Day 3 in Peru

Today we´re in Aguas Calientes - a tiny little town that has sprung up around Machu Picchu to accomodate the large number of tourists coming to visit the ruins these days. I´m sitting out a massive rainstorm at an internet cafe right now. I´m amazed by two things: there´s internet cafes within walking distance of Machu Picchu and there´s an entire town here that wasn´t here 12 years ago.

Yesterday we had a marathon tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas, visiting ruins, checking out churches and just sampling the local wares. I actually had authentic chicha yesterday. Chicha is beer made from corn or strawberries. I admit that I liked the strawberry better than the corn, but they were both pretty good. There isn´t a lot of alcohol content, so they serve it in HUGE mugs. You need to drink about half a gallon to get the effect of a pint of beer.

Tomorrow, we´ll get up at the crack of dawn to watch the sunrise at Machu Picchu. Should be good!

-Ben