Wednesday in Peru

Hi Everyone,

I finally have some wifi that will allow me to post some pictures. Machu Picchu was so amazing. We hiked to the Sun Gate which took about 2 hours. We did take a lot of breaks, though. The weather was so strange. One minute it was clear and in a few minutes the most and clouds blew in and we couldn't see anything. Here is a picture of the walls the Incas built. The mountains were (and still are) so steep that the Incas had to terrace the land so they could do farming. All of these walls are over 500 years old. I find that amazing.

 

 

 

Here's a picture of me on Machu Picchu. This was during one of the rainy spells we had. I didn't mind the rain at all because it gave me a different view of the ruins. The Incas built all of Machu Picchu in about 100 years. 1000 people lived there, so it was a living community. There were three sectors of Machu Picchu. There was the religious sector, the agricultural sector, and the residential sector. The Incas were very spiritual. They believed in being reborn, so when they died, they were put in the fetal position facing the East. When they were buried, they would have things they needed for the afterlife. We saw the mausoleum of a princess who died and along with her were her servants and dog. All servants wanted to be sacrificed because it was such an honor to join the royalty to the afterlife. I was so astonished by how much technology the Incas had. It takes workers more than five years to work on a small bridge in Dedham. And we are the more sophisticated ones?! I'm not so sure!

Here we are walking around Machu . You can see the stairs that everyone is walking up. Those were built by the Incas sometime between 1430-1533. Wow!!!!

So here is another picture of me...yawn. Behind me is Machu Picchu. Pictures really don't tell the whole story of how incredible this place is. I ran into one young woman who was walking the Sun Gate barefoot. She wasn't wearing any shoes at all. I asked her if I could take her picture just so I could show all of you that there are some interesting people in the world. Look carefully and you will see that she has no shoes. Really?

 

So I am going to end here. It's time for bed. We are going to be up at 13,000 feet tomorrow doing community service in a small village. On Friday, we are going to visit another school. More about all of that later. Also, I tell you about my day today tomorrow after I have a chance to download my photos.

Have a great day. Learn a lot.