Aguas Calientes

Famished, I descended from Machu Picchu to Aguas Calientes and found a very over priced meal before I embarked on a hostel search. Cheapest possible please. Lonely Planet describes Aguas Calientes as a gringo nightmare. I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't strike me as much different from Cusco or anywhere else on the Andean gringo trail. It was beautiful, in the bottom of the valley with toweringly steep peaks all around.

I never made it to the hot springs because when I checked into the hostel one of the guys working on reception caught me in conversation. I suppose to start with I was happy to talk a little bit after my solo walk, followed by my solo Machu Picchu experience. He went weird after the first half and hour and even weirder when I tried to get rid of him. He told me he had visions and that I shouldn't leave Aguas Calientes - he could see me having a accident on the bus. What the hell?! I could see him trying to take advantage of me of I didn't get him out of my room. Fortunately he was pretty small, I probably could have taken him if it got to it. He started licking his lips with a final attempt to convince me to sleep with him and stay in Aguas Calientes forever. Bonkers. I extracted him from my room, showered and slept.

The price you pay for mildly annoying harassment is apparently 30 soles, when I went to check out it turns out either before or after he tried it on, who knows, he decided to put it down in the books that my payment had already been received.

Hope he didn't take it out of his wages...

I set off along the tracks to get back to Hidro and head to Cusco, a few seconds of walking on the railway line and a young dog comes bounding up to me like I'm her long lost owner. She followed me the entire way. I became quite attached to my little companion, I resisted giving her a name BUT flirted with the idea of trying to travel with her because she seemed lost and recently abandoned, good natured and it melted my heart. I tried to get her to follow people going in the other direction so that at least she stayed in Aguas Calientes, but she wasn't having it. I tried to speed up around bends when she wandered off into the woods to lose her but she bound after me.

I felt bad when I got to Hidro and abandoned her to fate...someone needs to do something about all the strays and street dogs in South America...

Cool rocks, mountains

My dog!

Some cool blue birds flying over the river, like dark electric blue, unfortunately you can't see that here though