Last Moments in Aguas Calientes

Our hike back up the railroad tracks was great, we met up with a Dutch girl who was walking the same way and was on our bus before. We left early to get a dip in the river on the hike back up the tracks. This town felt much like Leavenworth, it wouldn’t exist if it were not surrounded by beautiful mountains, basically tourism and mountains fuel this town. It is pricy so leaving is a must, even pricey it is still Peru so a coffee is less expensive here than at home. Our bus ride was torturous, but still not as bad as the back of a truck for 6 hours with dust flying into our nostrils. Tonight we will be in Cusco again and deciding where to go tomorrow.

Hike back down the tracks.

Arriving in to Hydro Electrico

We were able to catch a game while while waiting for our combi to arrive.

We have heard of this place called Colca Canyon here in Peru, the second largest canyon in the world. We will catch a 10 hour bus to Arequipa, stay the night, then early the next morning we will take a bus 6 hours to the Canyon. I have heard it is more beautiful than Machupichu, that is saying a lot. We haven’t decided if we will take a tour or do it on our own. We went and bought our tickets early, I am actually excited for our bus ride this evening because it should be a really nice bus, this time we spent a bit of extra money and got the nice seats that recline, and there is even a snack served. We parted from Luis’s house one last time, it was so nice to have a place to store our extra things and go to and from while traveling around the Cusco area, if only all our couch surfing experiences could be as pleasant. Our bus ride was nice, much like what I would imagine first class on an air plane would be like, but the roads around here are bumpy and ragged. So it was a shaky first class but still better than the regular seats. We arrived in Arequipa and walked 3 miles to the hostel, we crashed immediately, there will be no exploring the city today for us, although we had first class seats I didn’t sleep and it appeared Mateo did not either. By the end of the night we both decided we would be booking a tour, my planning juice is near out. Tours were only slightly more expensive than going it on our own. I think we are both burnt out on planning and logistics of getting places.