Machu Picchu

Just incase you DIDN’T know – my husband is on a mission to see the world. I would be perfectly happy just seeing the 7 Wonders of the World (We’ve been fortunate enough to see 6 of the 7 so far – plus the Pyramids!), but oh no…Paul made a list when he was a kid of all the places he wanted to see someday; however, the list seems to be growing instead of shrinking! As soon as we check a destination off the list, Paul seems to add at least two more places he wants to visit!

Don’t get me wrong…I’m not complaining! There isn’t anyone else I’d rather be with so I just hang on & try to keep up. Our latest adventure took us to South America. We have both wanted to see Machu Picchu for years, but it is not exactly convenient to get to! We finally decided to make the trip & as long as we were “close” we decided to throw in the Galapagos Islands on the same trip (but not the same blogpost so come back in a couple of days for that one)…it’s taken me a whole week just to go through all the pictures I took – I was able to whittle them down to my favorite 700 – don’t worry, I didn’t post them all (but this is certainly a picture-rich post).

In order to get to Machu Picchu we flew into Lima, Peru (spent the night) then we flew into Cuzco, Peru in the Andes Mountains (elevation is over 10,000 feet above sea level)…I have to admit it was difficult to breathe at times, but Cuzco was a charming little city with narrow streets & tons of Inca ruins near by. Here are a couple pix from our city tour…







I love all the shops…blocks & blocks of shops & shops at every stop that sell pretty much the same thing. How do they all stay in business?







I thought it was interesting that the poorer Quechuan people came into town wearing their native costumes trying to get you to take a picture with them for a little cash. I obviously spent a couple dollars…but I have to admit that I stole a couple pix, too.









We stayed in Cuzco a couple of days before taking a two hour bus ride to catch a two hour train ride to Aguas Caliente along the Urubamba River at the base of Machu Picchu.




Outside our hotel window – we literally stayed ON this roaring river – felt like home.





The next morning we took the 20 minute bus ride up the winding single lane road to the entrance to Machu Picchu. We were excited to have a private tour to tell us about the history of this spectacular place – but the views were breath taking as we climbed each hill uncovering more & more of this remarkable place…








We learned a lot about the culture & the amazing engineering of this World Heritage Site built for the Inca emperor Pachacuti in the 15th century as an “estate”…it’s good to be king!







The next morning we were on our own so we took the bus ride up then climbed up above Machu Picchu to the hiking trail that led to an adjacent ridge where the Intipunku (Sun Gate) offered a magnificent view of the citadel & the valley below where our hotel was…






Of course, I couldn’t resist this on the way down…



I loved all the Llamas! They were everywhere roaming wild in Machu Picchu...





This little one is only a couple of hours old – born right there in the middle of all these tourists! Pretty cool…




That evening we took the long two hour train ride & two hour bus ride back to Cuzco & had difficulty adjusting to the altitude change (Machu Picchu is about 2ooo feet lower than Cuzco) – thin air is difficult to breathe people! The next day we visited the nearby Sacred Valley…




A wonderful open market place…








More ruins at Ollantaytambo…





Finally, the little weavers village of Chinchero...








We truly enjoyed our visit to Peru – so rich in history & culture. We said goodbye & headed back to Lima, then on to Quayaquil, Ecuador en route to the Galapagos Islands.

Come back soon for more fun in the South American sun!