We were there before the sun came over the Andes.
IRM starts shooting as the sun creeps down the mountains.
Armed with 2 bottles and a camera, IRM is ready to savor this day.
Without delay, workmen head up the hill to make repairs.
More morning light. More wow.
Llamas feeding time.
With HEM on my front (in the Baby Bjorn he's just about to outgrow), I see his finger pop up to show me something else exciting.
Guard house. Maybe just taken as an excuse to catch my breath.
IRM catches his breath too.
"Mama!" (After reading "Is Your Mama a Llama?" a few hundred times, HEM thinks all llamas/ alpacas are mamas, and exclaims it so.)
More early morning workers.
Out on the path to the Sungate, we get the idea to climb montaña Machu Picchu before the tour groups do.
Up we go. 25 pounds of HEM adds to the challenge.
Can't argue with the view.
A not-so-flattering self portrait w/ HEM.
That's our goal.
Up.
Looking away from the ruins for a mome.
A new view.
And this is as far as we made it up. The peak started to look smaller and less child friendly and HEM started to complain about the lack of shade.
So we went back down. Sensible. It was IRM's turn to tote the boy.
Am I taking too many pictures?
IRM and HEM.
Finally, HEM keeps his sun hat on.
Coming around by the guard house, a new view.
HEM's a bit embarrassed about the hat.
I had to snap this view one more time.
Looking back up at the montaña Machu Picchu that we didn't quite reach.
Wandering in and out amongst the ruins has its own rewards.
HEM enjoying himself. And keeping hydrated, too.
The only other toddler we spotted in the ruins had a younger sibling! Wow: Two tots led through Machu Picchu is an accomplishment. But when we spoke to the brave parents (over the cries of their baby), they didn't seem to be in the best of moods.
HEM leads the way.
HEM joins a tour group long enough for me to learn that he's sitting on the site they laid out bodies in this old Incan morgue.
HEM isn't fazed.
Mother and son. He's big, no?
"Pachi!" (We're not sure where this nickname for the man formerly known as Papi came from, but it's sticking.)
Mutual photos taken in the main plaza.
Looking up at the observatory, and our old white whale (montaña Machu Picchu) in the background.
A shaded rest, to check out the llama mama on HEM's hat.
Hat on a stick. Happy HEM.
Looking up at the guard house. The ruins themselves are surprisingly vast and full of climbs. My legs ache at this point.
Looking across the terraced fields to the store houses.
HEM checks the label.
Stumbling upon another tour group.
Looking up to the guard house. A long way up.
IRM and Incan rocks.
IRM by the storage houses.
HEM is zonked.
Pachi, too.
Our ragamuffin tourist town.
Trinket market.
Peeking in at the market from above.
Incan warrior in the main plaza. No, we didn't try the Chinese food here.
