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Machu Picchu – June 17th 2013 – Ten years ago today!
 

“…Drum roll please! We made it; and what a day it has been. Up at 4:30, breakfast at 5:00; on the bus and up the hairpin road to Machu Picchu entering the site by 6:30, just before the sun came up.
 
It is hard to put into words the impact, the drama and the beauty of this archeological wonder, but I’ll try. It really has to be seen to be believed. All the photographs, films and travelogues cannot really replace the experience of stepping into this other world and feeling nothing but total awe at what was achieved by a remarkable civilization hundreds of years ago. They were architects, astronomers, builders, masons, priests and artists of the most sophisticated kind and what they achieved here is quite simply awe-inspiring.
 
As each new marvel revealed itself around every corner all one could think of was, “How did they do it?” How did they move those massive stones; how could they be so precise so that not even an eyelash could pass between them? As you will see this final day of our trek was a spectacular climax to a never-to-be-forgotten journey of a lifetime. Hopefully the pictures will do justice to our experience and tell the story of the day so that you are able to share it with us: the sunrise striking WaynaPicchu; the Inca terraces rising to incredible heights above us; the shadows of the tombs; the llamas strolling between the ruins; our exhausting climb to the top of WaynaPicchu in the morning and the long, long hike to Intipunku, the Sun Gate, in the afternoon.
 
Our guide for the morning, Fernando, set the scene for the first two hours telling us the story of Machu Picchu in archeological terms but after that we were on our own and able to explore in our own time and at our own pace. Because we were staying an extra night we had to say goodbye to the wonderful members of our group who returned to Aguas Calientes for lunch in the middle of the day. After we had finally reached the Sun Gate around 4:00 pm we headed all the way back down to the entrance, exhausted, exhilarated and very grateful to have had the privilege of being able to spend a day in this wonder of the world.
 
Thanks for joining me as I relived this amazing journey. My thanks once again to Mountain Lodges of Peru, their staff and our wonderful guides Pepe and Carlos; to Michele of Renshaw Travel here in Vancouver; to all the staff at the beautiful mountain lodges; to Condor Travel in Peru; to all the wonderful members of our group, our family in the mountain; to the cook who travelled with us and all the mule drivers who looked after our backpacks every day. And finally to my wonderful wife Hilde, the love of my life, who was like a young mountain goat scampering up those hills with the greatest of ease, inspiring us all every day. It’s really thanks to her that this adventure ever happened.”

I hope you have enjoyed reliving our adventure ten years later as much as we have.