The Big One--Machu Picchu

It was supposed to be the rainy season. We completely lucked out with the weather.



Had to bring some Texas to Machu Picchu! Guns up!





Sean is such a good dad! He did a lot of high-altitude hiking with the Teague appendage on his shoulders.


Is this for real?
It isn't every day you wake up and say, "we're going to see Machu Picchu today", so as you can imagine, we were elated. Muy elated. We chose to take the 2-hour vistadome train up to Aguas Calientes, the base of the ruins. The train experience was fantastic! Even the train's ceiling had windows, and the views were out of this world. In addition, everyone on board was full of excitement. The only place I've ever seen people this drunk on happiness is the monorail to Disney World!

To prepare, Teague watched the episode of Little Einsteins that features Macchu Piccu. Because of this, he thought Beethoven would be playing in the background during our hike.

Upon our arrival at Aguas Calientes, we took one more 30-min bus ride up to the entrance. Outside, we quickly found a guide and then we were in. As beautiful as it is, they make you work for it! At the very least, a visit to Machu Picchu requires two plane rides, two buses, two taxis and a train through very rural (read: high food poisoning probability) areas.

The first part of the entrance is jungle-like vegetation and hills, but after a few minutes, you walk through a stone gate and the view literally takes your breath away. The colors are so vivid, and the mysterious clouds hang around the peaks. By far one of the most beautiful sites I've seen to date.

We hiked first to the Temple of the Sun, where we saw Incan 'refrigerators' and learned about the guinea pig shaped rock which has a glowing eye one day of the year. The guard house hike was brutal, but the views were phenomenal. After taking at least 30 photos, I think we actually have one where all three of us have ours eyes opened and are looking in the same general direction!
We continued exploring for a few hours, watching the llamas, enjoying the fantastic weather and finding interesting rocks (Teague). Eventually we had to head back to grab a late lunch and trek back to Ollantaytambo for the night, to gear up for the next day, which included an overnight bus ride to Nazca.

My extreme adoration for Peru ends at this point. Had we seen Machu Picchu and headed back to Argentina, I would have been a happy girl, but wait, there's more. To be continued...


Looking down at the Temple of the Sun.


The photo you see in all the books.