Bucket lists and ruins of the world.

Dip Girl (who is still a diplomat, but now married so maybe "girl" is unfair, but I am still Law Girl on her blog so I will leave it) and I have seen a lot of ruins together; we joke that it has kinda become our thing and have discussed where else we have to get to. (Easter Island, Nepal, Italy, Jordan, Egypt, Italy, Greece, India and Myanmar are all currently on the list- whether we will wait to make them happen together is another question.) I just got back from visiting her and a joint trip to Machu Picchu, which we added to our locations that already included Mexican and Cambodian temples.

Machu Picchu is on a lot of people's so called "bucket lists" and it is amazing. However- and I fully realize that this is coming from an extremely privileged and nit-picky place- Machu Picchu is amazing, but I would recommend other ruins first. There are tons of things Machu Picchu has going for it: the mystery surrounding its purpose and the "lost" city mythology (granted this is a very western view, people who lived in the area knew it was there,) the fact that it is in a cloud forest, the hiking around the site. However, like many tourist sights, it is very expansive; and it is difficult to get to, even if you don't do the hiking, llamas (I loved the llamas). My favorite part of ancient sights is the way details can remain. I loved the carvings in Cambodia and Mexico, the way mosaics in Rome remain. Unfortunately there aren't as many of those details at Machu Picchu, and I (mistakenly) went in with that as an expectation. Additionally, for all the work it takes to get to the site (you fly to Lima and connect to Cusco, then you take a train from Cusco, or as we did because it was the low season, take a car to a city further up the sacred valley to catch a train, then you take a train to Aguas Calientes (an incredibly unattractive place)  where you catch a bus to the site. In the dry season you can hike, but to prevent wear on the Incan Trail the Peruvian government has significantly reduced the number of people allowed to do that, and you are required to hire a porter. You can also walk parts of it along unattractive roads with busloads of tourists going past you) there is really only a day worth things to see, (that is with hiking up the mountain behind the site) and you spend a good portion of the middle of the day pushing through crowds. (And we were there in low season, I can't even imagine what peak is like.) Granted the whole of the sacred valley has more, but many people miss that taking the train quickly through and not spending any time in Cusco.

None of this is to discourage people from going. Peru is amazing, the people are wonderful the food is INSANE it is so good. (Although, unfortunately the food around Macchu Picchu is homogeneous back packer fare, over priced, un-inventive imaginings of dorm food: that  people would leave with that impression of Peruvian food is a tragedy, and another way the site disappoints.) My point is that it doesn't deserve the premier place on people's bucket lists it gets. Macchu Picchu is served by being an amazingly photogenic place, but I think that it has elbowed its way higher in some people's estimations than it deserves because of the gorgeous photos people bring home. The Mayan and Aztec ruins in Mexico are amazing: closer to the states, better food and accommodations in close proximity, some sites are basically devoid of other tourists, it is inexpensive and you can add it on to a beach vacation. Cambodia has dozens of temples that you can explore, and while the town around them is rough around the edges, it has some of the worlds best spas and makes for a relaxing home base. There are options beyond Macchu Picchu that if you don't have the luxury of traveling you might want to examine before you buy your ticket, and if you do Macchu Picchu don't be in such a rush to check it off your list that you don't have the opportunity to appreciate it in context.

My point in all of this is the Peru should be the destination, not just Macchu Picchu. It is fascinating and beautiful and will make you fat in the best possible way. However, without the context of the world around it Macchu Picchu is poised to disappoint people who have been waiting their whole lives to see it.

I promise to post more about my trip, they will be happier I promise. It was an amazing trip.

How can you not love that face?