Jack's Cafe - 1/24/2016

Today is Sunday.  We wanted to go to church in Cusco so at 10:00 am we were at church. 

I wished I'd have taken a picture.  It wasn't  a normal sacrament meeting for me. This one was different for me and Wayne. As we sang the opening song, the spirit touched me. I could hear the ones I love around me all in Spanish. It was just touching. It touched Wayne too. It was just the best feeling. 

We met a couple there from Montana I think,  they were visiting Machu Picchu we thought it was funny they mentioned they had bought a house in Wahington Terrace for their kids to live in while they go to WSU. Wayne said wouldn't It be funny if they bought Tami and Nick's house, since they had just sold theirs. We never did make that connection though. 

We walked home from church, changed our clothes, and decided to find a place to have lunch. When we walked down the street, we saw a parade going on. 

We walked to the Plaza and the parade was there too. It was fun to see the people dressed up. 

We ate lunch at Limo's.

Limo's was right in the plaza. It was upstairs and it was very nice inside. 

This is the view of the Plaza from Limo's, I got it off the internet.

We got this  potato appetizer. It was like a mashed potato balls that were deep fried. We dipped them in the sauce.   They were delicious. 

We had a great time. We stopped at McDonalds for ice cream. I'm the only one who had some. 

Wayne and I decided to hang around the plaza for a while. Cory and Sarah went exploring on their own.

These missionaries came through the Plaza, they were on their way home from church and lunch. 

When we got back to our Hotel these Peruvian ladies were there, the'd been there every time we went in and out of the hotel.  They were trying to get tourists to pay them to have their picture taken with them.  

Later that night, as we walked through the streets, we saw this Burger Bar sign.  We didn't expect to find a Burger Bar in Cusco. 

We had dinner at Jack's. It was very good.

Sarah bought some pretty stones from a little Peruvian lady outside the restaurant.

Back at the hotel we sat in the courtyard and enjoyed the full moon and the evening with Cory and Sarah.

1/23/16 Machu Picchu

This Morning we got up early and met our guide in the Libby of our hotel. We had a quick light breakfast and we were on our way.

We joined the line of people arriving early to be the first ones to Machu Picchu.

These busses are the only motor vehicles in all if Aguas Calientes. I thought it was neat to see the many men and young men pushing wheelbarrows and hand truck like trolleys up and down the hills of the town.

The bus took up up a zig zag dirt road with 18 switch backs to the top to the mountain to Machu  Picchu.

I got this picture off the internet so you could see the road.

When we arrived at Machu Picchu there were a lot of people trying to get up the stairs and through the entrance to see Machu Picchu.

It was breathtaking as we saw this magnificent site!! Pictures are great but it was better in person.

The clouds were all around us and at first I thought this was bad, but it really wasn't. We got a mystical view and as the clouds lifted the magnificent mountain was evident.

The breathtaking Inca city of Machu Picchu was built atop the Andes mountains. Historians believe it was built at the height of the Inca Empire. Many modern-day archaeologists now believe that it served as a royal estate for inca emperors and nobles.

Machu Puccu is made up of more than 150 buildings ranging from baths and houses to temples and sanctuaries.

It was stumbled upon in 1911 by Hiram Bingham. If you want to know more, google it.

Every ruin had a main entrance door.

These are some of the cool pictures.

That is Huayna Picchu in the clouds.

There were amazing water ways with water running down them. I thought they were interesting.

You can see Wayne in this, he's the one in the white shirt with the hat.

That is Huayna Picchu in the clouds. It is taller than Machu Picchu. The Incas built a trail up the side and built temples and terraces on its top. The peak is about 8,920 feet above sea level, 1,180 feet higher than Machu  Picchu.

That's the Urubamba river below.  It was loud even on the top of the mountain.

We took the short hike to the Inca Bridge. It is part of a mountain trail that heads west from Machu Picchu. The trail is a stone path, part of which is cut into a cliff face. A twenty-foot gap was left in this section of the carved cliff edge, over a 1,900 feet drop, that could be bridged with two tree trunks, otherwise leaving the trail impassable to outsiders. A great protection from people they didn't want there.

Our last view as we left.  This is amazing place.