Machu Picchu

We have another early buffet breakfast because the train for Machu Picchu leaves very early on its three-hour trek down to the town of Aguas Calientes at the base of the mountain where the ruins are. We are delayed for a while because there is a portion of the bank that has fallen away very close to the train tracks. In the end, they just decide to go for it and we pass the danger with no problem. The scenery along this entire train ride is incredible. We see Torrent Ducks and White-capped Dippers in the Urubamba River as we near the town. As soon as we get off the train, we make our way through the street vendors to catch a bus that will take us to the top. There is a brightly dressed Peruvian man onboard who plays his pan pipes for us in hopes that we will give him some money or perhaps buy his CD. Up, up, up the dusty, twisty, turny road we go.

At the top we are met by our Machu Picchu guide who takes us on a tour of the ruins. This place is crawling with tourists. We are shown where the royalty must have lived, and the terraced gardens where they farmed. We also see where the common folks lived.

Machu Picchu is a work in progress. It was by no means completed when the Incas were driven out by the Spaniards some 500 years ago, abandoning the site altogether. It's amazing how the rocks fit so tightly together without the aid of any iron power tools to shape them.

The lunch buffet is exceptionally good and we are all very hungry. After lunch, Huw takes us along the road that the busses travel in search of the Inca Wren. We are lucky. Then everyone else in our group loads onto the bus to either shop at the street vendors or rest at the hotel in Aguas Calientes. Not Andy and Julia. We came all this way to see Machu Picchu, by golly! We ask when the last bus leaves and are told "5 o'clock." So we head back into the ruins and give ourselves a tour for the entire afternoon. We are 2 of maybe 50 people on the whole 75-acre site. It is very peaceful and really gets our imaginations going as to what it must have been like to live here all those years ago when this was a thriving community. We meet up with some llamas and we manage to see some birds, too. A Peregrine Falcon flies overhead, and we also see Blue-and-white Swallows up close, and Band-tailed Seedeaters.

Machu Picchu is an amazing experience. The location, perched on a mountaintop, gives fabulous views of the cloud forest and valley below. At only 8,000 feet, it is a good bit warmer than Cuzco, and has many colorful birds. When Andy was small he came here with his family. They managed to talk their way into sleeping in the lobby of the overpriced hotel at the top. The next morning they were perfectly located to get up early for the sunrise. Andy and his brother watched the sun rise, and then promptly ran down a couple of terraces until it disappeared again. They then watched it rise a second time. Their world record 21 sunrises in one day is a feat still unequaled, except by the astronauts. It is matched only in grandeur by the record 68 times in one day that these same brothers visited each of Honduras and Guatemala during a famous border crossing delay.

The sky darkens and Andy & Julia don raingear for the first and only time the entire trip. We get an incredible view of the ruins sidelit by the low sun through the dark clouds. This is a most memorable portion of our whole Peru trip, having Machu Picchu to ourselves for the afternoon.

We load onto the last bus of the day and make our way down the dusty road. And now we need to find our hotel. This town is also very much a work in progress. At least the street our hotel is on is torn up. These are not streets that cars drive on much. They are mostly for foot traffic. We find our home and we go over our bird list for the day with the others in the bar. We decide on a meeting time for dinner, which gives us enough time for a quick shower. And what a dinner!! It is the best homemade pasta we've ever had. We can highly recommend "El Indio Feliz." Sweet dreams that night.