Peru Day 8: Aguas Calientes

The last day before Machu Picchu was designed to be a relatively easy one. We spent the last few hours of our hike following the train tracks in to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu.

I had thought, after all the beautiful terrain we had passed, that walking along the train tracks would be boring. Instead, I discovered a newfound fetish for old, crumbling tracks. Something about the large iron bolts and the cracked wooden sleepers simply grabbed my fascination.

And, of course, there was the old abandoned cars that were just screaming to be climbed.

Luckily, the boys took it upon themselves to listen for approaching trains.

The sun was already setting when we finally reached Aguas Calientes. We gathered our luggage, and made our way into our hotel rooms. Oh, for a hot shower and clean clothes and fresh sheets! In a moment of proactive enthusiasm, I even washed myself a clean shirt for the next day. Of course, I failed to calculate that in the damp, cold weather of Aguas Calientes, there was no way it would dry overnight. Infact, it probably wouldn't have dried if we'd been there all week.

All the same, we were finally, finally going to see Machu Picchu the next day, and nothing was going to dampen my enthusiasm. Not even a wet t-shirt. We all had an early dinner together, and retired to our individual rooms. The next day, we were due to meet at 3.30am to start our hike to Machu Picchu, and all of us wanted to get a good night's rest before our big day.