Machu Picchu

Got up at 4:30 AM on Monday to make it to the train station by 5:45. Train rolled into Aguas Calientes atounr 10:15. We were up by around 11:30. Enough with the words. On with the pictures.









A few funny stories:

1. My friends Dave and Scott both had earlier train tickets than I did from Aguas Calientes (the base camp for going to Machu Picchu). After they left, I walked around the town a bit. I saw two American looking guys, about my age sitting at a table, so I said "Mind if I sit down?" and they said sure. So I sat down and it turns out they're part of a student group from Johns Hopkins University. I rode back on the same train they did, which stopped in a town called Orientetambo, from where we had to get a bus back to Cusco. They had a tour bus their student group was taking, so I hitched a ride with them. It was a lot of fun, and I met some other cool kids. Two of their group members ended up missing the train from Aguas Calientes to Orientetambo, and it was a big source of stress for them all. When we got back to Cusco, the other two members were waiting.

2. While in Aguas Calientes, I was talking to my new friends from Johns Hopkins, and a girl walked by that I'd met at the Point Hostal in Lima. We both said hello, but I guess she had somewhere to go, so we didnt chat.

3. When I finished the train ride, I got up and the person in the seat across from mine and row one up looked at me and said "I know you". It was another person I'd met at the Point. Another funny coincidence.

4. Here's the strangest coincidence. When I got on the train, I sat down next to a lady probably in her early 40's. I recognized her from somewhere, and I asked her if she knew where. She said she didnt know. A few seconds later I had it. I had sat behind her, and chatted with her during the plane ride from Dallas to Lima. We ended up talking about our past, present, and future travel experiences the whole ride.