The town of Aguas Calientes, otherwise known as the Machu Picchu Pueblo, was endearingly charming! It is very small, and we had the wonderful opportunity to explore every square inch of it.
Dogs of Aguas Calientes
There were dogs everywhere. Our local tour guide who had orchestrated our itinerary and arranged for transportation as needed told us that the dogs were owned by everyone. They were all very sweet. At the time, we did not have children yet, so our fur babies at home were desperately missed and it was heartwarming to see all the nice dogs everywhere. Chris had to tell me to quit taking pictures of the dogs.
Rainy Season Preparations
Everywhere we went, you could see the locals busily preparing for the rainy season by placing sandbags everywhere.
Local Cuisine
We ordered alpaca at one of the restaurants, which Chris loved and had multiple times throughout the trip. We watched a restaurant worker leave the restaurant and walk over to a nearby market and come back with the fresh alpaca meat to cook it for us which we thought was funny. Alpaca was as exotic as we dared try – we could never bring ourselves to try the guinea pig.
Town Square Shopping
We loved walking through all the shops and purchasing souvenirs. Retail therapy was good for my sore legs.
Locks on Bridges
There were locks on the bridges. I know there are many cities around the world with these locks of love, but this was my first encounter, and I really wanted to leave a lock. But we didn’t have one, so we set about looking for a place to purchase a lock to leave on the bridge. We encountered some unexpected language barriers. Despite my one year of grade-school Spanish and our best efforts with a translation app, every time we asked, locals simply pointed us back toward the bridge. No matter how we phrased it, they just couldn’t understand we were trying to buy a lock. Finally, during a meal break, a kind waiter from Venezuela who spoke perfect English came to the rescue. He personally walked us to a hardware store and helped us get the lock we’d been searching for.
Warning: cheesy content ahead You are supposed to put the lock on the bridge and then throw the key into the river to symbolize our unbreakable love. However, I like to think of it more like we left a piece of our hearts in Peru, and we kept the keys as a souvenir. We don’t need to throw away the key to know our love is unbreakable.
Aguas Calientes wasn’t just a gateway to Machu Picchu; it was a place where we connected with the culture, the people, and even left behind a small symbol of our love. But our adventure through Peru wasn’t over yet. Stay tuned as we continue exploring beyond the Pueblo!
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