Machu Picchu

We've been on a bit of a hiatus from blogging the past couple of weeks, first because we were in San Francisco and then because Paul was busy trying his hand at political blogging as part of the Washington Post pundit contest.

All of which reminded us that before we went on to blog our trip to San Francisco, we still had to finish up the great May trip to Peru and, most especially, the fantastic visit to Machu Picchu.

The trip into Aguas Calientes (the small town outside of Machu Picchu) was the last hike of the trip and a surprising challenging one. We started the day at the last Inn on the trail at about 7000 feet and then hiked up and over a pass at 10,000 feet where we had a fine, but misty view of Machu Picchu in the distance. And then, on the other side, it was down, down, down to the river -- about 3-4,000 feet down on a series of switchbacks. The hike was a true "knee killer." Worse yet, it had rained the day before and the path was all mud. So the hike was just "step, slide, balance; step, slide, balance" for 3 hours nearly straight down. Not fun at all. We arrived in town tired and quite happy to find a room with a strong, hot shower.

The next day was magic. Paul had been skeptical of Machu Picchu from the start. "It's just a bunch of old rocks." Boy was he wrong! The construction at Machu Picchu was stunning -- perfectly cut blocks of stone fitting together seamlessly without mortar. They were so strong that they had withstood the test of time and the shaken of many earthquakes -- something that could not be said for more recent man-made constructions in Lima! And they were so well preserved that, instead of just a jumble of old stones, you got a true sense of the history of the place. One could close ones eyes and almost imagine Incan families wandering about on the mountain top. Late in the day, the sun broke out and we sat basking in the light on one of the agricultural ledges watching the world go by. If you ever get a chance to go do so! Without hesitation.

And there ended our trip, for all intents and purposes. That evening we had a hellish ride back to Cusco. The rains have washed out the train tracks so the train goes only part way and then we got stuffed into a mini-bus for a 2 hour slog at midnight. [As an aside, rumor has it that Rail Peru has no plans to fix the railroad because they are making more money from the insurance payments they get than they would if the restarted operations!]. After another day wandering Cusco and shopping we headed back to Lima and then onto the long flight home to America.

On the whole, a most excellent adventure.