PERUsing with Rebecca: Machu Picchu? Check!

Fact: I have officially seen one of the wonders of the world. Machu Picchu is checked off of my bucket list! I can still remember the first time I saw a picture of it in my Spanish class. I remember thinking that one day I would go there. One day. One day. Finally, that day came! It was the most beautiful place I have ever been to in my life. I kept on telling myself that I was there, I was actually on Machu Picchu. Confession: I might have cried a little. Just a little. One tear.You can´t judge me until you go there. On Friday I took a bus to Ollantaytambo and then a train to Aguas Calientes, which is the little town below Machu Picchu where everyone stays the night before. The train ride was hands down the best train ride I´ve ever been on. It had windows everywhere so you could see the jungle and the mountains. It was all so green and beautiful. We followed the Urubamba river all the way. It´s still hard to believe that places like that exist. After I arrived in Aguas Calientes I spent the night getting to know the town and enjoying the sudden pouring jungle rain. The next morning I awoke early and took a bus up to Machu Picchu. I could have peed my pants I was so excited. Fog seemed to cover almost everything and I felt like I was living in the clouds. I wonder what it felt like to wake up every morning living in the clouds. I hiked up Huayna Picchu first thing when I got there at 6:30. Huayna Picchu is the mountain that you always see behind Machu Picchu in the famous pictures. The trail was a little adventurous. It was all stairs and they were so narrow that we had to hold onto something like a metal rope or rocks on the side. By the time we arrived at the top the fog had mostly burned off and we had the most incredible view. It was probably my favorite part. There is no better view of Machu Picchu or the amazing jungle surrounding it. It seemed like everywhere I looked it just got better and better. I had to take a picture of every view I had. After Huayna Picchu we hiked down the mountain the the great cavern, which unfortunately was nothing really, but the views were worth it. At 11:30 I got back to Machu Picchu and started a two hour tour. I learned about the things that grow and live there and the kind of life the people had when they lived there. We´re so lucky that the Spaniards couldn´t get to it because it would have been destroyed like most of the other ruins. When the tour was over I found myself just sitting on a ledge and thinking for an hour or so. I would go there everyday or so if I could. I guess I will just go back in my mind and remember the awe I felt. I ended up hiking down the mountain back to Aguas Calientes and spent the night in the train and bus. There isn´t much more I could say about it because there aren´t words to describe it. I hope the pictures can do it some justice, but they are only a fraction of the beauty I saw. What a beautiful world our Heavenly Father has created for us!