Pedro, ‘12

As soon as my girlfriend told me she was coming home with me, I started planning things that we could do during the 8 days she was staying. I wanted her to meet my friends and family and I wanted her to get to know all the place I went to before I started calling Richmond my home. After a while I stopped brainstorming and realized there was no way I could take her home with me, and not have her visit Machu Picchu. In Peru we’re lucky enough to have one of the new 7 world wonders, and it really takes your breath away when you get to see it.

Machu Picchu is located in one of the inner states, called Cusco, and it was built by the Incas as a place where they hid after the Spanish came and basically killed everyone. (Yeah, I don’t really know THAT much of the history…)

So, on the Thursday after finals week, my girlfriend was getting on yet another plane with me, this time on our way to Cusco. That took only an hour though. We decided to rest to avoid getting altitude sickness, and on Friday we woke up really REALLY early to catch a train that would take us to Machu Picchu. That ride took bout 4 hours, but to get to the actual ruins you have to ride a bus for bout 20 mins more (it’s at the very top of the mountains…). And then we also had to go up that very same mountain with our own feet, haha. But believe me, it’s worth it…cus when you’re done with the hike, this is what you get to see:

 

Only that I’m not there, of course. (Please laugh)

Aaaanyywhooo…after that amazing view, you understand just a little bit more why Machu Picchu is one of the 7 world wonders, and you even get to walk around all of the ruins. I had been in Cusco quite a few times, but to Machu Picchu I went only once when I was about 12. This experience was amazing, cus I got to see many things I couldn’t remember from before. It was my girlfriend’s first time there, but it felt as if everything was new to me as well. Sharing that experience with her was definitely the best choice I made =). Just look at the pictures below.

 

(Sorry babe, I know you don’t like your eyes as much in this one :P)

 

(That rock made me feel short…ER)

Aaaannd the best picture

Walking around the ruins took us about two hours, and then it was time for lunch (at about 3pm though). We had lunch at a small restaurant after taking the bus ride back and then got on the train again. We were EXTREMELY tired and even fell asleep a couple of times. When we got back to Cusco we still had to go to bed really early. We had another tour the next morning, hahaha.

Still, I think that if you take your time and stay in Cusco for a week or so, you can get to know every single place there without being exhausted or getting altitude sickness. I hope that from looking at the pictures you realize that it’s totally worth it. If you don’t think so, I’ll put some more pictures to change your mind

TAD