Aguas Calientes

Today I arrived to the town of Aguas Calientes (which if you couldn't figure it out, means hot waters). And yes, there are hot springs here, which I swam in. They're supposed to have healing powers, but the copious amounts of gringos with unfortunate looking shirt tans (this includes me) drinking Cusqueno--the local beer--from the can, took away from the "medicinal powers" vibe.

Either way, the hot springs seem to have healed up many of my cuts and bruises from various travel mishaps (the most recent happened this morning when I tripped over my luggage storage trunk at 5 a.m. in the dark on zero hours of sleep and cut my shin, while attempting to gather my things for the 6:00 a.m. train departure towards Machu Picchu).

Five hours later, I was in Aguas Calientes, which is a stopping point on the way to the ruins. It is a little town beside a river, surrounded on all sides by majestic green looming mountains, and jungle-like flora and fauna. While the town seems to have been built with the sole purpose of accomodating the mass amounts of tourists that pass through here each day, I am still impressed by the natural beauty of its surroundings--waterfalls, mist-covered green mountain-tops, colorful tropical flowers, and then of course a wealth of dining and nightlife options.

Tomorrow is another early wake-up, as we head at dawn to the ruins, spend the afternoon there, and then return to Cusco by train in the evening.

And just for your amusement, this is the email conversation that ensued with my mom after she read the previous post about the Shaman experience:

Mom: Mer even if the shaman is in don't try any peruvian hallucinogenics...Mom

Me: Lil, they're supposed to "show me the way"... don't you think it would be good for me to figure out my life already? hahahaha. Actually, I more imagine this Shaman trip to be some kind of scary disaster where they take a group of gringos to the mountains, give them sleeping pills disguised in some herbal foul-tasting liquid, steal their money and clothes and leave them naked and stranded in the middle of nowhere, Peru. So unless I talk to someone who's already done it and can vouch for it, I won't be participating. haha.

After some of the stories I've heard... believe me, it could happen!