"Now it's Wednesday, Aug 16 and we are on our way to Machu Picchu. We were up at 4am again (it's getting easier to wake up this early) to get on the bus to catch the train. The bus ride there was very cold- we had on all our layers and still were freezing. I curled up in a tiny ball like the fetal position and tried to sleep since it was still dark, but didn't really.
"As soon as we switched to the train, it seemed much less cold and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Some of us had not been on a train before, so we were excited together. The train followed along the river for the entire duration of the ride. It was cool to watch the landscapes & the vegetation change the farther we went and by the time the train got to its destination, everything was green, tropical and lush. (A huge difference from the desert around Cusco & everywhere else we'd been.) Our team was all in the back together in one of the cars & we had a meeting & devotional time followed by prayers. It was really good and we really needed it b/c of our attitudes the night before. (Kirk led it with input from Chris N.) We just needed to get our minds & hearts right b/c of the conflict we had between each other. They reminded us that even though our time in the valley was done, our trip wasn't over & we still needed to come together as a team and keep Christ's goals in the middle & be unified & not self- focused. Without knowing it, our minds had shifted to this thinking & it was putting deviders between us. We heeded the important insight and had a great following day, enjoying each other & especially Machu Picchu. We had all been tired, so our offences were forgiven & we continued b/c that''s how it works.
"Our tour guide met us at the train station when we all got off & he was just excellent. He was very friendly & helpful and informative for the duration of the tour. We took another bus up the mountain over & the ride was only about 20- 30 minutes, but there were so many switchbacks! Part of me was thinking "This is crazy! How/Why do people drive like this?!" and the other part was saying "Well, look at this hill! There's no other way to get up, it's so steep." And it's true! But the drivers here are very skilled & the roads are narrow, so they manage to manouver these large vehicles through the trees & around the bends at speeds I wouldn't dare drive these raods at. Twice it happened that there was another vehicle on the road coming toward us & one or both of us had to back up & move right over so the other could squeeze by. I'm surprised I haven't witnessed an accident yet.
"Once we got to the "top", we went to the coat check to drop off our extra bags/ coats etc., but no one ended up leaving anything. We carried it all, stuffing it into the backpacks (and most of us insisted on keeping our outer layers on as it was still cool and clouded over). Then, the great hike began!"
