I didn’t want to wake up this morning. The altitude affected me more than I thought. I didn’t sleep much since my headache was keeping me up all night. We packed quickly and went downstairs for our last breakfast here in Puno. Coca tea, fruit, and an Ibuprofen was all I needed. Yes, drugs are needed sometimes. We packed into the taxi then the van with our US team and Peru team. We arrived at Juliaca for a quick stop to drop the Peru team off, which we had no idea! We had to say our thank you’s and goodbyes suddenly and quickly! Bittersweet. I’m so thankful for all of them for their love, time, and service to this missions trip. It took sacrifice for them to leave their families to be here with us!
En route to Cusco! We dropped by a touristy restaurant with lots of goodies to buy. Ate the De La Casa which was an alpaca sandwich with cheese and avocado. First time eating alpaca and it was yummy! It was a little gamey like deer, but better. Definitely chewy! Americano and Mocha was delicious. Rich chocolate and pure espresso flavors. It was a wonderful bathroom considering all the other bathroom stops we’ve had on the trip. There was toilet paper, it was clean(er), had running water, and soap! We took advantage of our eating time to do a little shopping. Got most of my gifts for all of you who helped support me on this trip! Can’t wait to gift them to you! 🙂
More bathroom stops along the way and more little things to buy. Can’t stop too much because we want to make it to Cusco with daylight so we can enjoy the city!
It still hasn’t hit me that we’re going to Machu Picchu! I’ve seen photos in the past but I’ll have to prepare myself more later tonight. We’ve been on mission mode, not expecting much in terms of shopping and touristy things. It’s time to intentionally switch it up now! Get excited for the one main touristy thing we will be doing. 🙂 I totally thought we were hiking Machu Pcchu but turns out we are aking the bus tour. I totally overpacked in that sense. Got my hiking pants, hiking shirt, layers, hiking hat, trail running shoes.. For a bus tour lol. Well, better to be overprepared than under right?
Debriefing in the bus. God has been so good! He’s really taught me to more selfless and submissive this trip. To keep going for the sake of the team. No matter how tired I am, I had to set my alarm for our meeting times. Thankfully I didn’t have a big urge to shop but still, we had to stick together. We never left on our own. Safety is a big deal here. At the crusades, we had to leave when we were told. Don’t ask questions. Just submit to authority because they know what’s best even if you don’t understand. And since they’re the authority, the leader, you must submit.
Windy roads. Beautiful mountains. Alpacas and cows scattered upon the land.
We made it to Cusco. Our hotel feels more like a United States hotel with hot showers, comfy beds, and pictures that match the location. Dinner was at a delicious Peruvian restaurant! I felt like royalty celebrating the end of the missions trip! After dinner we walked around the Cusco plaza. Beautiful!
Tomorrow we leave at 8 am for our bus tour towards Machu Picchu. Now it’s time to look at photos before bed to get myself excited! It’s play time now. 🙂
