Oops

This morning we made our way to Aguas Calientes. We decided to forgo the one and two day tours provided of Machu Picchu because they were quite expensive. A little advice for anyone considering taking the same trip. It is cheaper to take a tour than to go it alone. Hindsight is 20/20 right? We have already spent twice the price of a tour for two people and we are stuck in Aguas Calientes for another night because the train was too full. Oops.

At the moment we are sitting in our hotel room because it has been off and on pouring, and I mean seriously pouring down rain for the past hour. This rain is worse than the fiercest west coast November rain storms that I can remember. We are going to have to do some serious punch-dancing to address our rage for this error.

Here is another friendly tip. When looking at rough guide or lonely planet books it is important to read between the lines. It is difficult to do before your are actually travelling but if you can manage it then you will save time and money. These books are written for people traveling to a destination and not to keep them away from it. Therefor you will rarely read in a Lonely planet guide "This place seriously sucks. It is too expensive, not worth seeing, and it smells. The waiters are hungrier for customers than you are for food. Don't go here."

You can however pick out little clues that this is the case by reading what the majority of things to do are, the prices of hostels, and the price of a cheap meal. Bear in mind that the books are published every two or so years which means that they are written every three or so years. This means that there will be price inflations, changes of services, and changes in development. It is also important to recognize what are redundant features in towns and what are unique. For instance every town in Peru has a cathedral. They are all magnificent in there own right but it is not worth trying to see every one of them.

Just a few things we've been learning as we travel.

E