Saturday, March 7, 2015

Machu Picchu

It is honestly hard to know where to begin to describe our trip to Machu Picchu!!  I think I speak for the group when I say that the dream of the trip was to take the mission trip to the orphanage.  Machu Picchu was the bonus.  And what a spectacular bonus it was.  This is a trip on many peoples' bucket lists, and it was a dream to go.  Some of us continue to say that we couldn't believe we were actually there.  After taking about 200 pictures there (editing will be required:) it was hard to choose which pictures to show.  Here's a few:

Our guide, "J" was fantastic.  He was a seasoned trekker, and has been guiding daily tours up Machu Picchu for several years.  These days, he does 6 a week, and takes one day off.  He was in incredible shape!!  He had a walking stick, and tied a "white flag" on one end.  When he wanted us to follow him, he would raise the flag and say, "Ok, Family, follow me".  Quite lovely really…..


We arrived about 7:00 am that day, and it was misty.  The fog would go in and out.  It created an almost mystical feeling that just enveloped you…..


The clouds were simply amazing!!

The grass was quite manicured on the terraced areas.  Here are the the "grounds keepers".  
Nice looking group don't you think?    After viewing the initial ruins, we stopped for a group picture.  This group was amazing working up the mountain - helping each other, supporting each other, and encouraging each other that we could indeed make it.  

Then we were given a choice of 2 alternate trips.  These were to take a further hike up:

Huayna Picchu and Intipunku
"J" described Huayna (aka Wayna Picchu) while not quite as high as Intipunku (the Sun Gate), it was much steeper, and those who were going to tackle it needed to be in "reasonable physical shape"!!

Here's the troopers that tackled this one:


All I can say to these pictures is, "Holy Crap!!!!" :)

Pretty impressive, guys!!!
Our "young" trekkers - Evan and Sonya!!  At one point, Charlie said to Evan, "Could you at least "pretend" that you are slightly winded!!!  They were such good sports putting up with their parents' vintage!!  They also made us try a whole lot harder because they made it all look so easy……..:)


The other group tackled the "higher" but gentler Intipinku (aka the Sun Gate).    For those who know me, I love the Inukshuks built by the Canadian First Nations people.  They are directional markers or "guide posts".  I never expected to find one along this path…...



Taking "breathing" breaks along the path was very important!!
Chris was incredible!!  At some point along the way up this 1 hour climb, he decided he was going to "get there first" - and he did!!  Chris, I won't share your age here, but all I can say is that you were pretty impressive up there!!

Nancy and I admitted to each other before we went to Machu Picchu that we were "afraid of heights"!!  It's actually the "fear of falling".  I'm good as long as I'm not near the edge.  We opted, as a result, to do the "gentler" climb.  We were doing pretty well until the last 10 minutes.   Initially,  the  path was likely about 5 to 6 feet wide, and that was quite manageable.  The last 10 minutes, the path narrowed to about 3 feet with an 8,000 foot drop off the cliff!!!  Nancy, is it fair to say we were terrified??  We were hugging the rock wall beside us for dear life!!  It was one of those "OMG" moments, where the voice inside your head said, "What on earth were you thinking??"

Here we are pretty proud that we actually made it to the top.  The good news was, we did it!!  The bad news was, we had to go back down………  Our dear guide, "J" walked with his back to the edge beside us in the worst parts, making sure we were ok.  He was simply fantastic!!  We both admitted, if we had known it was going to be that narrow, we WOULD NOT have started up.  That said, we did it!!   Call it our "fear factor" moment!!!
Here's the crew that conquered Intipunku!!  Did I say that this was the "higher" trek????




As I said before, at times we could not believe we were actually up on Machu Picchu!!! We could not get enough of the view!!  It was just a magical place!!!!




The "traditional" Machu Picchu picture!!  I only took about 50 of them!!!

It was a spectacular day for us.  Machu Picchu is in the rain forest, and we were there in the rainy season.  We expected rain, and were ready with our "rain ponchos"!!  It rained the night before, but it was just cloudy when we got there.  When we came back down the mountain in the afternoon, the sun came out here.  It was fantastic, and was certainly one of the highlights of our week.  

For anyone who may be considering tackling Machu Picchu, our advice?  Don't wait!!  We learned so much about the Incan civilization, the history there, and the advanced technology they clearly understood.  It was such an adventure!!




Well, I think it is just about time to wrap this blog up!!  We have appreciated you continuing to check it out!!  Our final post will be a few final reflections about this trip - the team, the mission, and the future…...  We'll finish it off in the next couple of days.  Hasta Luego!!











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