Amazing Sights, yet Smelly Buses

Buenas otra vez desde Peru!  So today was the big day, the day to see that ever so famous site in Peru that if you mention you are traveling to this country, everyone will assume you will go there.  Yes, Machu Picchu, hidden city of the Incas, UNESCO World Heritage Site, the biggest attraction in all of South America (or so they claim).  I must say that it does live up to every possible superlative - magical, awe-inspiring, breathtaking.  The only one it did not hit in my book was transformational.  Sorry folks, but I did not feel profoundly changed by the experience, as wonderful as it was.

Anyway, it was all around terrifc, although it is quite an investment of time and effort to see it.  Christine and I rose about 5:30 am (which is the dead of the morning from my perspective) to scarf down breakfast and head out to the ruins.  We did have the opporunity to see the ruins at sunrise, but personally, I am more of a sunset person so I felt no need to rise an extra hour earlier to have that particular experience.  At 7am, Christine and I boarded a bus for the climb to Machu Picchu.  We arrived at the time before all the major tour groups descended and it was relatively tourist free.  I will have to let the pictures speak for themselves, and as I mentioned earlier, it was truly spectacular.

Christine and I decided to take a midmorning break just as the tourist throngs descended, so that meant leaving via bus at around 11:30am with a load of backpackers who just finished the Inka Trail and were heading back to Agua Calientes to get a hot shower and rest.  Needless to say, that was the longest 15 minute bus ride of my entire life.  The bus filled with ripe backpackers, eminating a pungent odor that made me gag.  Christine had to hold her scarf over her face, while I resorted to breathing through my mouth.  At the midway point, I started hoping that the bus would just tumble off the side of the mountain so we could be put out of our misery as quickly as possible.  Needless to say that we did survive that experience, but not something I would want other people to suffer.

After a tasty pizza in town and a nice nap, we headed back up the mountain to see Machu Picchu again at sunset.  This time, the change in the light and the departure of tourist throngs made it a delight to see the rest of the ruins.  While I was trying to take a cool picture of Christine standing in the midst of some of the ruins in the industrial section, Christine moved and let out a shriek - a young llama popped out from one of the doorways, baaing in search of its mother, who he had lost.  One of the many unexpected surprises in such an enchanting place.

Well, after a long day of hiking and sightseeing (and a dip in the hotspring at my hotel) it is time for some much needed rest.  Hopefully Christine will get the pics up soon so we can share some of our many, many pictures.

Hasta Luego

- Joe