As we waited in the parking lot for one of the last buses of the day to pick us up and return us to the town, I walked over to this beautiful white trumpet flower for a closer look. Our guide told us that these are very poisonous flowers. Wow, how can they be so pretty and so poisonous all at once. So needless to say, I took my pictures carefully!
We rode the bus back down, and then took a tranquil walk through the town to our hotel. On the way, our tour guide Alvaro pointed out to us the elementary school that he attended as a child.
Then on through this beautiful town to our hotel.
94% of all visitors to Machu Picchu ride the train up in the morning and ride the train back down in the afternoon, so we feel very fortunate that we got to close down the park and see it when it was very quiet and serene, and we will get to spend a night in this quaint yet bustling little walking town and enjoy all that it has to offer.
We are staying at the El Mapi hotel tonight. It is an indoor/outdoor hotel, with lush walk ways connecting the rooms.
The prices for the rooms are painted right on the wall in the reception area.
The rooms are very nice with inspirational or informational messages on the walls.
Only carry-on baggage is allowed on the train, so we moved our overnight stuff into this handy little bag that we purchased in Vietnam. It worked perfectly! We keep it in the bottom of Steve's suitcase just in case we ever need it, and guess what? We needed it!
Our room had a beautiful mountainside/jungle view. The view out our oldest daughter and son (in-laws) window was more of a city view. The high mountains peaks behind the city were so pretty.
When we were all settled in, we met in the bar to enjoy the free drink we received when we checked in. Steve and I got there first, and the bar was crowded. We found two seats, but didn't think there was any way we would ever find six, but just as the kids showed up, so did four empty chairs. Score!
We all sat and enjoyed our free pisco sour and talked about our day in Machu Picchu.
After enjoying our drinks, we made our way to the dining room for dinner.
Everything we ordered for dinner was fantastic, but what we really wanted was to get out and enjoy the charm of this cute little town, so we said our goodbyes to the restaurant and made our way out onto the cobblestone paths of the town. We wandered around and enjoyed the views and people, but after walking on cobblestones all day and all night, our feet were starting to hurt and we decided that sitting sounded good, but we still wanted to enjoy the ambiance of this great town, so we pulled up to a table at a local restaurant and enjoyed some drinks and jenga while sitting out under the stars, with a nice cool breeze, and some very friendly neighborhood dogs and cats .
We discovered a new beer that we REALLY like. Cusquena beer is made in Cuzco, Peru, and is really good, but when we discovered the Cusquena Negra, that was a game changer! It's so good!
Notice the dog by our table....he was so sweet.
By the end of the night he had really made himself comfortable.
We really love this little town. The fact that there is no automobile traffic is crazy and heavenly. The town is really steep, so we all got a great workout, and enjoyed the sights while we did it. We called it a night and headed back to the hotel, but we were up early the next morning to check out more of the town before we have to catch our train back.
All of the vendor go out in the morning and clean their front stoop with a bucket of water and a squeegee.
It tends to make slippery suds on the cobblestones, so we had to walk carefully.
This is our hotel from the back.
Cute trash cans all over the city.
More friendly dogs just out soaking up some sun.
The city is full of these really cool sculptures.
Another Christmas tree made entirely out of plastic bottles.
A couple of little girls on their way to school.
The train tracks run right through the middle of town.
Alvaro gave us the option to meet him this morning and hike up to the Machu Picchu museum and botanic garden. We are always up for a hike, so after we enjoyed the town for awhile, we decided to tag along.
Some workers cutting granite from the granite quarry.
We crossed this suspension bridge that swayed in the wind and bounced as we walked across.
The Urubamba River below.
We made it to the museum, and we were amazed to find out that in order to purchase a ticket to the museum, we had to show them our passport. Just like in Ecuador, there is a lot of government corruption, so in order to ensure that the funds are being collected correctly, a passport had to be entered into the system for each ticket purchased.
The first picture ever taken of Machu Picchu by National Geographic Magazine.
As we came out of the market, we found ourselves on the tracks of the train that that locals take. These trains are very heavily used since the trains are the only way in or out of the town. People were coming off the train with all kinds of interesting things.
Our lunch stop from yesterday before we entered the National Park.
We finally found our lunch restaurant.
Pizza the Peruvian way!
As we were sitting in the restaurant having lunch, a train came in. Wow, so close!
Then after lunch we headed back through the market to get to the train station.
The porters wheeling our luggage through.
Locals walking along the tracks.
Some more snacks to hold us over during our short train ride.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Machu Picchu and the town of Machu Picchu, but now our journey must continue in Cuzco, Peru.
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