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Dan and Claire go worldwide
The Sacred Valley was just the warm up.Today we experienced the long awaited, and much hyped, Machu Picchu, and it was definetely worth the hype. Being in rainy season, combined with our luck...it rained. however the occassion was not spoilt, and the sun and heat progressed into the afternoon.
Getting there was not as hard as doing the inka trail, which was a 4 day walk that the braver take, we however took the 4 hour train ride there, which was very cold at 6 in the morning!! but to be honest we were both gutted that we had not braved the trail as the scenery was truely amazing, ie. the rapid water rapids, the waterfalls making there way down from the enormous mountains that we and the train were buried in.
When arriving in Agules Calientes, the town that preceeds machu picchu, we climbed the massive mountains in a bus. from here on it is quite difficult to explain the sheer enormitiy of the mountains and the inka ruins that rested upon them. The pictures of the ruins we had seen previously did not disappoint, and it was like an actual town. However, what was just as interesting was the history and stories that live within the ruins, and the tour guide was really good and enables you to imagine what it really was like when the inkas ruled the land.
The history and stories will only interest some, but the belief they held culminates in the three animals...the puma, the snake, and the most significant, the condor.
Quite surprising was that it was not until 1911 when an american history teacher discovered the ruins. two families were living there and from them is where much of the history comes from. will only be brief as probobly boring to some of you.
In the afternoon we climbed back down to the town and trekked up to the thermal baths, which were buried in the side of the mountain next to the gushing river. pretty beautiful!!
got the train back again, and that was our fascinating, long, day.
apologies to some for the briefness, but gotta go, places to be and all that!!
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