A dream come true MACHU PICHU

What can I say, Machu Pichu was like a dream. I was lucky to tag along with two student friends I've made from Australia. The days leading up to the trip were a little gray with intermittent sprinkles, but the day we got there the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

We started last Sunday by going to Chincheros, which has a big Sunday market and some pretty amazing ruins. We then caught the bus and then another to get to Ollaytaytambo.  There was a huge 4 day festival going on, so when we got there, there were people dancing in the square in the moat colorful and varied costumes you've ever seen.  The partying and music went into the wee hours and right when I started to fall asleep, I was woken up by the rooster.  The town was quaint and authentic with huge ruins on the mountain right behind.

The next day we took the Inca Rail to Agua Calientes, the neon, touristy town which is the staring point for Machu Pichu. Everyone knows your name, everything is overpriced and the hot springs werent that hot, but who really cares, you're about to see Machu Pichu.

Unless you feel like walking, which I didn't, you can take a bus up to the ruins.  The earlier you get there the better because it gets really crowded. After you walk up the hill and see the postcard picture of Machu Pichu, you're completely awestruck. It's just grand and beautiful.  Machu Pichu is famous for lots of reasons, but its the most intact Incan ruin because the Spainiards never found it. The architecture is amazing and complicated and you're left wondering how they did it.  The narration in the brochure gives some credit to Hiram Bingham, the "rediscoverer" of Machu Pichu, but first notes others who found it first.

I spent lots of time, sitting and staring down at the site, with llamas eating grass all around me. I didn't take a ton of pictures, because of course my battery would completely die the day before. My fiend did lend me her camera and snapped some good shots which I'll post soon.

Xo

Christy