A Brief Journey to Cusco/Machu Picchu

Wednesday (7/20): As we walked off the plane in Cusco, we were greeted by our old friend the SUN!! :) We had not seen the seen since we had arrived in Peru, so we gladly embraced the suns warm rays. Clear blue skies and mountains as far as the eye could see – thank you Jesus for this beautiful welcoming!

Upon arriving to our hotel, we were given cups of cocoa tea (which helps the altitude not affect you as much) and slowly walked up to our rooms to rest for a couple of hours. After lunch, we traveled about 20-25 minutes to an all-boys orphanage called Jesus Mi Luz. We were led to la biblioteca (the library) where Giuli told the story of Hermie the caterpillar, then Jeanne and her told the Gospel story using colors of ribbon which we would later use to help us make mariposas (butterflies).

While we were coloring and creating mariposas is when I was introduced to one of the cutest little boys I have ever laid eyes on. When I asked him how old he was, his answer changed from cinco, nueve, siete, to seis, but I am pretty sure he is cinco. :) Meet my sweet little Toni.

Thursday (7/21): The alarm clocks went off around 5 AM and in about 30-45 minutes we began our adventure to Machu Picchu. After a 20 minute van ride to the train station, 3.5-hour train ride, 30-minute tour bus ride up the mountain which involved a handful of near head-on collisions with tour buses coming down the mountain and being scared by how close we were to the edge of the mountain, we finally arrived at our starting point. Our tour guide was booking it up endless amounts of stairs and steep inclines, and so when we stopped at resting points we were all out of breath because the altitude is a killer. However, the long day of travelling and not being able to catch out breath was worth once we got a glimpse of this…

Friday (7/22): This morning, we were only able to spend a couple of hours at the orphanage because we had to grab lunch and get to the airport in time to board our plane around one. While we were at the orphanage, we played elbow tag with the boys and then taught them how to play baseball. We even had time to play an actual game – they caught on fast and they absolutely LOVED it! Watching them laugh and smile when they themselves or a teammate hit the ball was such a joy :) Even though our trip to Cusco was very short, I would not have traded it for anything!