Machu Picchu

Friday the 13th. Great night's sleep! Listened to soft rainfall.
Deanna's the star today. She carried the telephoto lens around all day, taking awesome pictures. I'll be using many of hers. We took the train from Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu. We were in car A, which must be first class. They served food on woven placemats and real dishes! On the way back, in addition to real food, they had a dance show in the aisle. "Sugra" had a puma mask, bright red hair, and a shiny, multicolored outfit. He got me to dance with him. What fun!

Machu Picchu was SO awe-inspiring. Our guide, Walter, was just for Deanna and me, so we went as slowly as we needed. We took a zillion pictures. Hard to pick the top 20...

Can you see the chin, lips and nose behind us? You can climb to the tip of the nose.

Main entrance

Machu Picchu was used from mid-1400s to mid-1500s. Then everyone was told not to tell the conquistadors about it.

Curved temple to Inti above Urutamba River

Sundial

Deanna hurt less than after a day of city walking

Thunderstorm for our afternoon entertainment

Trapezoids and leaning walls, again

The bus road is hard to keep open, especially during the rains. The Incas walked here. That black-and-white stone was not from fire. It came that way.

I think it's less than half restored so far.

Walter points out the condor's eye. The whole place is laid out like a giant condor.

vertical. beautiful.

Temple of Inti again

Inca rulers lived in Machu Picchu. Servants lived below.

Walter and me. He told me, "You are having so much fun!"

We showed Walter our matching cameras with coordinated lenses. He asked, "How long have you been planning this?"

We answered, "Since last summer!"

Back on the train to Pachar station, then on a bus to Cusco

After an infinitely long bus ride, since the train tracks get washed out or covered in mud during the rainy season, we were back at the same hotel in Cusco. Our luggage and clean laundry were waiting. We took advantage of our last night in Peru to have guinea pig, fried yucca root, and Cuquena beer. I dreamed about poor guinea pigs all night...