Back to Cusco

We left Machu Picchu in the afternoon and had to keep a steady pace in order to have time in Aguas Calientes to gather our bags, run around a few shops, and then catch the train back to Cusco. Our first thought was to take our time down the steps leading back to the city. We chose to side step the whole way back to save our knees after Papi told us what happened to his. He said he was foolish in his younger years and was living with the consequences now. In order to protect our knees we watched and made sure our knees were not going over our toes and we were not taking giant steps forward. Instead, the side stepping and keeping our hips in a perpendicular line or 90 degree angle was our goal. There were so many steps to navigate. We found some cool stones on the way down that looked like the “Stairs of Death,” and got some great pictures! We trekked onward to get to the city.

Down, down, and down we went until we reached the hiking sign and the bridge. It was nice seeing everything in the daylight and we got some great photos to remember those moments. The bridge we walked on in the morning was even nicer than we previously thought and the water flowing beneath it was breathtaking. As we crossed the bridge, we recalled our time on Machu Picchu. It was such a magical place based high in the mountains encamped by morning midst and we will remember it fondly for all time. Saying goodbye to something on our life’s bucket list felt strange because we waited so long to see it, hike the trail to it, and to just be present in Peru. We were both smiling as we walked into the city of Aguas Calientes feeling like something great had been accomplished.

Walking around the shops was wonderful. I really enjoyed all the colors and images throughout the city. We were on the hunt for produce to find a giant avocado. Luckily, we ran into our friends again from Taiwan and ended up finding an amazing market with produce galore. There, in the middle of the hustle and bustle of people and food stood a stand with giant avocados! We were really excited and picked out two that we would eat later at the hostel in Cusco. After saying goodbye again to our friends, we went to a few more shops and proceeded to go find the train. Chris had never ridden on a train so this was really awesome for him. We found a great spot and took some pictures, then our two friends boarded and joined us for our final hang out of this amazing trip. Everyone fell asleep and when the train stopped we were told to hustle off because the next stop was a long stretch away. Chris left his water bottle on the train and we learned to not ever rush, even if we ended up going the wrong way for hours on end. Taking the tortoise cow is our way. I hope you all have a wonderful day and thank you for reading!

-Karen Hilliard

Big News!! My painting, “Machu Picchu Llamas Number 2” won Second Place in the Nevada Watercolor Society Spring Exhibition. If any of you live in Henderson, Nevada…you can check it out at the Multicultural Center!!

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