northampton, ma

Entirely too much to write about, so I'll keep to the highlights. Got out to Machu Picchu yesterday, and it was as magical as you would expect. The actual highlight of the trip was not Machu Picchu itself, but Huayna Picchu, the mountain that sits right next to it. Climbing to the top was 45 hot and sweaty minutes of clambering up steep, steep trail, but the view from the top was incredible and well worth the effort. As you sit on top of the jagged peak, you are ringed 360 degrees by vertical, serrated ridge lines with knife-like peaks, and auxillary ridges that tumble down from this ring into the river valley below. The entire mountain scene is filled by various shades of green, as the region is part of the cloud forest, or the high, steamy forest-jungle that lies just a bit higher in elevation than the actual jungle below. It was literally too big of a scene to mentally grasp - I spent about 3 hours up there just staring, as well as goofing off with the other hikers. It was picture paradise, as you look upon impossible scenery and Machu Picchu far down below.

Machu Picchu (MP) was not as crowded as I had expected. I purposefully went on a Tuesday, which is one of the three days during the week that Pisac (a town near Cusco in the Sacred Valley) has its huge handicrafts market. Most tour groups go to Pisac on these days and not to MP, meaning the crowds in MP were significantly down, and during the couple hours before closing I had large tracts of the site to myself. It was incredible. I think the best part about MP is not the sacred parts of the site, like the temples and whatnot, but the "commoner" area which is filled with tiny alleys and houses. And the llamas, of which about 10 hang out in MP, leading to much picture taking and petting.

The day before getting to MP I was hanging out in Ollantataytambo, one of the most quaint and beautiful villages I have ever seen. I was sipping on a beer with someone I had met up at the ruins above the village, when down the road walk Mark and Celene, the two Canadians with whom I spent a very fun 3 days in Lima and 2 days in Huacachina. I was just gazing out over the town when these two walk around a corner, and we almost immediately locked eyes and went (insert Keanu Reeves voice here) "Whoa". We had gone separate ways five days prior to this reunion, I hadn't expected to see them again since they were going straight to Cuzco while I was off for Ayacucho. Somehow the god's of fate crossed our paths again, and we ended up hanging out in Ollanta and at MP. It's freaky how luck and chance works out sometimes. Was great times. And if you two are reading this, I won't forget the pictures.