Magical

Waking up before my alarm (which was set for 4am), the perfect seat on the train, perfect weather, and amazing people have all made for a magical birthday.
The day started at a very early 415 pick up time. As I walked downstairs my guide was already waiting for me. The bus was a very early and dark 1 hour 40 minute ride to the train that would take me to Machu Picchu. I boarded the train I saw that I had seat #2, the perfect seat that had a front seat view for the ride. 1st birthday miracle. My seat partner was a lovely woman from Chile who now lives in Switzerland. She took her 3 children and fled the country in the coo of 1973 (things for me to look up tomorrow). Another member of my trip is my new buddy Jay, the 70 something man who spends half the year in New Hampshire and the other half traveling.
There was a slight drizzle of rain and we descended to Machu Picchu. Fun trivia for you Machu Picchu is actually at a lower elevation than Cusco where I am staying. This was a welcome break as I struggle with higher elevation. As reference Denver is 5200 ft above sea level, Machu Picchu 9000 ft, Cusco 11500 ft, areas from the trip last year to Bolivia were close to 16000 to 17000. It affects people differently but for me it literally takes my breath away. Pair this will the steep streets make me move pretty slowly as I wander.
By around 10am we were finally making our 30 minute ascent from the town in the valley where our train dropped us to the majestic Macchu Picchu. The start of the hike was a steep winding road leading us to the top. Our guide, Marco, knew the names of each of the Llamas (or he pretended well as he makes up new names for them every day). Speaking the name Marco, as you my know it is a popular Spanish name. The joke of saying "Polo" each time never gets old to me as the children yell to find their friends.
As we arrived at the top the fog began to break revealing a beautiful sunny day. The scene looking down onto the "town" was just like the post card but to be there in person was amazing.
My guide Marco was fantastic. Fun fact for you. The Inca is actually the name for the king (similar to the title president). So calling them the Inca people is not accurate, it would be like calling Americans the President's People. They should instead be referred to as the Quechua people. That would refer to the people coming from area's is Columbia down the west coast of South America into Chile. It is also a misnomer than the Spanish Conquistadors were the cause of the fall of the Empire. At the time the Spanish came there was much infighting in the tribes that made them easy to concur. An interesting note on this is that anytime I have spoken to anyone in South America about the Spanish I have never heard anger about being taken over. I am not sure why. I would be upset if we were taken over. I will have to figure out nice ways to ask about this and report back to you on a special non trip blog post.
Back to Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu was build during the time of one of the Inca's (remember this is the king, not the people). It was during the time when they had the largest growth period. The Inca build Machu Picchu as a place where he invited the top scholars of the time in areas such as art, astrology, architecture and more to live in this community of 2000 people focused on working together to grow. (Do you notice my focus this trip of inclusivity and kindness?)
This is where they came up with brick building techniques that are earth quake resistant, the creation of the Inca calendar and many more discoveries of the time.
The site of Machu Picchu has temples build that capture the light at the solstices to determine what time of year it is.
Hiram Bingam rediscovered the lost city in 1911. Although at that time there were still people living in it. The city at that time was completely over grown and taken over by the jungle. So if a helicopter would have flown over they could not have seen anything. (Not sure if there were helicopters in 1911, probably not)
The weather while at MP was amazing, with the sun shining down, the fog and clouds cleared for a perfect morning. The moment I got on the bus to leave the massive downpour started. Thank you Pachamama (Mother Earth)!
Once in town I settled at a restaurant called Full House for a nice Alpaca lunch. It reminded me a venison. The restaurant sat on the edge of a roaring river. The sounds was deafening similar to that of Niagara Falls. I believe that people raft through this area. It would have to be stage 5 rapids for the very advanced. At the end of dinner the waiters brought me out a brownie for dessert and sung happy birthday to me in both English and Spanish. Yes of course I had told them it was my birthday, I wanted a free dessert.
During my dinner the rain picked up until it was a full jungle monsoon. Later as we walked up the stairs to the train station there was a newly created river rushing down the stairs.
After a little shopping we finally boarded the train for home. I assumed it would be a quiet ride after an exhausting day. Thankfully I was very wrong. It started with a dressed up creature that I believe is one of their gods dancing through the train for a good 5 minutes. Followed up with a fashion show by the attendents with best of baby alpaca clothing fashion. Laughing, dancing, etc!
From the train the bus to bring us back to Cusco was a very crowded 2 hour ride. On this I talked to my new friend Jay. He has been to an impressive 92 countries. Wow! Oh how I love making new travel friends and swapping stories. One of his that he did not go into much detail about was being kidnapped in China. After that he kept traveling. That is spirit.
Finally we arrived back into Cusco at around 9pm. Jay was headed to the Irish Pub to watch the sloppy drink British travelers. I headed back to my hotel for well earned sleep.

People will always ask me what my favorite country is. I never have an answer for this but I have favorite travel days. Today will be one of those days where everything went perfectly and made the best day ever. I do have to say though I think the Peruvian people are among the kindest I have found in the world. Everything they do is done in love and kindness for their visitors. I have found so many who have been generous to share their culture and country with me.Read more