June 7: 5,385 steps in the countryside of Peru

This morning we took a train back from Machu Picchu to a town in Peru called Golden Valley. The train left at 8:53am. It was supposed to be an hour long train ride, but about 10 minutes in, we came to a stop. Through the grape vine we learned that the train had come off of the tracks somehow. We sat there for 2 hours waiting for the train to get fixed. I didn’t mind the time to sit and relax and catch up on some photo organization, but many others were unhappy. We were also in a train car with a bunch of high school students who did not know the definition of quiet, so that got annoying real quick. Once the train finally got going again after many stop and start teasers, we made it to our destination at 12:53pm.

We took a bus to a restaurant called Tunpa. It was clearly a tourist restaurant but they had a delicious buffet. I still didn’t have much of an appetite but I managed to get a decent amount of food down, so I was proud of myself. Outside of the restaurant they had parrots just sitting out on perches. They must have been trained because they didn’t seem to want to fly anywhere.

We got back on the bus to go to a local traditional market. The bus ride was beautiful as we drove through the Peruvian countryside. It was how you would imagine traditional South America to be. Small pockets of houses with sheep and goats grazing in the pasture. Locals tending to their fields by hand. The Andes Mountains were always in site. In fact we were still in the Andes, but it didn’t feel like it since I could see the snowy peaks in the distance.

Once we arrived at the market, we got a lesson from a traditionally dressed woman on how they clean and die the alpaca wool and turn it into yarn. She went through all of the steps, including how they make different colors. She showed us how she squished a parasite, which produced a deep maroon color, and then added lemon juice to it to make it bright red.

After the market we continued our bus ride back to Cusco to catch our flight to Lima. Lima is at sea level (thank the Lord) so we can all breath again! It is a very very large city. There are 30 million people who live in Peru, and 10 million of them are in Lima. Our hotel is super nice and we each have our own bed again!

I can’t believe this is our last stop on our South American journey. It’s been long, but fun! I am very excited to be home and see my family and friends again though. Today is my mom’s birthday, so I am 0 for 2 on being home for birthdays this year! Hopefully my souvenirs for them will make up for my absence!