[Sunday, January 25]
The book I purchased on Macchu Picchu calls it the City of the Gods. It's clearly a spiritual place - still felt strongly after 500 years. But there is some controversy about it's true purpose: religious center, summer retreat for the elite. No matter, the setting is majestic and the best part of being here is finding a place to oneself for some reflection and contemplation.
That said, we had excellent tours. Mike hiked up to the Sun Gate, the entrance to Macchu Picchu from the Inca Trail. I toured the complex with guide Miguel and learned about the three major areas (agricultural terraces, urban and religious) and the main building sites (the temples of the Sun, Condor, and Three Windows, Mausoleum, Watchman's Tower.
Mike and I met up at the Temple of the Three Windows at the plaza/altar area used for worship and sacrifice. We wandered a bit on our own and then met the rest of the group at 4 PM for tea and refreshments at the Sanctuary Lodge. We took the bus from Macchu Picchu to Aguas Caliente to return to the train. The ride up and down was bone jarring in the extreme. However, we were treated to a double rainbow between the mountain peaks on our way down.
We had dinner on the train, singing and dancing to the music of a 4 person Peruvian combo. Their closing number? If you're old enough you guessed it, "El Condor Pasa," without the Paul Simon lyrics.
Final leg by bus got us back to the Monasterio hotel by 10:30 - every mitochondria in my calf muscles was fried from the 17,000 steps we did today.
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