Everyone has said, if you go to Perú it is MANDATORY that you go to Machu Picchu, as it is one of the 7 wonders of the world. So I took a weekend to see what it was all about, and I have to say it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen.

A few friends and I left on a Friday and it was just an hour plane ride from Lima to Cusco. I was warned over and over again about the altitude difference, and lack of oxygen due to the high altitude, but of course I forgot to take things slow. My first experience with this “lack of oxygen” was quite embarrassing. The person who was suppossed to pick my group up from the air port did not show up so we decided to get a cab. We walked from the front of the air port to the cab which was parked and my program called and said they were there to pick us up, so of course I thanked the cab driver and told him we no longer needed him, but he told us we still needed to pay, and was refusing to give us our luggage back. Me being the aggressive one of the group got into an argument with him because we were NOT going to pay, and I lost my breath mid sentence!! How embarrassing. I just had to walk away before I embarrassed myself more! Along with losing my breath I noticed I couldn’t get a full breath of air, which caused a horrible headache. Luckily coca leaves are a natural cure for altitude sickness and they’re sold in bulk almost everywhere you turn.

We stayed in Cusco Friday night so we had a chance to explore a bit, then Saturday morning we took a train to Aguas Calientes, which by far is the most beautiful, simple town I have been. No cars at all, just a train to take people to and from other towns. There were natural hot springs that we were able to go to, as well as amazing views of the Andes mountains.

Sunday morning we got up at 4:45 am to start our day. The bus ride to Machu Picchu was so scary….narrow, steep, windy roads, with Peruvian drivers (who are crazy). Once we got to Machu Picchu we explored for about 3 hours. I have never seen anything so amazing…I can’t even explain how it felt to be there. After we left Machu Picchu we decided to hike to a waterfall. We were so worn out but it was so worth it. We hiked through the jungle….I’m talking “wild pineapples and bananas growing” type of jungle. AMAZING.

We were so worn out and slept the entire 4 hour train ride back to Cusco…And unfortunately we had to leave Cusco Monday morning. I am so glad I had the opportunity to see something so amazing….many people say it is something they can only imagine seeing.

Aguas Calientes

Machu Picchu

The water falls in the jungle that we hiked to