Hola,
Today our trip took us to Machu Picchu.
We woke up way early at like 5:45 to catch a train to Aguas Calientes, the small village at the base of Machu Picchu.
The train ride was through the Urubamaba valley, winding through the huge mountains of the Andes.
Aguas Calientes' name was put on the map after tourists began to visit Machu Picchu in the 1950's. After meeting our guide Johnny, we took bus up the "Hiram Bingham highway" named after the man who discovered Machu Picchu. It's really just a bunch of winding dirt roads leading to the top of the mountain, so I don't know why it's called a highway.
Anyway, after reaching the top we were greeted with amazing views all around.
For the Incas who created this village it must have been no big deal, but 500,000 people come form all over the world to see this magnificent site.
I was surprised to learn that only 700 people lived in Machu Picchu, I thought there would be thousands of people;but I guess it's tough to fit that many people on one mountaintop! Despite all the tourists, the summit has a sense of freedom about it. A cool breeze sweeps through ruins that have been there for 500 years, llamas roam around, not bothered by all the people; and the surrounding mountains peacefully watch over the valley. We walked all over the ruins, and visited the sun and condor temples and the Inca's sundial.
After a day of exploring the majestic mountain range, we returned to Aguas Calientes on what I thought would be a normal train ride.
However, the employees of the train held a "fashion show" where they showed off the newest in Andean/Peruvian fashion, including alot of Alpacka sweaters.
The train car we were in was filled with an Indian tour group, who were the perfect audience, clapping and dancing in the aisles to the techno music that seemed to be coming from nowhere.
So, my day ended with a Peruvian fashion show and a Floridian tour Group disco in a train ride through the Andes, what a day.
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