What a difference it is to wake up in Machupicchu Pueblo and NOT take the bus up to MP. We heard alarms go off and people shuffling at 5 am, but this morning, Mer and I rolled over and slept another hour or so. We then ate a casual breakfast (again, just bread and tea or coffee). As we then went to pack up, I took a stroll through town to get water and sandwiches and noticed almost no foreigners in town. It was just the bustle of locals cleaning out their shops and restaurants as well as those hauling things around for construction projects.
We then checked out and hauled our packs to the train (with one stop for a photo op)
We now ride the train back to Ollantaytambo, where we'll find a combi to take us back to Cuzco. Errands await us as we hope to visit our old hostel, Yawamarki, and ask Raquel for help in storing our packs while we go wash much needed laundry and see if we can find the Bolivian consulate to obtain visas (contingent on their requirement of a yellow fever vaccine which we both have but both lack the official yellow pamphlet). Then we for sure will head to Puno, Peru and then may or may not stay or go onward to Copacabana, Bolivia.
[Evening Post]
We arrived back in Cuzco and walked back to our old hostel, Yawarmaki. We can't say enough about the place and it's owner, Raquel. She's just fabulous. She let us store our packs all day, called taxis, let us use the bathroom, all for nothing. She even served us tea upon our arrival as Mer was a bit motion sick from our collectivo ride up from Ollayantaytambo.
First up was our taxi to the Bolivian consulate. It was, primarily, a failed mission. We couldn't get visas there, only at the border … or Puno. However, we got the application and have a reasonable expectation that they won't require the yellow fever vaccination papers. So, we'll try again at the border … or Puno.
Then we decided to go to museums left on our Boleto Turistico. First up was the Casa Garcilaso. There were a lot of pictures of Machupicchu from Hiram Bingham in 1912 all the way to present day. Pretty cool to see how Machupicchu has evolved. Mer even noticed some "additions" from Hiram's first discovery. We'd been wondering how much was original & what was renovated. Certainly glad we visited this after seeing Machupicchu. 
However, our guidebooks said there were mummies at this museum, and we never found them. After inquiring with some American students also there and finally with the ticket agents, we discovered there were no mummies there. The students suggested the Qorikancha museum, also part of our Boleto Turistico-because they had mummies over there.
So we made our way there. However, along the way, we ran into Sarah, whom we'd met our first morning on Machupicchu, who taught us the "beauty shot." 
She was with her was her aforementioned friend, Kate. They were on a private Cuzco city tour, but stopped to talk to us. I had previously talked with Sarah about teaching first grade, and Kate proved just as valuable in her experiences as a certified teacher abroad. Wonderful to run into them again. They also gave us a great tip to explore the Museo de Cacao.
First, we stopped at an ice cream/coffee shop recommended in our guide book, El Hada (el hada means "the fairy," but helada means "ice cream." Cute, right?) We had the flavor "?," a flavor native to Cuzco. The coffee was good too.
Then, we sprinted to the Museo de Qorikancha to find our mummies. We did. Interestingly, the museum was below a field behind the site of Qorikancha which we explored our first day on our Cuzco city tour.
Then we made a dash for Museo de Cacao as recommended.
What a great place! They had cacao tea. Free samples of different chocolates they made there. There was a cafe, where we eventually ordered a brownie and a Mayan hot chocolate. Delicious! They have cooking classes that, with more time in Cuzco, we'd have loved to have done. Alas, it was time for dinner.
Again Mer found another great restaurant site. This one was near San Blas by our hostel called Pachapapa.
Mer had the pork stew, recommended by Fodor's.
I had the Pacha papa. Pork skewer with many types of potatoes.
We made a stop by to pick up our laundry and repacked our bags at Yawarmaki. (Mer says not to get used to this nicely folded laundry.)
Again, I can't say enough about Raquel at Hostel Yawamarki. She was like our Cuzquenian godmother. So kind. She even called a taxi to the bus station for us.
We made our way to Cruz del Sur. Our 10 pm bus will take us to Puno at the crack of dawn (4 am) where we will proceed to the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca, visa permitting. This time our seats were AWESOME. We had the front left seats on the 2nd level above the driver. This means a bug window out & decreased chance of Mer being motion sick (although I'm pretty sure she took Dramamine for the ride/night).
Good night all! See you on Bolivia!
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