Machu Picchu Adventure

As I write this, I am sitting in Northern Maine.  Recovering from a week of little sleep and then 2 full days of being stuck in airports and on planes.  So please excuse the lack of enthusiasm, because visiting Machu Picchu really was one of the most AMAZING experiences ever.  For anyone unfamiliar with the significance of Machu Picchu, the Inka Trail and the Sacred Valley please check out an overview here and here.

Like I have mentioned before, I have dreamed about visiting Machu Picchu since I was young, having done reports and lots of reading the encyclopedia (before the internet)  about the Inca culture.  I have been fascinated with them since.  We started out our day with a train ride from the Poroy train station on Perurail.  It lasted about 3 hours and was GORGEOUS.

Once we got to Aguas Calientes, we were quickyle rushed to a bus stop.  For some reason, our tour operator in Cusco had neglected to give us our bus tickets and our tickets to Machu Picchu.  So we held up the bus group waiting for our guide to run and get them for us.  But soon we were headed up to the top, on crazy switchbacks.  It took us about 20 minutes.

We reached the top entrance, and basically got hearded off by our guide (she kept calling me Tatyana so I wasn't responding to her and it was confusing).  She took us to our other guide that was the actual Machu Picchu guide and we were on our way.  We must have arrived at the most popular time because there were people EVERYWHERE!  Hundreds, of people, fighting to walk up the steep, uneven, steps.  There were people sitting down, because the elevation makes it so hard to breathe and some people just can't handle it.  The first view we saw was totally worth not being able to breathe.  haha

We continued on with our tour.  It was very interesting and very informative, but def. left some gaps that I feel the need to fill in.  So let the research commence.  Here are some more of our "money shots".

Enjoy!