Day 5 - Machu Picchu

Amazing Day!!!!!!!


The day started at 7am with a 4 hour train ride from Cusco to Macchu Picchu. The train ride was long, but we got to see a lot of scenery and farmlands. We arrived at the city of Machu Picchu close to noon, checked into the hotel and then had a buffet lunch looking out over the river. Right after lunch we got onto a bus and headed up the mountain to see the famous Incan City - Machu Picchu. To honor an Incan tradition, each bus that goes up to Machu Picchu has a little boy wearing a traditional Incan costume riding up front. When you go to leave the mountain to go back down to the town, the little boy literally runs down the mountain as you ride down in the bus and he gets down to the bottom before you and waves!


Once we arrived at the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu at 8,050 feet above sea level, we were blown away by how beautiful the scene was! The mountains and the ruins were so beautiful.
     

Following our tour guide we walked through the ruins and learned about all the different parts of the Incan city and were able to explore the temples, houses, and other structures.
          

Even though we were over 8,000 feet up, there were llamas and chinchillas roaming the mountain. Jenn almost got run over by one of the llamas who got spooked by another tourist! Another interesting part of the ruins was a large stone that is said to heal & provide energy. Jenn & I were able to go up to the stone and touch it and standing up there it was really peaceful. The weather changes very quickly up there so while it was pouring rain and misty when we first got there, by the end of our trip it was sunny and warm. We even saw a rainbow form over the mountain range.

We took lots of great pictures, but they really don't capture exactly how amazing this place is. No wonder it was recently named as one of the new 7 Wonders of the World! After leaving the ruins, we went back down to the city and shopped a bit, then had dinner while watching more traditional Peruvian music. It's funny, each group that we've seen play has always covered at least one Beatles song on the traditional instruments. After dinner, Jenn & I headed out with a few people from our group for more shopping and then we stopped at a cute little cafe and had Sangria and dessert (Flan!). Now we're heading to bed because we have another early morning ahead of us, watch the sun rise at Machu Picchu!