Most people only come to Aguas Calientes for the day or at best overnight. Breakfast at our hotel started at 4:30 in the morning because some people get up and hike up the mountain to be at the ticket gate when it opens at 7:00! Others get in line to get the bus so that they can be at the gate at 7:00. The buses are fairly new and comfortable for the ride up the mountain with 14 switchbacks.
Since we didn’t have a schedule to keep we stayed in the town several days. The things to do in the town aren’t as exciting as going to Machu Picchu but they were pleasant. In addition to looking at the stone carvings, there are hikes, tourist shops, hot springs, butterfly gardens, museum, and just exploring the town. While we walked up to the hot springs (to see some of the carvings along the way), we didn’t have bathing suits with us (we had traveled with only some of our things and had left them in Guayaquil with some of out things) and didn’t want to rent suits. We did buy a few things at the tourist shops but we mostly just hiked and walked around town.
Walking towards the museum, we passed men that were creating stone building blocks by hand. There were a few power tools but most of the work was done by hand, one stone at a time. Hard, hot work.
There was this funky old bus at a restaurant on the way to the museum as well. Love that it is used to hold plants and the satellite dish!
We wandered into the area that is where the locals live. There was a lot of renovations in the past 5 years or so. New government buildings and a wonderful soccer field where we saw a game going on at night.
The bridge that crosses over to the other side has chain link on the sides and as in some large cities, people have added a variety of padlocks as a symbol of their love. Cute although I understand it there get to be too many locks, the authorities have to cut them off.
In Peru, there are three important symbols: the condor (sky/heaven), puma or cougar (earth), and the serpent (wisdom). You see the three symbols together frequently. There is a nice explanation of them here.
Drainage is done in two ways. Walkways on the slopes tend to have a grate down the middle. Along the short street and a few other areas, there are holes in the concrete next to the curb. We saw this in other towns as well.
