That night we arrived at our Hotel...
Hotel Hacienda Cusco Cetro Historico.
It was a decent fine hotel for us to stay in for one night.
That evening we met in the courtyard and met up with Sylvestre.
He was the travel agent that helped us get our train to Aguas Calientes and tickets into Machu Picchu.
In working with him the months prior to getting to Cusco, we were a little unsure if he was legit. He was, and it all worked out for us. Actually, we are grateful for all that he put together for us. Transport and transfers, and tickets. All's well that ends well!
This is also where we had a nice breakfast the next morning before heading off to church and then off to Ollantaytambo to catch the train.
A driver picked us up from the church and drove us the two hours to the town of Ollantaytambo.
It was right during the time that the Phelps kids were giving their Primary presentation, and we were so happy that we had cell service during the whole meeting. We were able to see all of the kids do their part.
We arrived at the train station with about an hour to spare. We found a bathroom, old and dirty that we had to pay for but it worked and I was happy to have a place to go, you know what I mean?
There was a cute little river that ran behind the shops where we had to get a picture.
Then we were allowed into the train station.
Getting ready to board...
On the train)
It was a beautiful ride up through the mountains.
Arriving in Aguas Calientes...
After getting settled into our hotel...(I didn't get any pictures of our hotel:(
we went out to get some grub. I wasn't feeling too well, so after dinner we went back to get some rest.
The next morning before our bus time slot we got to walk around the town.
Aguas Calentes is such a cute little place. It is nestled in the mountains and surrounded by greenery. There is a river that runs right in the middle of town which gives it a lot of character.
The little Catholic Church in town.
We bought a few souvenirs and then waited in line for about a half an hour
to catch our bus up to Machu Picchu.
The drive up was incredible! Lots of switchbacks to get to the top; the views were amazing.
Out first glimpse of the ancient city. Honestly, the view was so magnificent I could have stayed most of the day just looking down at the surroundings around me. We took lots of pictures.😀
Our guide's name was Adan (Adam), and he did a fine job teaching us about this magical place. He only spoke Spanish, but Rick translated for me.
After our tour we rode the bus back down to Aguas Calientes to wait for our train ride back to Cusco.
On our way to Aguas the day before, we paid extra to get the nice train car.
On our way back we got the economy ride.
It wasn't too bad until we got closer to Ollantaytambo when our train car started rocking super bad. We were laughing so hard because we were being whipped around almost violently in our seats. It was like being on the white rollercoaster at Lagoon, only worse.😆
It was a long day but we finally made it back to Cusco by 10 PM.
We got checked into the Palacio Del Inca. It was a beautiful hotel. We were upgraded to a suite.
We love our Marriotts!
The next morning after an amazing breakfast buffet, Rick went out to do the laundry while I got a massage. Good trade off don't you think? HaHa!
Later that afternoon we went out on foot to explore Cuzco. We found the Plaza de las Armas. It was very nice. One cool thing we got to do was go into this church.
Not only was it beautiful inside but on the second floor there were some ladies restoring huge paintings that were centuries old. We got a tutorial on how they do this, and it really is fascinating.
Unfortunately they didn't allow photos.
While walking around, we found a little hole-in-the wall Italian Restaurant. The food was sooo good!
Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs, and so we couldn't eat it all...
Here's a picture of the outside of our hotel. It was a luxurious stay...
Early the next morning we checked out, went to the airport and flew to....??
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