Macchu Picchu and Back again

Resting in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, next to the Urubamba River. Totally exhausted from yesterday's adventures. Some highlights:

• Seeing Macchu Piccu. An amazingly intact ruined city discovered almost exactly 100 year ago by Hiram Bingham, a Yale professor and later Governor and Senator. Great tour guide, a 29 year-old named Carlos. Our tour group was called Chaquis, the Quecha (Incan) word for runner.  The Incans were a pretty fascinating people. They had a labor tax on the peoples ruled, were good farmers, ate/used a lot of coca, and built a bunch of sturdy stone structures. There's still a great of mystery around Macchu Piccu: the name and purpose of the city are unknown. 

The Chasqui

• Climbing the actual mountain for which the site is named, which towers 2000 feet above the site. Hard hike up mountain steps, which at times were almost vertical and without safety rails. We ran into an archeologist who studies Easter Island and is convinced that the Macchu Piccu site is primarily religious. We summited after two grueling hours. The mountain top was cold and beautiful. 
• Crazy costumed dancer in on train back to Ollanta. Then the train crew a did fashion show of the merchandise, catwalk style. The performer participated.  They served a very tasty pasta salad. There was no differance between the Vistadome and Autowagon train services. 
• The taxi driver who picked us from the Ollanta train station brought his two little kids along for the ride. Cute and hyper, neither spoke a word of english. Key lesson: regardless of culture, kids like the iPad.