2 Days. 3 Cities. 5 Minutes - Road to Machu Picchu

Just arrived at my Airbnb in Cusco. Doesn't matter what this place looks like, it has a guitar, which means it's getting my highest rating possible. Plan right now is dinner, sleep, wake up tomorrow, and then see Machu Picchu, which I am stoked about. Now you may not know much about Peru, but I'm sure you've heard of Cusco. Located in the southeastern valley of the Andes Mountains, it was the capital of the Incan Empire from the 13th to the 16th century. Then the Spanish conquered them in 1533. But anyway, even today, much of the original architecture and style of the Incans survived. And everywhere you go, you're stepping on history. Like visiting the Plaza de Armas, where Francisco Pizarro, the original conquistador, declared victory over the Incans. How's that for a culture trip? Just had one of the best meals that I've had in Peru. Tried guinea pig for the first time. Really good. Had a terrible beer, it was super sour. Probably meant to be that way, but either way, definite thumbs up. So after that surprisingly good meal, and then a pretty terrible night's sleep, it was time to hit Machu Picchu. It started with an hour and a half drive to the nearby town of Ollantaytambo. From there, you have to take a train to the mountains, to the town of Aguas Calientes, which is inaccessible by car. Finally, you have to take a shuttle from the base of the mountain to Machu Picchu, which sits at a little over 7,000 feet above sea level. You really feel like you're going into the middle of nowhere. Then all of a sudden, there I was, standing in the lost city of the Incas, some 550 years after it was built. How crazy is that? Even though it was located only about 50 miles from the Inca capital in Cusco, the Spanish never found Machu Picchu, so they didn't plunder or destroy it as they did many other Incan sites. And it wasn't until 1911 that American historian and explorer, Haram Bingham, traveled the region looking for an old Inca capital, and was led to Machu Picchu by a local farmer. Some 70 years later, Peru declared the area a historic sanctuary and had the ruins cleared and eventually opened for tourists. To walk on the same stones that 500 years earlier Inca rulers walked on was absolutely insane. Machu Picchu was one of the best experiences that I had while in South America. Well, that was certainly interesting.