My Peruvian Romance~ A Boy, A Temple and A Llama

 As promised in my post from about Costa Rica, I must start this tale with the Travel Day from Hell that took me through four countries in 24 hours. The plan was to get up early Wednesday morning and catch the bus from Costa Rica all the way back to Managua with plenty of time to spare. However, upon our arrival at the "bus station" in Costa Rica (which was less of a station and more of a corner store) we were informed that while we already had tickets to Nicaragua, we did not in fact have a seat on the bus. After the man tried to explain something about reservations and jumping through a million other hoops, we ultimately had to buy new tickets and split up into two groups in order to get seats on the already-filled-to-capacity buses that were passing by. Three of us jumped on the first bus we could and headed across the border with hundreds of other Nicaraguans returning for the festivities of Semana Santa. The Nicaraguan border was shrouded in chaos. At least ten cross-country buses were trying to make there way through along with plenty of local chicken buses, microbuses and individual cars and travelers. We were thoroughly confused for most of our stop at the border, but after about an hour of lugging our bags back and forth between check-points and wherever we could find shade, our passports were stamped, handed back and we were on our way again. About twenty minutes across the border, my companions departed to spend the rest of their break in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, a great beach town full of great people and places, and beautiful sunshine and sand. I continued to Managua-about another four hours- by myself, but fortunately, the young guy next to me was more than happy to help me practice my Spanish. We talked about just about everything within in the limits of my vocabulary until we reached the city, including family, sports, nature and a few other things you can find in any Spanish textbook. I've yet to mention my extreme preoccupation with missing my flight to Peru, but it was quite a stressful bus ride not knowing whether the travel gods would continue to grant me with terrible luck or more delays... 

I did make it to the airport with just under an hour to spare and was lucky enough to share a taxi for less than $10. From there, travel was a blur from the airport in Nicaragua to El Salvador to Lima to Cusco but all in all it took 14 hours until I was reunited with the tall, dark and handsome young man I'd been missing for a few months. By then it was Thursday morning and I was still quite a few hours behind on sleep. So we headed to the house of Paul's host family and I slept a few hours before we headed out to explore the city. 
Cusco is an incredible mix of ancient Incan Ruins, Spanish cathedrals and people from all walks of life and all parts of the world. Just wandering through the city was more than enough of an activity for the day, so we went to the central plaza, some fun coffee shops, stopped by ruins and displays about Incan history and eventually headed up to the ridge above the city to enjoy the sunset on our walk back home. 

  
That night, we attended a Maundy Thursday service and I got to meet many of Paul's young adult friends from a service he had been attending on Saturday evenings throughout his time there. It was wonderful to be back with people in love with Christ and share smiles and coffee after the service. Peruvian Spanish is also incredibly more understandable than Nicaragua, so the service was very enjoyable and I didn't feel like as much of an idiot making friends and being introduced as I do on a regular basis in Managua. 
The next day we started making our way towards Machu Picchu. Our first leg was bus ride to Ollantaytambo. This set of ruins was built into the mountains in the Sacred Valley as a temple to the sun and also includes several incredibly engineered food storage buildings. Paul had already been here with his class a few weeks prior and was a marvelous tour guide. The Incan architecture is phenomenal, especially the mortar-less walls and buildings whose stones were carried from quarries found miles away and on the opposite side of the valley, meaning their final destinations were hundreds of feet uphill. 

Also a fun sight, were the floating steps that led up and down many of the walls, invisible from the front, but incredibly stable fun to take pictures on~ Our train for Aguas Calientes-the town at the base of Machu Picchu- left around noon, so we hiked back down to the bus station with enough time to grab some smoothies on our way. 

  

I absolutely can't explain how breathtaking it was to ride for three hours through the steep, lush, green Andean Mountains, all the way watching the Incan Trail snake back and forth out the window on the mountain side across from us. For those of you who are familiar with my affinity for hiking, it shouldn't be a surprise that I was dying to break out the boxcar and reenact every scene from the Sound of Music in Spanish. Once we arrived in Aguas Calientes, we strolled through the market and admired all of the crafts made with bright colors and alpaca fur. 
           

The plan was simply to stroll through town until we ran into a reasonably priced hostel. Paul had some insider information from a friend who said the town was basically divided between the touristy area and the local sector by the main river, so we stuck to the local side and found a wonderful deal with a couple Argentinians at Cusi Backpacker Hostel. Aguas Calientes-which translates to hot waters- is a beautiful town with a few things that made it one of my favorite stops during our trip.
1- Because the only way to reach the town is by train, there are no cars and all of the streets are full kids, bikes and a lot of men with wheelbarrows. The only motored vehicles we saw were the buses that run people up to Machu Picchu.
2- On the local side of city, everything is centered around a GIANT futbol field that obviously serves as more than just a place to kick the ball around. Every time we passed by a new group of people could be seen playing tag, break dancing, sharing the local gossip or of course, watching or playing any number of soccer games at any given time. After settling in at the hostel, we found a fun restaurant named "Maggy's" to grab a snack and then headed to the hot springs after a chat with the guide we would be meeting in the morning at Machu Picchu. 

Wandering through the town later that night, we were lucky enough to run into a Good Friday processional and decided to follow the crowd into the local Catholic Church for what turned out to be a wonderful service, full of tradition and with a very clear message that the sacrifice of Christ should be remembered and honored. After the service, we crossed the square and ate dinner on a the second floor of a restaurant with delicious local food. Quinoa is a staple grain in Peru and a current vegetarian buzz-food, so I was delighted to have some delicious dishes in Peru without having to scour the menu for vegetarian options.



Our next day was the peak of our trip in more ways than one. We woke up early to catch the bus to the entrance of Machu Picchu and meet our guide by 7:45. It was chaos for our first twenty minutes as everyone tried to find their guides who were each wielding a different colored flag and shouting out the names of people in their groups. We finally made it in the gate, up the mountain and to our orientation spot, where the guide explained the history and tradition of the Inca civilization. All of us were obviously disappointed since all that was visible of the city was a few building sticking out of a blanket of fog. However, as we approached the city, the fog began to lift in a truly magical way and slowly revealed the majestic temples, houses and mountains on this ancient empire. I will never be able to explain how truly glorious the rest of our day was, so I'll leave you with pictures that only tell half the story and just a simple play-by-play. The tour was two-hours long and completely in Spanish. Afterwards, we walked around to all of the places we hadn't seen on the tour and then up to the Portal of the Sun. Here are some of my favorite pictures but feel free to head to my Facebook album for better descriptions and a more fulfilling optical experience. 

   
We stopped back in Aguas Calientes for lunch and then got back on the train toward Cusco. The valley was just as breathtaking a second time, as was the night sky out our bus window as we descended into the city. I couldn't believe all of the things we'd done in less than two days, but this trip was already worth more then I could ever ask for. 


Sunday was Easter and started with family church where I was introduced to the entire extended-host-family and prayed for and hugged more times than I can count. That afternoon, we went to a potluck at the Meeting Place, a great little cafe run by a missionary family with the intention of engaging in spiritual conversations and  discussions with everyone who happens to wander through. This was a great night full of story sharing from fellow travelers in a fun, family environment that I'd been missing without even realizing it. Our night ended singing worship song on top of the apartment building under another glorious starry sky. It was a truly holy night. 
My flight left Monday afternoon, so we spent the morning visiting the Saqsaywaman ruins and saying hello to the Cristo Blanco that overlooks the city. We walked with the llamas, frolicked through the wildflowers, slid down natural rock slides and ducked in and out of ancient guard tunnels. Again, the pictures tell the story best. 
     
I'm so thankful to have had the incredible opportunity to visit this beautiful country and for getting to do so alongside someone I love. Thanks to Paul, his host-family and friends in Peru, and all of the people that helped convince me to go!