It really is a good pay off after the four day hike. Machu Picchu, or Much A Pinch You, as I like to call it while I am Pinching Lotta(she thinks it is just sooooo funny), is an amazing site. How the Incas built this on top of a mountain is just astounding. If there was a 700 year old South American culture based on the life of Craig it would be at the bottom of a mountain, shelter would be the shade of a tree, and the whole culture would go extinct in about sixty days because no one had invented the drive-thru window yet.
Some people think the Incas had contact with life from other planets, U.F.O.'s. These people think there is no way that the Incas could build all of these grand structures by themselves. I like to respect other people and their beliefs, who am I to question what people think? It is this kind of understanding and respect for thought that makes free nations great. That being said, the U.F.O. people are wrong. I have a little theory too, it is called "it's amazing what you can do with forced labor, and no concern for human life."
There were some llamas running around Machu Picchu, and they seemed to be having the best time, they would eat, jump over tourists, and pose for photos, love those llamas. There were also some sort of rabbit Squirrel creature there. I call them rabbirls.
The stone work lived up to it's rep, fine edges and put together to withstand earthquakes that have destroyed much more 'modern' buildings. I ended up climbing a near by mountain that also had ruins on it called Wayna Picchu. This was amazing, and very steep. Once I made it to the top I could see over the jungle. We were so high up and the cliff so steep that when I put my hand out over the edge I could feel the heat of the jungle rise up, very cool.
I would love to tell more about Machu Picchu, but our guide had an agenda of getting back to town and leaving. We did spend a few hours marching around the ruins and I did climb the big mountain in the background but we were all pretty tired so when our guide said we might want to get lunch in the town at the bottom of the hill we all agreed. At this point our guide who neglected to point out to us the Ceremonial baths, Temple of the Sun, Temple of the Condor, House of the High Priest, or Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock at Machu Picchu, made VERY CLEAR that when we got to the tourist town of Aguas Calientes we were to eat at the Hot Springs Restaurant. hmmmm my spider sense was tingling but after four long days it was a bit dulled. The Hot Springs Restaurant was a wonderful tourist trap of a place, where our very authentic Peruvian Pizza could only have it's price justified if the crust were made of solid gold. As the three of us ate our tiny, overpriced, craptastic pizza, I looked over to see our guide pounding down a meal fit for an Inca King, or Emperor, or President or whatever they had back then. I don't know what they were called because our guide told us nothing useful about the Incas. At this point my over tired brain thought "OH she must be getting a kick back for taking us here." Sure the cafe up at Machu Picchu was overpriced too but THAT overpriced cafe had a view of 500 year old Inca ruins that took us four days of hard hiking to get to, while the overpriced cafe we were eating at had a view of an Inca shot glass, a novelty pipe where you would smoke the end of a well endowed Inca warrior (very classy) and some Inca panties. Overall, it was a great experience, and Lotta is almost recovered (apparently, hiking for four days is not a new cure for the fly, who knew) next we are off to the floating islands oohhhh.
On a final note A photo of me doing the running man.
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