Machu Picchu!!!!

This is the big day!  We leave our hotel at 7:15 a.m. , walk to the bus and arrive at Machu Picchu.   It is bigger and better than we’d ever imagined!  Thankfully we’d been reading guide books and learning about the controversial discovery and history of this magnificent Incan site, because the substitute guide was less than adequate and we would have missed a lot.  Its not the city itself, but the location that makes it so special.  It’s a plateau nestled in the middle of mountains surrounding it on all sides  Its no wonder the Spanish never found and destroyed it.    







The Alabama gang had purchased tickets to climb Huana Picchu, the large cone shaped mountain that you see in the background of this photo.  
What a spectacular view looking down on Machu Picchu from there.  It was a tough climb, but well worth it.  Three of us decided to stop when we reached the first large landing, which was about 10 minutes from the top.  But one of our group was feeling spry, after having his immigration situation resolved, and climbed to the very top!   

We stayed until around 1 p.m. and caught the bus back to town to have our final lunch together as a group.  After lunch at the hotel’s restaurant, we took an 1-1/2 hour train, then a 2 hour van trip back to our hotel in Cusco, where the desk clerk at the hotel ordered pizza and beer for us for dinner.