Karen's Dangling Conversation: Machu Picchu a Once in a Lifetime Trip

So Fall Break was awesome this year! So, where'd you go? Zion's, Colorado? Ummm no! We went to Peru! Peru! Yep we really did! What kind of crazy person goes to Peru for such a short break? Well, the Beagles do! Yep that's how we do! Apparently Tacca Airlines posted a mistake fair earlier this year and Brad happened to see it and so there you have it! Peru round trip for about $310! So totally not kidding at all!

Would you like to know how the trip went? Well good cause I'm ready to tell you all about it! So sit back, relax and listen to our story about flying to Peru and back again in five days!

So the awesomeness began on Wednesday evening. We loaded up the van and drove to California. The great fare happened to be from LAX.

Thursday afternoon we were ready to roll on our plane to Cusco Peru.

Bye Bye United States.....next stop is El Salvador!

Our first layover was in El Salvador. This was kind of cool because we had a nephew that served a mission there and so now we can say we have been there. (Not really cause we didn't have time to leave the airport. But still.....I did buy some awesome nativity scenes for WAY too much money) So if asks, technically, we have been there. We also ate in a tiny El Salvadorian restaurant in the airport and had Pupusas in honor of Aaron my cute nephew. They were very, very good! We enjoyed it! So now we can say we ate Pupusas in El Salvador! Check it off our bucket list!

These were Brad's bean and cheese pupusas and he was busy talking on the phone so we ate his for him. Yes are awesome like that.

Next stop was Lima Peru where we again did not leave the airport but hey, we can say we’ve been there, right? On we went to Cusco Peru where we were finally able to leave the airport. We were met by a car and driver from our hotel. We emerged rather bleary eyed from our travels and boarded the little mini bus and off we went.

Cusco was quite the eye opener! A city just waking up and teeming with life! The architecture was interesting and random with houses built helter skelter on top of each other. The streets were random too and it was hard to tell where one ended and another began. The cars drove fast and furious and none of it seemed to phase our driver. The horn is essential and seems to be used instead of a blinker. Pedestrians don’t seem to be bothered by fast approaching cars but somehow it all worked. At one point our driver stopped at a little store and said he had to use the toilet. Apparently this was his house. Again random. As we headed into the country side things were a little calmer. We were all sort of dozing off when all of a sudden we stop and some random guy gets in the car. He starts talking to the driver and eventually starts to question us in his broken english. He was such a happy guy you couldn’t help but like him.

Oh I forgot to tell you where we were going. To Ollantaytambo a tiny little village outside of Cusco. This was where we were to stay for our first night. We arrived in the middle of the town square and I was looking around for the hotel but couldn’t find one. The driver and that random guy grabs our bags and motions for us to follow them. They take us down a long stone walk way to our hotel.

We were happy to find that our accommodations were very nice. The rooms were neat and clean and we had all the comforts of home. Sort of, but for sure we had everything we needed. Some of us headed into town to explore and some of us slept.....well eventually we all ended up sleeping, it had been a long while since we had been able to sleep in a bed.

Our Hostel

Our first room

Notice the tree growing out of the wall

Pretty Gardens

The Second Room

The bathroom with the stone shower

It was comfortable.....especially after our long plane ride

We went to dinner at a little restaurant right next door to our hotel. The famous dish they serve is guinea pig. Yuck! I wouldn’t let any one order it....well actually it was too expensive. Another couple ordered it though and they said they serve it whole with all the bones and teeth and everything. Double yuck! We ordered something a little tamer. Alpaca steaks. For the most part it was pretty yummy.

Yes we are loving our first Peru dining experience

Cheers!

These were the Chili Rellenos....Yum! We loved the cheese there, it was so good!

Mackay had pork with some kind of boiled corn thingies and boiled potatoes they seem to be big on red potatoes there.

This was Liz's or Amanda's can't see which but they both got similar dishes. I loved that quinoa pilaf and the french fries.....so yummy!

Brad's dish was steak I think. He loved it.

I forgot to mention both the girls had Alpaca which was pretty tasty.

This is so you can see all the atmosphere and everything!

We headed to bed early because the next day we were headed to Manchu Picchu. We had to get up quite early to catch the train. The train was pretty fun! It had dome windows at the top and you could see the view really well. It was beautiful as we traveled along the river and we could see much of the Inca Trail that leads to Manchu Picchu. Many people still take the hike along that trail.

Our Hostel liked us so much they packed us sack lunch breakfast and lunch!

The little town out side of Manchu Picchu is called Aquas Calientes. Hot water. They have some hot springs there that are very popular. We arrived and walked to our hotel. Once again Brad picked a WINNER! Loved this little Hostel as well!