Rich on the Road

Aguascalientes, Peru

As I write this on Friday night, Catherine and I are preparing to get the first full night's sleep we've had in days!  Praise the Lord, for a wonderful day of sightseeing and a wonderful bunch of Brothers and Sisters in Christ to share it with.  We were all up early for the bus ride from Cuzco to Ollantaytambo (which we've not done before) and, then, to board a train from Ollanta to Aguascalientes (which we have once previously).  Good road and fascinating slice of rural Andean life on the bus ride.  The train trip was just as dramatic as we remembered -- through the Sacred Valley of the Incas and along the mighty, boulder-strewn white water of the Urubamba River.  Aguascalientes is the end of the railroad line and the jumping off point for a twenty-minute, zig-zag bus ride up to Machu Picchu, Wonder of the World and the treasure trove of the ancient Inca - an archeological wonder I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.  I am too tired to dazzle you with the details now.  Trust me it's cool.  Very cool.  As you can see in the pictures that follow.

In fact, the prose in today's post will be barely enough to keep the pictures from bumping together.

Here's our new friends and beloved Sisters in Christ -- the dynamic quartet of Kristen, Heather, Jenny and Amanda.

And, here are the Llama Mamas at Machu Picchu -- Rosaline, Stephanie, Kathy, Catherine and Lori --  with a real live llama!  I love this picture.

It's not supposed to rain this time of year in Cuzco.  But, in the days before we got here it had been and rain was predicted for Machu Picchu Saturday.  Instead, we had absolutely gorgeous weather.

Everybody seems to be in pretty good health.  A few have started to come down with at least a mild case of home-sickness.  But, we have a couple more days of world-class sightseeing (and, for several, some serious shopping) before the plane leaves for Texas.  I'll try to keep you posted.

Rich