Dad arrived last Friday and we rode an overnight bus to Cusco, Peru (the old capital city of the Inca civilization). This week has been full of museums (Museum of Popular Art, Museum of PreColombian Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Regional History, Inca Museum), churches (The Santo Domingo Convent), and ancient Inca ruins (Sacsaywaman, Q'enqo, Ollantaytambo, Tambomachay, Puca Pucara, Pisac, and Moray). And, of course, we visited the new wonder of the world, Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu was definitely the highlight of the trip.
We had to leave Cusco at 3:00am in the morning to catch a taxi to the city of Ollanta. From Ollanta we hopped on a train at 5:00am that would arrive in Machu Picchu at 7am. In Aguas Calientes (the city where buses depart to Machu Picchu) we hopped on a bus that winded up a very narrow road until we reached the ruins. Upon arriving in Machu Picchu ("Old Mountain" in Quechua) we nearly ran to the gate where the hikes to the big mountain Waynapicchu ("Young Mountain") start, knowing that they only let 400 tourists hike up each day. The hike up was a strenuous 1 hour climb. However, the peak was totally worth it. From there we hiked another hour to a very remote ruin. Returning to Machu Picchu took us another 2 hours (4 hours of hiking). In the actual site, we had an amazing private tour with a guide who knew nearly every corner of Machu Picchu. Leaving Machu Picchu that day, I could not help but feel sad - it was definitely the most peaceful and remarkable place I have ever seen/visited in my life.
We leave this amazingly interesting and historic city tomorrow, headed to Arequipa (once more). I am going to leave you two slide shows:
1. The City of Cusco and Surrounding Ruins
2. The Ancient Inca City of Machu Picchu
Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment