8 de Marzo - Railroad tracks to Aguas Calientes

Ah, day three. On Day 2 one person in our group was too afraid of heights and we crossed many parts where this fear, while understandable, would have been detrimental. So he took a bus to Aguas Calientes (the small town below the Machu Picchu ruins) and we were able to put our heaviest items on the bus with him. On day three, we were not so lucky. So to add to the heat, exhaustion, and very sore legs I added a very heavy bag on my back. Make sure all the weight is on your hips they told me. Well, why don't you add 50 pounds onto your hips and walk around town for at least 4 hours and you tell me how you feel. Take some tylenol? No. I was popping altitude sickness pills at the time and that combination could kill me.

Fun fact: Altitude sickness pills are nothing more than viagra with a different name. Yeah, I thought that was hilarious.

So, this walk wasn't quite the same as the previous days. We spent a good 5 hours just walking on railroad tracks. Have you ever done that? Well, it's boring because you have to look at your feet the entire time and the Peruvians obviously have a problem with spacing so we couldn't exactly keep the same pace when some boards were two inches apart and others 12 inches apart. Not so enjoyable but I did spend half the time talking with Reto, a very cute hombre from Switzerland. So, no it wasnt SO bad. Well...until Holly and I were made aware of the many fly bites we had up and down our arms. Arms covered in little spots of blood, just about as sexy as burnt ears eh Laura?:)

Now, we arrived in Aguas Calientes early in the afternoon where we were directed to a hostel with hot water showers -- our first since this trip began. At this point we were given two options. 1: Climb a very large mountain (very steep) and see Machu Picchu from a distance or 2: Take a hot shower and a nap. Considering the following day we were going to be climbing an inordinate number of stairs, Holly, Reto and I chose option 2. While we cleaned ourselves up, napped, and went to a local restaurant to play Shithead (Switerland rules) and have some beers those other poor saps were killing themselves walking up a mountain to take pictures of a place we would be at in only a matter of hours. Ha, bad move for them.