Monday, December 3rd, 2007 Cusco and off to Aguas Calientes

Monday, December 3rd, 2007 Cusco and off to Aguas Calientes

We woke up around 10:30 am, while I was brushing my teeth I overheard Natalie talking to two guys in the room next two us. She asked them where they are from and when they said St. Louis, MO, I came rushing out of the bathroom. They both went to LaDue High School, where Sara is a Young Life leader and where in Peru for three months teaching English. We went to lunch with them and had a great time laughing at their crazy stories.
After lunch we headed out to check out Cusco. It is chalk full of amazing churches, great museums and art galleries. We went to the Cathedral where we got a private, 1 hour long tour from a woman and learned more about it than I thought possible. Next we went to the Jesuit church on the other side of the corner but skipped the tour b/c of time. We snuck up into the bell tower and got some awesome pictures.
Then to an Incan history museum, then a famous convent. Both full of artifacts and beautiful artwork. Then we went to a Popular Art Museum, with comical and disturbing figurines. By now it was time to meet up with our tour guide to get our car to Ollantaytambo, where we were to catch the train to Aguas Calientes. Our guide met us at the hostel with all the tickets we would need for the rest of the trip and sent us on our way with the driver.
The ride to Ollantaytambo was beautiful through the Peruvian countryside with glacier capped mountains in the distance. When we got to Ollantaytambo we ate dinner in a cute café by the railroad station then boarded the train.
We got into Aguas Calientes around 10 pm and headed to our pre-paid hostel. We settled in, bought lunch to bring to Machu Picchu the next day, then our tour guide for Machu Picchu met up with us to give us details for the next morning. Worst part: wake up call at 5 am. With that news we headed to bed, super excited for our big day tomorrow.