Waterfalls and Mountains

Day 8

Main square in Aguas Calientes
We didn't have an early wakeup from the train, or for any touring today.  But as with holidays was still up earlier than I would have expected.  As our breakfast is really early at the hotel a group of us have opted to go find our own breakfast.  We were awake so we explored a bit of Aguas Calientes.  It didn't take that long!  It was a nice little walk and insane to see all the ladies out scrubbing the place with brooms and plenty of bleach.  Not sure if there was a special occasion, but the place was really clean.

Waterfall!
One option was to go back to Machu Picchu, whether for sunrise, or just whenever you wanted to see it again.  A few people ended up going a second time.  But we had heard about a walk to see a waterfall.  A big group of us started out and we all broke into separate groups.  I was in the fast group, so we had time for lunch and shopping.  We had priorities!  It was a strange walk along a busy corridor.  Starting with the route the buses use to get to Machu Picchu and then along the train tracks for 2 km.  At least that is what I assume the man working at the station told me.  Used a little bit of my Spanish with him.  There wasn't a lot of room along the train tracks so you had to back away when the trains came by.
Our train trail

It was strange when all of a sudden you come around the corner and there are buildings, people, signs, and all sorts of life.  The waterfall is located in a botanical garden.  As with Machu Picchu we had to leave our passport information to get in.  Which was good when the rest of the group was able to see that we had signed in and weren't wandering the forest at will.  And speaking of passports, we also had to hand them in at every hotel we went to.  And they took copies.

View from the train of the snow capped peaks
But it was a good hike to go on.  Worth the hour along the train tracks!  And the botanical garden was lovely to walk through.  They had part of it as specific plantings and the rest as natural forest.  It was all pretty and lush.  The waterfall was pretty impressive, despite the downplaying our guide did.  The spray felt great after the walk on the hot day!  And the girl at reception mentioned soaking our feet in the river which felt amazing after almost 2 hours of walking!  And we didn't lose our shoes!

And then we headed back to Aguas Calientes for a bit of lunch, some shopping and then back on the train for an hour and a half, and another terrifying bus ride through the dark on the curvy Peruvian roads.  But you could see some stars while we were driving!  

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