Machu Picchu & Going Home!

As I am sitting in the JFK airport for 7 more hours, I decided that I should write my final blog post! Thanks for following along with me as I took my first trip out of the country in years for such a great experience.

Machu Picchu was absolutely incredible. We drove a bus up the mountain and got there so early that fog was covering the entire landscape. We joked about how "beautiful" it looked, but it was honestly one of the best views I've experienced when the fog slowly moved to reveal Machu Picchu. We then got a full tour of the Incan city and learned a lot about how advanced the Incas were. The women were astronomers and had their own university, and the men were engineers and built the incredible stone buildings. I still can't believe they were able to move such gigantic stones.

Machu Picchu is something I will never forget seeing, and I hope to see more wonders of the world throughout my life!

As for our last day in Cusco, we decided to have a relaxing final tour of the city. I feel like that was much needed as we were all so tired from waking up early every day and walking around Machu Picchu. I feel like we were all starting to have our bodies catch up with us, and we just wanted to chill. We got some chocolate and ice cream and then ate dinner at one of our favorite restaurants we found, Bodega 138. This was the Italian place we went on one of the first days, and when I went this time I got the mac & cheese and it was even better than the last pasta dish I got there. I also got a lemonade and I noticed in Peru they're always limeades as I ordered lemonade at 2 different places and they both came out as lime! (not sure if I read the menu wrong both times or what but they were good haha).

We then chilled at Paddy's, the highest elevation true Irish pub in the world! It sits at 11,156 feet; we stayed there pretty late just talking and enjoying our last night together in Peru. Finally. the next morning we went to a cafe that overlooked the plaza before we headed to the airport. We said goodbye to the grandkids and they told us to visit them the next time we are in Cusco!

Thank you Haley for allowing me to join in on your awesome idea of this travel blog! I'm so glad I decided to go on this trip, as it is something I will never forget and I was able to bond with a new group of students who go to Clemson and hopefully stay connected with them! I learned so much and this trip has made me want to become a dentist even more and has made me so grateful for the life & opportunities I have in order to be able to chase this dream. In the Lima airport I bought DAT bootcamp, which is a program for students who are about to take the Dental Admissions Test, so the rest of the summer I will be getting ready to take that (hopefully in August!) In the meantime, I will be keeping up with Haley's adventure to Mexico. I can't wait to hear about it and see all the pictures!

Thanks again! Paige