practical nagging, as we stepped into the ruins with his feet dry despite the downpour. It was incredibly overcast. Visibility was low, but I liked it. There's a spooky glow to places when it's foggy. Unfortunately for us we had timed entry tickets to Wayna Picchu, the next peak over from mp, in the morning when it was still overcast, so we were not able to see anything when we were at the top. But it's the journey, right?

We hiked around the ruins a bunch more as the skies cleared up. I was pretty exhausted after our hike up Wayna Picchu, but we trudged on. That place is no joke. It is just never ending and thoroughly spectacular. I definitely need to read up on some more context. There were lots of llamas, at one point they were in our path and we waited for them to clear out before we could continue. The place got thoroughly crowded. February is supposedly the low season, so I can't imagine how crazy this would be during peak season.

We went back down around 1pm and hung around the hotel until it was almost time to board our train. We got a pizza to go which was the strangest rendition of pizza I have ever had. All the restaurants seem to sell the same foods for tourists. Pizza is everywhere, and I don't think anyone knows how to make it. We made it back to cusco same way we got there, seemingly the same way everyone gets there.

Happy to not be in a hurry to anywhere tomorrow.

habitually elevated,
jt