Day 1
We left Arequipa at 7 0'clock in the evening. We took a double decker bus. It took us 10 hours and we drove through the night. It was hot, stuffy, and the seats weren't that comfortable.
Day 2
We got to Cuzco at 5 am. We immediately went to our Hotel "Royal Inti" and ate breakfast, put our things in our rooms and then went to explore the city. We got back to the hotel around 7:30 and slept. We then went to meet our Tour Guide and went to the Plaza de Armas and the Cathedral in the center. It was the prettiest church I've ever seen, and I'm not big on old churches. The artwork inside was done by the oppressed Incan and Mestizo peoples. And their distaste for the Spanish can be seen in the paintings (e.g. instead of Roman soldiers killing jesus they had Spanish soldiers killing him, instead of Judas at the last supper they had Francisco Pizarro). We then went to some Incan ruins around Cuzco. It was a full day.
Day 3
We got up early to go to some more various Incan Ruins, Ollantaytambo, Sacsayuaman, and somehwere else...Quechua words are hard to remember.
Day 4
We saw some more Incan ruins. Went out to lunch and had the rest of the day to go shopping in Cuzco.
Day 5
We get up at 5 am. We get on a bus with two days worth or clothes and supplies. We ride for about an hour and a half to Ollantaytambo. There we get on a train for an hour. After getting of the train we hike the Inca Trail. This was the most grueling walk of my life. It was 10 hours in the Peruvian Rainforest, up and down mountains. We stopped for lunch, which was a ham sandwhich per person. And then we continued walking to Machu Picchu. It was gorgeous. We took a few snapshots, but then continued walking for a few more hours to a near by city Aguas Caliente for the night. While there I went to some Hot Springs then went to dinner and then slept.
Day 6
We take the bus to Machu Picchu. There are tons of tourists there. We had been fortunate the day before and it had been raining so there were very few tourists. When we got to Machu Picchu we had a two and half hour tour. Then we had an hour for photos. After words we went back to Aguas Caliente had 2 hours for shopping and lunch then took the train back to Ollantaytambo, where we took a bus back to Cuzco.
Day 7
We had all day to go to various museums and shop. Then we got on the bus back to Arequipa at 7 pm.
Day 8
We arrive in Arequipa at 5:30 AM.
It really was a great trip. Machu Picchu was amazing. So was the rainforest. Words can't explain. I wish everyone could see what I've seen. AMAZING.
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