Machu Picchu

It was a little chilly in Cusco!

Machu Piccu

"El Convento de Santo Domingo"

   I woke up bright and early Thursday morning in order to catch my 9 AM flight to Cusco, Peru. Once arriving in Peru I was amazed by how green and cold it was there! After landing we headed straight to the hotel and spent the rest of the morning resting in order to become acclimated to the sudden altitude change (Cusco sits right around 3,300 meters). That afternoon we set out for a little tour of Cusco. We started off by going to “El Convento De Santo Domingo Del Cusco” which is a convent. There we were able to see lots of cool artwork and learn a little bit more about the convent. After the convent we headed over to the “Basilica Catedral.” Unfortunately, we were not able to take pictures while inside the cathedral.Daily mass is still held inside this church and you would not believe the artwork in this building. Most of the statues/pictures/objects are original to the church.

"El Valle Sagrado" (Sacred Valley)

 Friday was also jam packed with more touristy sites including Saqsayhuaman, Pakapukara, Tambomachaya, El Valle Sagrado (Sacred Valley), Pisaq, Ollantaytambo, and Chincheros. For the sake of time, I will only explain what Ollantaytambo is since it was probably my favorite ruin we visited on Friday. Ollantaytambo is both a town and archeological site. Around the mid-15^th century, the Inca emperor conquered and raised the town of Ollantaytambo. The town was the place that hosted the Inca nobility while the terraces were farmed by the common people. We were able to explore the town as well as climb up the terrace. We went inside one of the houses in town and I was definitely surprised when our tour guide explained to us that the skulls hanging throughout the main room of the house were actually the skulls of the parents/family of the current homeowners. After wandering around town for a bit, we decided it was time to conquer the 200 step climb up Ollantaytambo. When the tour guide first told me it was only 200 steps to the top I was thinking in my head no problem. Well, 200 steps didn’t seem like very much until I actually looked up and saw what I was about to climb!

 I woke up bright and early once again on Saturday in order to catch our 4 A.M. bus that would eventually lead us to Machu Piccu. After a two hour bus ride we then arrived at a train station and climbed on the train for another two hour ride that eventually dropped us off in a town called “Aguas Calientes.” We then hopped on another bus and took a 25 minute bus ride up the Andes Mountains before finally arriving at Machu Piccu. As I sit here and type this I am still in awe that I just witnessed one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Machu Piccu was AMAZING! We had an awesome tour guide and I was able to learn a lot about this Incan ruin. For instance, the Incans began building Machu Piccu around AD 1400 but eventually had to abandon it due to the Spanish Conquest.  Machu Piccu was then brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian, Hiram Bingham.

It's amazing how the Incans were able to fit the bricks together so perfectly!

After a two hour tour and about three hours of exploring Machu Piccu on our own it was time for a much needed break. We took a vote and half the students ended up going back to town to eat while the other half decided to stay and take a short rest before exploring Machu Piccu once again. Even though I had been up since 3 A.M. and was exhausted I decided to stay and explore Machu Piccu because I knew this was probably the one and only chance I would ever have. When the professor here from UNK said we would be hiking to a place called “Sun Gate” I figured it would be a nice leisurely 20 minute or so hike. However, before we started to climb one of the students from Nebraska pointed to the top of a tall mountain and needless to say I was a little surprised at what we were about to do. I was tired and definitely rethinking my decision to stay and hike some more. However, an hour or so later when we finally made it to the top I was so happy that I had stayed. The view we had was absolutely AMAZING! We headed back on the train around 6:30 P.M. and finally made it back to our hotel around 10:30 P.M. The next day it was already time to head back home!

Our celebration after finally making it to the top of "Sun Gate" mountain!!!!

After one fabulous weekend, we still had one exciting event in store for us this week. This morning all the UNK students went to the U.S. Embassy here in Peru for a briefing. The embassy here is HUGE and very secure. In order to get to the conference room we had to go through two separate security points. After making it to the room we were greeted by 10 or so American citizens that work for the embassy. Each person talked for a little bit about exactly what their job entails. I of course found the lady that works for the Regional English Language Office to be the most interesting. She talked a lot about the different educational programs they have in Peru. We also learned a little more about the way in which the government in Peru works and about some of the economic struggles Peru is currently facing.

This week at my university happens to be mid-term week which means a lot of tests need to be studied for and a paper needs to be written! So I’m off to work on homework! Wishing you all a GREAT week!

                 
             Mary