Well considering that day 6 was a complete mammoth of a post, day 7 is much shorter! We spent the night before in the little mountain town near Machu Picchu and then woke up early to catch our train ride back to Cusco.
Here is a mountain-side view of Cusco. So many houses crammed on top of each other, hey?
It was another beautiful day in Peru. Winter there proved to be stunning.
Ancient architecture in the middle of more modern buildings.
We spent most of the day checking out the ruins around Cusco. The first ruin we went to was Sacsayhuamán.Just say sexy women kind of fast weirdly and that pretty much how you pronounce it.
I think this is the sign for Sexy Women in Quechua.
This was our Chilean-hating tour guide for Sexy Women. He was pretty funny, moved really fast (you try walking up a million stairs in 100,000 metres above sea level elevation without falling over), and spoke Quechua on top of that! He's showing us a picture of what Sexy Women looked like in her (the ruin is a she) hay day.
Pretty cool, hey?
They claim that these rocks were once underwater and that there are sea animal fossils in them.
It's pretty cool how they put the rocks together perfectly!
Blue skies and Jesus:
More rocks:
The evil stairs!
Family pictures sans the Rays...
Overview of Sexy Women:
More history of Cusco:
View of the Plaza de Armas:
Lovers! Ooooh, I need to go on my diet again....
On top of the world!
Proof of the sea creatures. The white around them is graffiti which our tour guide blamed on some "f'ing Chileans". Pretty sure it wasn't, but we just stood their and nodded.
Our next few stops were some more ruins. I can't remember really- I think I was suffering from elevation poisoning at this point.
Going down into some caves:
This is either a bed or a sacrifice alter:
Or maybe a kings chair....
The matching weirdos:
More ruins:
And that was that for day 7! After we saw all the ruins, we went back to the Plaza and had dinner. Then it was straight to bed after that. Day 8 was our last day in Peru. We got to explore Lima a bit more, so that was pretty exciting! Staying tuned for day 8!
Day 6 of our trip continued early in the morning, and got off to a relatively rough start. If I remember correctly, we had to be up at about 4 AM to make our 6 AM-ish train to Machu Picchu. Now remember, the last time we showered was at around the same time in the morning before in Lima. We got on the plane, flew to Cusco, then spent the entire day walking around Cusco. Went to bed that evening and woke up really early to shower and make the train to Machu Picchu. The key word is SHOWER. When we got up to get ready and go, there was no water to be found. The key word should actually be WATER I guess. Shower, flush toilet, brush teeth, wash face... you know, normal stuff, couldn't be done! So it was a little rough. We came to find out that the city randomly turns the water off or something weird like that. Who really knows. All I do know is we were really grateful for scented deodorant and perfume. And the people on the train around us were probably grateful for it too. And did I mention it was cold too? ... Rough start!
Since we were up so early, I got to experience a Peruvian sunrise. Its kind of hard to tell in the picture since the taxi was going about 100 miles over the speed limit, but it was beautiful.
4 minutes on the train and Wyatt is already up to his shenanigans!
The train was very nice with comfortable seats, lots of leg room, and tables i the middle to play games and eat! Reese gave PeruRail a thumbs up!
The scenery on the train ride there was absolutely stunning as seen in the pictures below. I am not sure what these area's were called, or if there are any importance to it since our tour guide was a bit preoccupied on the train...
Backpackers or Peruvians... who knows!
Here are the boys passing the time. Please ignore the weird one to the right....
And that would be our tour guide. No, not Wyatt, the "preoccupied" one...
Three of my favourites: Reese, Triana, and Jon
My turn...
All four of us! Not too bad for being un-showered, right?!
Another pretty picture:
And the tour guide...
Can you believe this was the middle of winter? So green and beautiful!
Halfway to our destination, some tourists got off because they couldn't stand the smell to hike the rest of the way there.
What our train looked liked from the outside:
PeruRail served us well!
The train dropped us off in a little town about a 15 minute bus ride from the actual site of Machu Picchu. I believe the town is called Aguascalientes. It's just this tiny little town in the middle of the mountains. Quite cute if you ask me!
After we found a hostel to stay at, we got our bus tickets and made the trip up the mountain!
Bienvenido Machupicchu!
It was about 11 AM when we got to the entrance, and as you can tell, quite busy too!
The beautiful mountain valley, Urubamba, that surrounds Machu Picchu!
Some important stuff:
Reesey:
Urubamba Valley:
That tall mountain thing on the left is called Huayna Picchu. You can actually hike up to the top of it to see more temples and terraces. You can only hike up if you have an appointment and the maximum amount of people allowed up on any given day is 400. We did have an appointment, but didn't realize it... so we missed our opportunity to hike up. That thing is flipping tall and steep though, so Triana and I didn't loose any sleep over it!
You can look at pictures and think "thats cool", but they really don't do this place justice. I can't even accurately describe the feeling you get seeing this wonder of the world. It is absolutely amazing and should be on everyone's bucket list.
Machu Picchu closes at 6 PM (if I'm remembering correctly) and it actually worked out perfect that we got there around lunch time because everyone else there had been there since it opened. So at the beginning of our exploration it was rather busy, but near the end there was hardly anyone there.
Making our way up to the grassy areas:
This is a good view of the Urubamba Valley and the Urubamba river:
Another view of Huayna Picchu:
The two amazing people who made our trip possible:
View of Machu Picchu from the top. Spectacular right?
So our tour guide wasn't the most helpful, so we kinda just eavesdropped on other tours figured things out on our own!
Plus it didn't help that he only spoke Spanish and Wyatt and Reese thought it would be fun not to relay the information they were told to Jon, Triana, and myself.
And of course how can you go to one of the wonders of the world without taking about 5,000 pictures?
Perfect backdrop, right?
Yip, the clowns talking Spanish to each other and ignoring the English speakers...
Steps carved out of the mountain. When I was eavesdropping on a tour, I heard the guide saying that the alpaca during those times would have been our lawn mowers. They kept the grass short, so the Inca's didn't have to worry about it!
The steps at the top of Huanya Picchu:
Extra zooming and you can see the crazy people who are actually on top, walking around:
Lawn mower:
We decided that the Inca's had to be tall...
Take 1:
Second times a charm:
Wyatt and his friend:
Reese made me post this, and thats all I'm gonna say!
Christmas card, right?! We just need to super-impose Hillery, Andy, and the kids! (Who were sorely missed this trip)
A sacred rock... thats about all I know!
This thing was way too comfortable around people...
Video of Machu Picchu from above:
Another family picture!
Their water system... pretty impressive!
Reese not cooperating for a picture...
My fabulous brother, Wyatt.
This picture pose is a re-accruing thing. Seriously- take note!
Peru:
Mexico:
And we're back to Peru:
Jon was pretty hilarious during the trip. While walking up some large stairs (again, the Inca's had to be basketball players) Jon told Triana she was like a little mountain goat (or something) and then proceeded to make a nie-ing horse sound. I think thats what happened, and it was pretty funny! And so is the below picture:
Reese translating for us:
I decided this was there version of a toilet:
And you know, I still think I was right!
Not very ladylike though, I realize that!
Triana, my beautiful MIL.
Taking a break from all the walking:
Reese being inappropriate.
All the boys! I think Jon was probably dying of hunger at this point...
Triana and myself... and Jon, definitely hungry!
Peruvian GQ? I think so!
Triana taking on the roll of tour guide:
A little shout out for Triana- it's her birthday today (1 Dec). HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! We love you!
And me..
Reese and I:
Jon going getting ready to scale the mountain!
Great picture right?
And the real posing begins...
Told ya!
Reesey trying to be cool...
Ja, I think he's pretty cool!
I joined in the fun too... So my pose it not perfect- don't judge!
Another sacred rock!
Check this little boy with his cellphone, fedora, club shoes, khakis, button down, and purse of sorts.... so funny!
A long way down, and stairs to follow!
Self portrait uno:
So I actually know what this sacred rock is. It's called the Intihuatana or sun-tier. It was designed to be a clock or calendar and you can supposedly feel energy off the rock.
So what do you do? You get as much energy from it as possible! Without touching, of course.
Reese:
Jon:
Trixie:
You know what was the funniest thing about all of us soaking up the energy from the big rock? We all knew not to touch it... our tour guide however, did not! How ironic!
Reminiscing over some pictures! Our day at Machu Picchu was beautiful. We really lucked out considering that it was supposed to be cloudy and cold! As you can tell from the pictures, it was not!
Self portrait dos:
I LOVE this picture of Triana.
Soaking it all up!
We thought this was a sundial of sorts...
Oh Wyatt...
That is not my husband...
Can you believe they are related to Triana and Hillery? Sheesh!
Clowns!
Another video of the grounds:
At the end of our Machu Picchu adventure:
Wyatt and the mountains
Reesey and Court
Wy and his friend:
Jon and Triana:
It was quite spectacular, and like I said... GO check it out if you ever can!
The bus ride back was hilarious. For everyone but Wyatt. Please notice Triana laughing so hard, she's almost crying behind Reese. Why you ask? Please take note of Wyatt and what he's doing...
And look at the person to his right and how he's sitting, more specifically how he has his arms raised.
Told you, Triana is crying of laughter! I almost felt bad for Wyatt... I could smell the grossness from 6 rows in front! So, so funny!
Ciao for now, Machu Picchu!
And to end the day, our very informative tour guide!
Only 2 days left of our Peru trip! Stay tuned for day 7!
