It's a Wonder...

We never dreamed we would be at Machu Picchu Peru, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.  It was off to Cusco and Machu Picchu.  Once again we were traveling with the Clarks to returning missionary seminars.  These are always a treat because we get to work with the missionaries and talk to the mission president and his wife. We met a young man who had just taken the English test and passed.  He's from Lima.  We also took time to go to church in a local ward.  I always feel blessed to be somewhere that feels so familiar.  The church is wonderful.

Saints Day Parade

Cusco is a beautiful old colonial city whose downtown surrounds a grand plaza complete with two large cathedrals.

The streets of Cusco 
(no, we are not the old stones)

 Many of downtown Cusco's cathedrals and houses are built upon the ancient stones of Inca temples.  It is the jumping off point for a visit to Machu Picchu.  To get to Machu Picchu we hired a guide who showed us around the Cusco and then drove us to the Sacred Valley that is home to many Inca ruins. We stopped at a small village and watched these women spin, dye, and weave the Alpaca yarn.  They are singing a song for us here.

Using natural dyes to color the llama yarn

We spent the night in a small town called Ollantaytambo.  There is also a large Inca temple ruin here and the streets remain much the same as in Inca times.  They are narrow with the original cobblestones. We met two young children as we walked through the streets.  They sang to us in Quechua which is the language of the native people.  Often you hear them called Incas, but the Inca was the King of the Quechua people.  So there were really only 11 Incas.  

Machu Picchu with Huana Picchu in the back 

The next morning, we boarded a Vista Liner train to make the 1.5 hour trip to Aguas Calientes at the base of Machu Picchu.  I had to take a picture of the stewards as they looked and acted much like airline stewards and stewardesses.  It was beautiful country with tall mountains and green (don't see much of that in Lima).  It was a delightful train ride.  When we got to Aguas Calientes, we were greeted by our Machu Picchu guide who led us quickly through the market stalls to where we needed to be to get on the bus to go up the mountain.  There are 27 tour buses that make 2 or 3 round trips each up the mountain per day.  With over 2-3 thousand visitors per day, they are non stop.  There were some places on the mountain road that made me wonder how two buses could possibly pass each other.  There just didn't seem to be enough room. When we got to the top of the mountain, we went through a checkpoint where they checked our tickets and passports.  Then it was time to hike.  I still remember my first reaction to being there.  I just couldn't believe that I was actually seeing something that I thought I would only ever see in pictures.  It is amazing to think that people were able to get those huge stones to the top of the mountain.  And...I just kept thinking of how I would feel as a mom raising children in this city that has so many drop off points.  I would constantly be worried that the kids would just fall off of the mountain.  Even though there were tons of people there, it was amazing to see!  The guide took us around and explained the history, building techniques, and worship associated with the city.  It is surrounded by lushly covered mountains.  The guide spent two hours with us and then left us to explore on our own.
The Clarks decided to hike down to the bus stop, but we still had a few places we wanted to see before our scheduled departure.  We hiked up to where the old Inca Trail begins, found a large grassy terrace and a big rock and sat down and made ourselves comfortable so we could just soak in all that was around us.  I kept thinking of the people that lived there who gardened on the terraces and raised llamas and kids.  It was quiet up there.  Sometimes we felt like we were the only ones there.  We took some more pictures.

Machu Picchu

Val tired to get some without people in them.
 That's difficult, but he managed to do it.  It was too soon time to start hiking back down to meet the Clarks and catch our bus.  Back on the bus, down the hill, off the bus, through the market to find the train station, then wait in the dark since the power went out.  While there, we saw the super fancy Hiram Bingham train with its chef, tables with cloths and lamps, and luxury.  It would have been fun to take that train, but it was much too expensive.  We arrived in Ollantaytambo after dark and had dinner at the train station.

 It was a delightful meal.  The next day it was more visits to Inca ruins and back to our hotel in Cusco.  Our hotel there had a delightful restaurant on the top floor that overlooked Cusco.  The next day we transferred back to our first hotel in downtown Cusco.

Nighttime in Cusco' Plaza de Armas

 Saturday night, there was a beautiful fireworks show which we decided was just for our send off so we got on our coats and headed for the Plaza de Armas.  We found a nice bench and settled in.  Of course, sitting there we were sitting ducks for all of the vendors.  Elder Clark was the first one to cave by buying a pair of gloves.  Soon all of us had gloves, hats, and scarves and all of the vendors had pass along cards.  We looked like a bunch of minions sitting there in our funny little Inca hats. It was so fun.  At one point we saw a delightful young family which Val was sure must be members of the Church.  So he took off after them, tapped the woman on the shoulder and asked if she spoke English.  Lucky for him she did.  So he was able to give them a Restoration pamphlet.  It's our way of doing missionary work.  Church again on Sunday and then dinner at our guide's house who is a member of the church and was kind enough to invite us to dinner at his house.  What a treat!  Then it was off to the airport.  We feel so blessed to be able to mix missionary work with a little travel.  It is the best of both worlds.