Happy Birthday Tyler (23)!

Though going to Machu Picchu was the best part of Tyler's birthday we did have a little party for him. We don't have an oven so we attempted to make cake in a frying pan; it actually turned out really well. We had Ty's favorite German Chocolate Cake (Thanks for the recipe Diana everyone loved it!) in pancake form for Ty's birthday. I even let him eat the frosting right out of the pan.

Machu Picchu!

Disclaimer: These photos do NOT give justice to the incredible beauty of Machu Picchu. It is absolutely breathtaking...I highly recommend you go there. Nevertheless we got some awesome pictures and had an absolute blast! We stayed over night in Aguas Calientes and got up at 4:00am to be in line at the bus station by 4:30. It was definitely worth it. We saw the sunrise over Machu Picchu and had a fabulous day!First thing to do when you get to Machu Picchu is run over to get a ticket to hike Wayna Picchu (the mountain you see in the photo above). They only let 400 people up each day so getting a ticket is first priority. Luckily we were on the 3rd bus up so we got a ticket, no problem. The problem we did have was that our camera had been turned on and the battery was dead! Luckily we had brought our charger so we charged it at the hotel and were good to go!

First stop, panoramic views of Machu Picchu

Second, awesome ruinsMassive Incan sun dial

These people were high rollers, they lived in a two story house

Next, beautiful scenic shots

Fourth, and our most favorite, goofing around. Don't even worry, the Incans had slippery slidesI'm pretty strong I know

We decided we should offer a human sacrifice while at Machu Picchu...

...and worship some pagan gods...

...we though yoga would be a good idea as well.Ty was pretty excited about the llamas

Better be careful walking down these stairs......and while trying to look at rivers backwards. This picture is for Jake, there are lizards crawling all over this place! Unfortunately we couldn't catch any.

We discovered a cave in one of the rooms.

We didn't know if it was a bathroom or a fertility lair so we tried both.

Lastly we surpassed the incredible feat of hiking Wayna Pichhu (a 40 minutes hike straight up a 2000 foot mountain). When we started hiking we were in good spirits......and then we got tired...

...then so excited that we were almost there! Luckily the hike wasn't too bad for us because Machu Picchu is 4000 feet lower than Salcantay so we were leaving everyone in the dust.

Hiking Wayna Picchu was definitely worth it. The views were absolutely incredible!
These mountain are so high that even in the Tropic of Cancer there are snow capped mountains

This is the road to Machu Picchu, Machu Picchu and some other ruins. Tyler and I are convinced that the entire mountain side is full of unexcavated ruins because there are ruins near the bottom of the mountain. I'm sure all of the greenery inbetween is covering more awesome ruins. I know it looks like we were photo shopped into these pics but we really went there...I promise!Hiking Wayna Picchu was also a little bit scary...it's a long way down.

Exhausted we headed back to Aguas Calientes to catch our bus. There was a beautiful river there so we had to take a pic.

For a round trip train ticket from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes and back it costs a gringo with a student discount $64. We asked how much is costs a Peruvian...$2.60. Can you believe that! The government is making a killing off of that ticket alone. Another thing, there's no road to Aguas Calientes, you have to take a train. Tyler and I figured there must be a road somewhere, but all of the Peruvians we asked said there were no roads...yet there are a million buses in Aguas Calientes, no cars, but lots of buses...pretty sketchy if you ask me.


It was definitely worth it! We had SO much fun and had our breath swept away by beauty of God's creations. It was a great day and a wonderful birthday present for Ty!