Machu Picchu: An update full of clichés.

Can you believe I took this with a three second delay-timer?

        There are more clichéd descriptions that I could use to describe Machu Picchu than there are landmines on the 38th parallel. If you'll allow me, I'm going to go ahead and throw out a few of the more tempting ones right now so that I don't to use them later in my post.

        It was a fantastic, beautiful, unique, one-of-a-kind, breathtaking, awe-inspiring, and marvelous place. There. Much better. Now I can get down to the business of writing this post sans overused adjectives.

        I arose at the hour of 5:00 AM to begin my day at Macchu Picchu. A time so criminally early that even the birds refused to rise with me and sing their usual morning songs. By 5:40 I had boarded the somewhat overpriced bus to the ruins on the mountains above the small town of Aguas Calientes and by 6:10 I was standing among the other zombie-like adventurers as they all gently elbowed each other in an attempt to snap a postcard worthy photograph of the ruins before more people arrived.

Not shown: the three little-old-ladies that I shoved out of the way.

        All joking aside, I can only assume that the Incas thoroughly enjoyed a challenge. Perched precariously on this mountain ridge overlooking the Rio Urubamba below I find it hard to believe that someone, at some point in time, stood here and said: "Ah, yes. This is the perfect place to build a city". Many speculate that this location was a very holy place to the Incas. Why else would they both building a city here?

"Perfect! Just the challenge we were looking for today."

        I can see the merits of the "holy city" argument. I'm certain that the Incas needed either divine assistance or a lot of cojones and a dash of insanity to construct this city in the clouds. But in reality, nobody knows exactly how, when, or for what purpose the Incas built this settlement. The mystery of this original cause only further fans the flames of intrigue surrounding these astounding ruins. I was content to leave the great debate of "why" to those who are more qualified to answer.

I preferred to do what I do best: explore.

        And explore I did. For a solid six hours I climbed up, down, and back up again. My fears that rain would put a damper on my day at Machu Picchu (it is the rainy season!) turned out to be unfounded as I hiked under the sun's gentle approval.

        However, my fears of swarms of other people arriving to fill the ruins proved to be all too true as bus after bus of visitors arrived. Luckily by noon, the peak hour to visit Machu Picchu, was already spent. The sun also decided that it had had enough for the day and it scurried off to kindly warm another part of the earth. As the sun left its place above the ruins the ever-looming rain clouds quickly scurried in to fill its position as they released there burdensome load of rain on all those below.

To the left, sun. To the right, rain.

        In the past, at this very place, the Incas might have jumped up and praised the clouds for their kind offering, but today the rain only brought out a sea of ponchos, umbrellas, and a murmur of curses from the ingrates below.

        I took the afternoon rains as a sign and descended from the ruins. I returned to my hotel to begin the process of sorting through the superfluous amount of photos I had taken.

And that was my day at Machu Picchu.

And here is a picture of me petting a llama.

        On the more personal side of things I am pleased to say that my Spanish has improved greatly during the past four weeks. Someone once told me that ones proficiency in a language can be measured by their ability to tell a joke. Over the the past few days I've found myself drinking and playing "Jenga" with Argentinians; exploring markets with Peruvians; and poking fun at Chileans. Day by day I find I am able to more comfortably expressing myself in Spanish. There are times where I struggle to explain something, but those times are becoming less and less.

        Any sense of homesickness I may have harbored at the beginning of my travels has all but left now to be replaced with a sense of normality. You could say I've acclimated to the traveling lifestyle. I've developed a familiarity with my surroundings here in Cusco. If I need vegetables I go to the San Pedro market. Bread can be found at the corner-store down the road, but it is not nearly as good as the bakery on Calle Triunfo. And buses to Urubamba leave from Puente Grau. If I need something I have developed an awareness of where to find it and that makes life just a bit easier.

        I'm enjoying my travels immensely and I anxiously await the next part of my journey: volunteering in Urubamba!

This is too good a picture not to sneak it in somewhere in this update.

        P.S. Since it is still Valentine's Day here in Peru I'd like to say a special thank you to all of those back home and abroad that are supporting me. Even by simply reading this blog you are supporting me and my efforts because I take pleasure in knowing that there are people out there behind me. Thank you all!

       P.P.S. I'd like to make a extra special shout-out to my family, my close friends, and my Valentine Anna. I miss you all and hope everyone had a very merry day today.