Machu Picchu

 Those who wished could add on a trip to Machu Picchu after the project in the village.  Ken, Blake's parents, and Caleb, Lily, and Hannah did that.  Ken will tell about it:

Me at the bottom of the Ollantaytambo Inca ruins site. From the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco, the tour guides usually take you by bus or van toward Machu Picchu, ending at this site. From this point, you normally take a train from Ollantaytambo to the Machu Picchu entrance village of Aguas Caliente. Then, the next morning a bus takes you to the rest of the couple of miles to the Machu Picchu ruins.

In order to access Machu Picchu, you HAVE to be led by an official guide. Since the Pandemic, they have altered the access to the site. Some areas are more restricted, but they have also opened a little more of the mountain and its ruins.

Both times I have visited Machu Picchu, we have arrived early in the morning. Both times the site has been shrouded in mist and clouds. Then, as the day warms up, the mists disperse, and the view of the entire place opens up to you. It is amazing.

You can see poor 13-year-old Trey Wegener leaning over the edge of a terrace to barf. He is the son of Blake's dental partner, Jeff Wegener. He woke up that morning feeling sick, but that tough little guy was not to be denied. Jeff offered to let him stay behind and take it easy several times, but Trey refused. He came all this way to see Machu Picchu, and he WAS going to see it. I don't know how many times he moseyed off away from our group a bit to "toss his cookies" before coming back and pressing forward with the rest of us.

I am so glad these kids got to have this experience.

L to R: Jeff & Trey Wegener, Melissa Jenkins, Janelle Donithorne, Ken Hinton, In the back on Ken's left= Kelsey, Brody, Noal & Aaron Kinney. In front of the Kinney's from L to R = Cosme & Ruby Salazar, Donna & Mark Cameron, and Jari & Ethan Cannon. In the front row, L to R = Caleb, Hannah, Blake & Lily Cameron.
Our travel group was too big to be allowed together at the site and so this is only half of our group that went to Machu Picchu.

The small peak just above the right side of my head in this picture is an area that they have opened up since the Covid Pandemic. I didn't get to visit that part of the ruins 3 1/2 years earlier, but we got to on this day. Later in this post, you will see Machu Picchu from the perspective of the top of that peak.

Look at the wall on the right side. See how tightly those huge stones are fitted together? No mortar, just precise chiseling so that they fit together perfectly.

This view of Machu Picchu is the promised view from the top of the peak mentioned in the caption of the picture a few frames earlier.

Another view from the top of that peak.

A Chincilla that lives in Machu Picchu. I have seen them both times I have visited there. They are a cute little rabbit-like rodent with shorter ears.

L to R: Blake Cameron, Trey Wegener, Ken Hinton, Hannah & Lily Cameron, Jeff Wegener, Mark & Caleb Cameron, Jari Cannon, Donna Cameron, Ethan Cannon, Cosme Salazar, Aaron Kinney, Ruby Salazar, Brody, Noah & Kelsey Kinney, Janelle Donithorne, and Melissa Jenkins.

This is not a very flattering picture, but it is a gorgeous, blue-crowned Motmot. I had only seen it once before, in Costa Rica.

Another dark, side view of the Blue-crowned Motmot.

The highlight of the Machu Picchu trip for me was hiking from Machu Picchu back to the village on this trail, rather than taking the bus like I did the previous time I visited Machu Picchu.  It is part of the iconic Inca Trail. Mark Cameron had mentioned he had hiked it before, and so I determined I wanted to do so this time. The trail was about two miles through the jungle.  On that hike, I got 13 new life-listers for my all-time bird list.  I would have gotten more, but I didn't have my field guide with me, and so I was studying each bird I saw, and memorizing their features so that I could look them up in the guide when I got back to Aguas Caliente. At times, there were birds all around me. I didn't know which one to look at. It was a birder's paradise. After seeing so many new species, the memories of the birds' markings began to blend in my memory so I couldn't keep them all straight. I was especially excited to see the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, the Peruvian national bird.  

The Urubamba River, just below the town of Aguas Caliente (you can see it in the background). The previous time I was here, this river was ROARING, full of water. It was in late January 2020, in the middle of their wet season.

Here I am at the Inca ruins of Saqsaywaman, just above the City of Cuzco. The tour guides like to point out that the name of this site sounds like "sexy woman". At this site, there are incredibly huge boulders that were hewn out of a quarry many miles away and have been chiseled to fit perfectly and tightly together. It is still a mystery how the ancient Inca people were able to achieve this amazing fete. 

A religious parade around Cuzco's main plaza, Plaza de Armas. Our hotel was just several blocks from here. My previous hotel was only about a block from here.

Blake, the kids and I headed to a Peruvian East Indian restaurant we had heard good things about. It was a hike, but the food did not disappoint.

Eating Alpaca Tikka Masala in the East Indian restaurant. The young man on the right is the owner. He is talented!

This Inca Kola is a very popular drink in Peru.  It tastes kind of like bubble gum.

The first evening in Cuzco, I wandered around the main plazas of Cuzco, the Plaza de San Francisco and the Plaza de Armas. They were near our hotel. This picture and the next are from my wanderings. You can see the residential lights on the hillside in the background, showing how the city is built on the sides of the surrounding mountain sides.

This picture and the next two were taken of downtown Cuzco (where the previous two pictures were taken), from the "White Christ" statue above Cuzco.

On our way to Machu Picchu, our tour guide had us stop at various places. At this local cooperative farm, they let us feed the Alpacas, Guanacos, Llamas and (one other type that I can't remember anymore).

(Ken brought me a beautiful scarf made of alpaca fur.  It is so soft)

Me, standing above the Sacred Valley that leads to Machu Picchu from Cuzco. This valley is a huge agricultural area.

Me at another ancient Inca site in the Sacred Valley. The name of this site is Pisaq.

The group stopped for lunch at a huge Peruvian buffet. This picture and the next two are of that buffet. I had the unfortunate experience of swallowing a piece of rather dry chicken before I had chewed it properly. It got stuck part way down my throat and seemed to refuse to clear, no matter what I did. The waiter hadn't brought me anything to drink yet, and so I couldn't wash it down. I struggled for 4 to 5 minutes, trying to dislodge it. I could breathe and speak, but I was too embarrassed to tell any of my travel companions. Eventually, my body took over and started to involuntarily convulse (kind of like the hiccups), trying to free the food from my throat. I was MUCH relieved to finally have the chicken begin to move the rest of the way down my throat. Jari, one of my tablemates finally noticed my dilemma just as the blockage started to release.

Live entertainment at the buffet.

A man dressed as an Inca king at the market at Ollantaytambo.

A tourist sign in Aguas Caliente. Once again, after getting settled in the hotel and having dinner with other members of the group (in the same restaurant that I ate at on my previous trip), I wandered about the town, enjoying the peaceful, happy ambiance there.

In Aguas Caliente's main commercial plaza.

The creek that bisects Aguas Caliente and runs into the Urubamba River. Our hotel is on the right, in the background of the picture.

The central court of our Cuzco hotel.

That's a narrow road.

These are the 3 Calebs--R to L = Caleb Cameron, Caleb at the restaurant, and Caleb Mordue from our expedition group.

Shopping.  The kids got some cool stuff.  Blake bought Shonna some beautiful gifts, too.