Ahhhh a sleep in day all the way to 7:00am! Now we feel like we are on vacation.
We went down for our breakfast around 8:00am, packed our luggage and checked out of the very pleasant Panorama B&B. Our train doesn’t leave until 4:00 pm tonight so we have a full day to explore Aguas Calientes.
Today is a much quieter day as far as tourists are concerned – thankfully. Fero wanted a hair cut so Christophe gave us directions to a good one. Within 15 minutes of arriving, Fero’s hair looked great and we were off to find a nice place to sit down for a light lunch. All that wonderful food is taking it’s toll!
We stopped at a very cute place called Kintu and had quinoa soup and home fries from delicious yellow Peruvian potatoes. Full, we meander down towards the plaza and find a gorgeous hotel, El Mapi, which just happens to have a very nice looking wine bar. We settle in to a nice soft sofa with a lovely bottle of Mapu Reserva Merlot Baron Philippe de Rothschild from Chile to help pass away the next 3 hours. Perfect!
The time flew by and before we knew it, it was time to board our train. There were a lot of people and mass confusion as 3 trains were leaving within the hour. Thankfully we got on to ours on time and settled well before the trail pulled out. We sat across from two young fellows who had trekked up Wayna Picchu and another higher peak (the name escapes me at the moment). We had an interesting chat and before too long we were at Pachar station and time to board the bus for the balance of our journey.
The bus ride was uneventful, however watching the countryside in the dark was interesting. So many small villages were along the route, sometimes only 4 or 5 lights in the distance would indicate a town. Eventually a full moon peeked through the clouds and illuminated the entire valley only to be covered again in an instant.
Before long we were in Cusco and were fortunate to find a taxi quickly driven by Fernando. A very pleasant fellow who had a new model Toyota and knew where our Hostal was (a bonus). We asked him to pick us up tomorrow as well as we will need a taxi to the airport.
We were given a different room at the Hostal Amaru II that was equally as nice. I was very pleased to crawl into their cozy beds once again.