Machu Picchu

We're back in Cusco now after a great few days in the Sacred Valley and of course, at the holy grail itself, Machu Picchu. My stomach got its act together, we wound our way to the very picturesque Ollantaytambo and lodged there, catching the "backpacker" train to the town at the base of the Machu Picchu site, Aguas Calientes. Apart from some slightly chavvy thermal springs, the town boasts very little save for being the gateway to the site known (erroneously) as 'The Lost City of the Incas'.

We rose at 5 am and caught the bus up, up, up into the clouds, only for them to part for us as if on cue as we entered the site and feasted our eyes on this incredible wonder of the world. It really is true that no amount of pictures can do justice to this incredible Incan site: sweeping views of the surrounding valleys, the mountains plunging steeply into the Urubamba river on each side and, shrouded cloud and nestled in the middle of it all, an ancient city that mesmerisingly catches the sun as it rises over the mountains. I won't lie, it brought a tear to my eye. We stood in silence with a handful of other travellers and watched the sun rise and bathe us and the ruins in its golden light.

Machu Picchu, or 'Old Peak' was rediscovered in 1911 by Yale explorer Hiram Bingham and I like to imagine that we caught a glimpse of what he must have felt when he first layed eyes on it. (I wore my "East Village" tshirt, care of Jes, to represent NYC...) Not content with the usual postcard view of the site, we trundled off to climb the high, steep peak you see behind the site in all the classic postcards: Wayna Picchu, or 'Young Peak'. Looks steep doesn't it? Well we can testify that it certainly is! We huffed and puffed our way up and were rewarded as the sun slowly burned off the morning cloud and we got to see an incredible panoramic view of Machu Picchu and the surrounding valleys. We kept pinching ourselves, not only because we had been awake since 5 am, but because we could not believe we were actually there taking it all in. Its cliched, but Machu Picchu really was everything I would thought it be and more.

In a day or so we'll head down toward Bolivia to continue the next stage of our explorations. Word on the street is that these days they're charging Americans $100 at the border! Stupid politics. My stupid blue passport!! Bu for now we're back with "karaoke Eddie", mentioned in a previous post. It's all good.

Come along for the ride. We wish you were here...