Now that our time at Machu Picchu was over, we hopped on another train. The ride away from Aguas Calientes was much more somber than the ride there. The passengers, ourselves included, seemed more tired. There were no lively conversations, and instead just peaceful napping.
Where We Stayed
We stayed at the LP Los Portales Hotel Cusco. The staff was nice, and it is within walking distance of all the sites in Cusco.
How We Got Around
We just walked everywhere. There’s a lot you can do in a small radius, though we did feel like we missed out on tourism in the larger area of Cusco. But we were still pretty sore from the hike to the top of Machu Picchu.
We quite enjoyed the town square, and we even bought a beautiful painting of Machu Picchu from a local artist. We were baffled to find a KFC in the middle of the square. When I think of Peru, KFC isn’t the first cuisine that comes to mind!
Local Hustlers
But my favorite experience was that of running into these three hustlers! These women all dressed up in Peruvian dresses were holding a baby llama that was ALSO dressed up with flowers in her hair! I was TICKLED! These women thrust the baby llama in my hands while I was shouting at Chris to take a picture! Chris kept trying to tell me that this wouldn’t be free and they’d expect money, but I didn’t care! Did he not see the freaking baby llama with freaking flowers in her freaking hair?!?
We didn’t have small change, so they followed us until we could get them some money. And as quickly as they appeared and placed a baby llama in my arms, they as quickly disappeared once they got paid. Best 5 PEN I ever spent. No regrets!
Shoe Shine Regrets
What I do regret, however, is not getting our shoes shined. We were approached several times by locals wanting to shine our shoes for what would have been less than 1 USD. We kept saying no. We weren’t wearing nice shoes, they were sneakers. And we weren’t going anywhere fancy, just a lot more walking. It didn’t make sense to have our shoes shined. But that’s not the point. This was their livelihood. The less than $1 to me would mean so much more to them.
When I go back, I’m getting my shoes shined.
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