Peru, last day. Machu Picchu!

Well, this it folks: the last of my vacation recap posts. 

And to be honest, though I’ve enjoyed reliving this trip and documenting some of it here, I’m ready to move on to something else.  To real life.  To some things that have been on my mind.  To some changes taking place—in my family, and in ME.

And no, those changes do not involve a fetus.  ;P

So let’s get on with it.  Today I’m going to tell you about (or mostly SHOW you) what transpired on the second to last day of our South America vacation—the day that made all the stress of the other days worthwhile (and yes, though the pictures I’ve shown you are beautiful, the trip wasn’t all fuzzy llamas and mountain vistas, so to speak).

But on that second to last day, we were lucky enough to visit one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world—Machu Picchu—which, if you don’t know much about it, is a 500 year old Incan masterpiece ruin at the very top of a mountain.

Some people make the 3 day trek to the top via what is called the Inca Trail, but our group took the Orient Express (Hiram Bingham) train to the mountain’s base (a three hour ride), and then a bus the rest of the way up (another 20 minutes).  

The train ride itself was magnificent—through mountains and valleys and over rivers and past villages and other ancient Incan ruins.  We ate and drank and took photos and dozed a little, and it was just overall a lovely, relaxing experience.  Here are a few pictures from the train…

 

      

When we finally reached the base of the mountain that is home to Machu Picchu, we hopped on a bus and took the dusty, windy road to the top—where there was a little more hiking, for good measure. 

I hope you enjoy the rest of the pictures, though I assure you that not a single one of them even comes CLOSE to doing the place justice.  The scale of it simply cannot be captured in a picture.  When you reach the top of the mountain and Machu Picchu, you feel as if you're in the clouds, surrounded on all sides by the tops of mountains.  There were many instances where I wanted just to sob, simply because there was nothing else to do—it was SO MUCH—so beautiful.

Sometimes we forget how vast and how incredible this world is.  I was glad to be reminded of it.

  

       

           

And those are just a few of my favorites!

If you ever get the chance to visit Machu Picchu, jump on it.  Seriously, it was the experience of a lifetime.

Happy Memorial Day to you—be safe, friends!