Machu Picchu, 1

Our guide, Charlie, wanted us up and on the road at 5AM again, so we could see the sun rise, or maybe it was to avoid the long lines. We compromised on 6:30, waited in relatively short lines, and were on the mountain by 8AM. The lines were for the bus: we had already entered the site the old-fashioned way--on foot, via the Camino Inka--and were quite content this day to ride the bus up the dusty 10 mile road.

View from the bus

We had superb weather for our visit; the rains were gone, but
there were intermittent clouds, which add to the atmosphere,
um, so to speak, of the place

The park service keeps a number of camelids on site, largely
to keep the grass well-trimmed

Iconic Facebook pose

I really enjoyed the cloudy aspect

I am still trying to visualize the workings of a trapezoidal door

Cyclopean stones, indeed (and I have seen the originals, at
Mycenae and "wall-girt" Tiryns); of course, the Incans did not
have to move them very far

A cloud rolls in over the numerous terraces

The semi-circular solar observatory (so they say)

Every now and then, a big out-crop left in place

Water feature

Ditto

Another water feature

Irrigation in the terraces (in a rain forest?)

Right in the middle of things, there is a nice garden of rain/
cloud foresty plants for tourists who have not walked to
Machu Picchu

Among the weirder bromeliads

Coca

Spare parts

Real Time Update #118

So I am almost a month behind on the blog and alert readers have demanded an update...

We are in Spain; after a couple weeks in Middle California,
United and Lufthansa flew us to Barcelona and a bus got us to
Figueres, where we had stored Le Duc, our European camper;
here, we are provisioning at one of my favorite supermercados,
the Carrefour in Figueres, which features products from 2.5
of the world's great cuisines (France is just across the snowy
Pyrenees)(the population along the Costa Brava is heavily
British...)

And I had just remarked to Vicki that I bet
they don't have Inca Cola...I bet Oro Andino
is pretty close; we bought Sangria instead

Squid ink is not easily found in the Americas,
but it is plentiful here

Our reunion with Le Duc was happy until we discovered the
18 year old water pump was leaking; but the nice folks at
the Caravan Center in Fig got us a replacement PDQ, losing
little time (the jet lag was not so kind)

And I took the opportunity to visit another
favorite, the Decathlon store in Fig: Rebecca,
they still have the kiddie backpacks for $2.99,
want another? Really hot pink this year

So we spent several nights at the aire de camping cars in Quart,
a pleasant burb of Girona, unpacking, reorganizing, installing,
planning, recovering from the flights and jet lag...to be
continued, after I finish South America and Middle California

Inca Trail, 2

Continuing on the Camino Inka...

Vicki climbing to the top of Wayna Whatever (she's in her
yellow poncho...it's still raining)

In the ruins at Winnie Winona

The sacred five-windowed whatever

I can't believe we've climbed all the way up from the river

Along the terraces

View from the other side

Bromeliad parasite

Closer up

"You did pack the bear spray, didn't you?!"

The Gringo Killer

Vicki conquering the Gringo Killer

From the top

Formal entrance to Machu Picchu, the Sun Gate

First view of Machu Picchu

For some hours we had been aware that, at our pace, we were
cutting it very close, that is, catching the last bus (5:30PM)
down the 10 mile road to Machu Picchu town and our hotel;
missing it would have entailed walking down the 10 miles on
this road; and Charlie would have had two very unhappy
clients...

So we picked up the pace, snapping fewer pix than usual, and
eschewing the walking sticks

Part of our day's route crossed this mountain

Looking back to the Sun Gate

But we made it on to the last bus, along with employees from
the park, the gift shoppe, the snack bar, etc; here is the
Urabumba in Machu Picchu town (formerly Agua Caliente); a
week later it was totally out of control and had killed some
scores of people along its course

Famous statue of The Inca (it's just Quechuan
for "king"), with all his attributes (puma,
condor, serpent, guinea pig)