2nd Sunday

Needless to say, I “wasted” the whole second day at the Pueblo Hotel. I had planned to take several of the free excursions they offer on their grounds; Dic & I were signed up for the ‘Spectacled Bear,’ and the ‘Nature Trail.’ Then I planned to spend the rest of my time just taking a long awaited “afternoon at leisure” poking around the Pueblo gift shop & hanging in some of the wonderful nooks and crannies that they have in the main lodge, eating a couple more of their wonderful meals (& at least trying the ‘afternoon tea’ one time), maybe checking out the market downtown Aguas Calientes. I thought I’d catch up on my trip-journal!

The fact that I was too sick to do any of those things? Now THAT was a major disappointment!

What if I’d been too sick to even GO to Machu Picchu?!

Also disappointing was the fact that the management of the Pueblo wasn’t a bit more solicitous. When I puked up the tea that Dic brought me for breakfast, and realized that I couldn’t get out of bed, we asked for a late check-out. Well, that was not possible… I had to be out of the room by 11:00. Dic begged & pleaded. Then he demanded. Finally, the front desk said I could stay n the room late, but just until noon – and our train didn’t leave until 4:45! Not good enough when I HAD to be in close proximity to a (private) bathroom & felt like death warmed over. So, just then our guardian angel, well actually our trip-concierge, Patrick, phoned me in our hotel room, & I explained my plight. Why he’d known to call THEN, is another mystery – but it was only through his timely intervention with the hotel staff that I managed to get into another room where I could rest (& have my own handy bathroom!) until late afternoon. Thank you, Patrick!

And, thank God the Pueblo has a spa & a lot of laid-back guests! I only wore the bathrobe provided in our rooms to make the transition from my original Jr. Suite to the standard room. I was too sick to get dressed! I had, however, seen other guests – earlier – garbed in a similar manner coming from what I assumed was the direction of the massage tables and sauna.

IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE.  In retrospect, I'm sure that my incipient illness colored the previous day's MP experience.  However, just think if I’d felt the full brunt of it one day earlier. What if I’d been too sick to even GO to Machu Picchu?! Actually, of ALL the 20 days – this ‘open’ day was one of the best to miss. Too bad that I couldn’t fully appreciate such a great hotel, however! I didn’t even get photos of our spectacular bath with its under-vanity lighting, or our “conversation area” with a full sofa in a glassed-in ‘porch’ hanging over the beautiful cloud forest acreage, or our fireplace, or… or… or…

I was going to take all those photos on our second full day at the Pueblo. Sigh.

In fact, nothing was going quite like I'd planned at this point. What would our transfer back to The Urubamba Villas bring? Would I even be well enough to notice?