Game On - Machu Pichu

Today is the day

Tina here.....

We all woke up early in the morning. The big fear is weather and that the day that you have to explore Machu Picchu it will be cold, windy and pouring rain and there is no wiggle room, you have tickets and there is no rain days, you go in the rain or you don't go at all. It was raining when we arrived the evening before and literally poured rain throughout the night. Our guide, Jose said let it rain tonight so it can be sunny tomorrow. That gave us hope at least. The Canadian couple who we were with in the Amazon went in the rain and said that it was really cold and the trails were slippery. But Jose had given us hope...

Well, when the clouds broke open the sky was the most beautiful blue I think we've ever seen! Today is our day...we start out on our journey with only stories from other people, but this is our day... and what a day it was!

Clyde here....

Morning breaks and the mountains jump up all around and the river is running wild.It is a bus that transports us up switchbacks (don't even think about looking down!) until we get our first glimpse of the sight. A mess of people are lined up to pay 1 coin to use the bathroom cause once you cross over the entrance they furnish no bathroom and do not take kindly to folks messing up the place - this is a holy sight. Our guide earns his keep as he suggests we head first for the sun gate. Apparently Peru is short of oxygen and only has enough for the locals and leaves the rest of us to fight for scraps. We go up, up, up, gasping but making progress. We get views of the Machu Picchu ruins all the way and each view is more amazing. Near the top it gets really amazing as those in our party that think only birds should be in areas like this are intent on polishing the side of the mountain away from the drops and imitate dogs on all fours in the really scary parts But with pride in tact we summit and high fives all round. Yeah!

 

The view is worth it and some info from our guide is something to think about. Like all folks that are connected to the earth the Inca know stars and the seasons. The sun rises on the longest day of the year first through the sun gate notch in the mountain and hits a window on the temple in the ruins about 3 miles away. The shortest day of the year finds the sun hitting another window on the temple from another mountain. There are many interesting things to learn and the ruins are much larger than appear on the poster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the main thing is the good feeling that radiates from the spot. We leave Machu Pichu with respect and amazement. A train ride, a long van ride in the dark and we drag our weary bodies to bed in Cusco.

Allison, SA Luxury Excursions

Now a word about the lovely and wonderful people you meet along the way. Allison works for the agency we booked our Amazon and Machu Piccu portion of our trip and they have taken wonderful care of us. Allison was checking out the Jungle with us and was a part of our group and we all bonded immediately. Allison comes from Cosco but has lived in Germany and speaks german, english and spanish and a bit of Inca (Quechua). But what is really impressive about Allison is her soul - a truly caring person. We were concerned with our short turn time between flights in Lima going to Santiago and Allison being Allison checked into our reservations. These are not reservations that are part of her firms portion of our trip but just helping friends. Turns out our reservations were messed up and they had no record of our reservation. Crap. When we arrive at the hotel Tina and I head for the business center where Tina hooks up Skype and we call Orbits; "Due to an unusual bla, bla, your call will take approximately 25 minutes. Double crap. Here comes Allison, gets on the computer, looks over my papers and after a spell, "I found you". Hell, I don't know what happened but Allison saved the day and a place in our hearts forever. Not the end. Allison meets us the next morning, goes to the airport, sees that our bags are checked through to Santiago and walks us to the gate. Not only that but she is cute as can be. Thank you Allison!

 

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