Machu Picchu revisited - NOT

Our last day in Cuzco it started to rain. Continuous. Didn't dampen our spirits any, and certainly didn't hurt the flowers. Flying to Lima the following day was delayed a couple of hours, and the day after that the flight to Iquitos was half a day late, but we were fine. It was still raining in Cuzco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu. Hard. As I said, this is the rainy season.

Brief geography lesson. The Urubamba River flows past Cuzco, 80 km through the center of the Sacred Valley, past Machu Picchu, and continues on North-West to eventually help form the Amazon River. The lower end of the Sacred Valley is VERY steep and narrow, as you can see in this photo, and the only motorized terrestial access is via a narrow gauge railroad. If you look close you can see the railroad on the far side of the river near the bottom of the canyon. That's how approximately 2,000 tourist get to Machu Picchu every day. That's what we did, and it's a beautiful 3 hours trip in a Vista-Dome car, smooth ride with excellent service. Another 500 or so people take a 33 km 4 day hike from the closest road via the Inca Trail over the ridges and mountain tops.

This is what the river looked like close up the day we left. And then, as I said, it started to rain in earnest. Two days after we left, with timing that should be proof of our excellent foresight and planning, the railroad washed out. Apparently washed out so bad that initial investigators the following day couldn't even access the site to start damage assessment. Now, 4 days later, we've heard no estimate for when the railroad will be rebuilt, and the 2,500 stranded tourists are being helicoptered out as continuing rain permits.

Meanwhile, your intrepid heroes are relaxing in the sun, surrounded by tropical flowers and beautiful birds, at a lodge on the Amazon. Margie was trying to decide between the pool , her knitting, or a book, but fell asleep from the effort. More on that shortly.