back from machu picchu

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well, we are in aguas calientes waiting for our train back to cusco. as i mentioned, the train ride was really cool. we sat with a couple from kansas city. they were about 30 & ksu alumni. they were pretty cool. just like us - dinks (double income no kids) with a dog. maybe we will see them in steamboat next winter.
got up at a quarter til five to catch the first train to machu picchu with about 100 other people. i closed my eyes the whole way up because it is up a windy mtn road with steep cliffs & only room for one vehicle. made it in one piece, though. when we got there, we checked our backpack and stamped our passports. we walked up a steep hill and it was a place to behold! it was awesome. there are no pictures that can do it justice.
we walked to an inca draw bridge on the edge of a cliff. it was terrifying, but worth it. ted wasn´t scared. i just hate edges! the mountains all around the ruins were so tall and jagged. they weren´t at all like colorado mountains. they were lush and green and rose straight up to the sky. we decided to climb wayna picchu, a mountain right in front of machu picchu. if you google pics of the place, you will immediately see which mountain i am talking about. we went to the very top! it was straight up. there were stone steps, but many place you had to pull yourself up with a cable or scramble on all fours. at the top, you had to go through a couple of caves and climb a ladder to get to the summit. i would not stand when we got there because i was chicken. there are just some boulders and then steep slopes. there were ruins up there, terraces and houses. i can´t believe that the incas would go up that far to live, but it was a beautiful view. it was like a paradise & i am not exaggerating. ted climbed the little steps to some more terraces, but they were hammered in directly over a drop off of about 2000 feet, so i stayed back and didn´t watch. there were a lot of people afraid of edges up there, just like me!
we were then exhausted, but we went around the ruins anyway. they were so cool. you would not believe the masonry of the incas! there were these ceremonial baths in which water was channeled down through intricate stone pathways. there were secret passages. i liked the terraces because they were just beautiful lawns.
everything was expensive. luckily, we packed a lunch. just a bit of water was $5 (u.s.)! at the end of a long day, we decided to walk down back to aquas calientes. another mountain conquered! we were spent when we got back, so we just showered, ate, and went to sleep. we are just walking around this morning. for three days, we keep running into a daughter and father from nyc. they are really cool. they are going to the galapagos next. no fair! anyway, back to cusco for another day and off to lake titicaca!

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