17th July 2012: Aguas Caliente (part 1):

Aguas Caliente (part 1):
After the final group lunch, we say our farewells to those leaving to go to other adventures and retreat to our hostel room to get a hot shower. 
Hostel Viajerros (???) is a dump, albeit one with just the basic amenities that we all craved for. On the plus side, we shared a tiny room with 3 comfortable mattresses, hot shower and SIT DOWN TOILETS...!!!!!! Minuses were fairly minor, since after coming back from camping, even the tiniest of things seem like a blissful luxury. Soundproofing????? Niet!!! It seems that you can hear everything happening in the reception loud and clear from the first floor where our room is located. Our room door consists of a wooden frame with lots of sandblasted glass pieces. One of these pieces had gone missing, and was replaced by some ugly looking plywood. Worst of all, and what could have been my demise, is the bunk bed ladder which was meant to get me to my bed. the thing was missing nuts and bolts, and those that were still there, were loose...!!!!
After a hot shower, we head to the natural hot springs higher up the very tiny tourist oriented village.
10 soles for entrance, 3 for towels, 1 for locker. It's my first time in a hot spring, so I don't really know what to expect. The water seems murky, but I'm assured that's normal for hot springs. There's an array of small pools to which the spring water is fed, and after dipping in one of the less busy ones, we move to the hottest. In short, it's a hot bath, and as an animal who prefers showers, well, I didn't find it particularly interesting, despite being fairly relaxing. In fact, I suspect that I was slightly dehydrated when I got in, and the heat made it worse, and I started to feel light headed, almost dozing off in the hot water. We must have stayed at least 1/2 hour, before moving out and going back to the hostel room, where I collapsed for a good 3 hours. There was a big parade going on out there, but we were too tired to even bother...!!!
We then set out to get some dinner. Landed in what seemed to be a decent place, but the food was just very expensive, not good and we were even taxed some, what we would find out later, fake city tax...!!!
Head back yet again to the hostel, where we are greeted by a locked entrance door...!!!!!! We bang furiously, until someone actually comes to open up. Were told that the hostel doors are meant to close at 11, but we were never informed of that...!!!

Main square at Aglias Caliente.