What an amazing day! Diana and I woke at a 3:45 this morning so that we could have breakfast and be early in the line for buses up to Machu Picchu. We got there around 4:15 And already there was a line. By half hour later it was longer than I could see. Diane and I were able to get on one of the first two buses.

 

That meant they were only 60 people there when they open the gate. We were able to see everything with almost no other people.

And there was Machu Picchu, looking just like it has in every picture I've ever seen in every book… But we were there.

We spent the next two hours exploring the ruins mostly on our own. There were other people there but the place is so big we have lots of time by ourselves. If my camera is to be believed, I took 479 pictures today just on my phone. We are too tired to go through them right now. So I'm just going to post a few. I promise I'll go through them and pick some out.

We had read several guidebooks, and had Maps, guidebooks and an audio guide with us. With all that, it is still surprising how much of the function of this amazing place is still unknown. I'd say it's is likely to have been built by aliens as some of the other things that I heard.

Seriously though… You have to be amazed by the vision, engineering capabilities and artistry. To build such an amazing place in such an inaccessible site.

One thing that did keep catching an art year was the notion that Hiram Bingham discovered Machu Picchu. As the buddy guidebooks point out, the place was never really lost. The local people knew its location and it had been in agricultural use for as long as anyone could remember. Maybe just a little bit of Cultural hegemony ?

About 8 o'clock we had seen most of the site and the park was starting to fill up. We headed up to Machu Picchu mountain and made the long hike to the top. Views were amazing. It was scary for me because we had several sheer cliffs. But diane was able to coax me up.

 

Then it was a long hike down from the mountain, back out to the buses… And down back to Aguascalientes. It had been an amazing visit. It far surpassed my wildest imagination.

 

Unbelievably dirty, hot, it's Wendy by the time we got back to our glass. We desperately needed a shower. First order of business though was to drop in on gringo bills, a hotel that is run by our friend Julie's and gus's mom. (And mom in law. ) Margarita. Was out of town, is there. It was great getting to meet him. We talked for a while about life, Julie outdoors. He was a great guy. He even let us take a shower there, which we desperately needed and will never forget

We managed to get an earlier train back to Cuzco, which was great because it meant it was still light. We had a pleasant ride talk to some nice folks (Pat and Camille) and enjoyed the food drinks and entertainment on Peru rail. That is a well-run company. They even had entertainment and a fashion show !

Now were at cuzco , settling in for a next adventure. More on that tomorrow.
Must sleep now.

Night all, night Sam
–me