Postcard Received on Friday

Day Two of posting whatever postcard(s) I received in the mail the previous day.

Friday (yesterday) I received one postcard, from Machu Picchu in Peru. It's a second posting of Machu Picchu, the earlier post being one sent to my parents from here in 1978.

It is an incredible place, although it is one of the places in the world that is being loved to death - too many people trampling over the location, all attempting to be respectful but their sheer numbers are doing damage. Per the card, it sounds like they may be shutting part of it down for a while, to give it a chance to rest. Not a bad idea.

Another Way to Select A Postcard/Mystery Sender, Grand Tetons, Cusco

Well, I've run out of Caribbean Island postcards. So how to choose, how to choose?

I've decided that the next 10 days or so, I will post whatever postcards I received the day before, whether I receive one or six. Here's your chance! If you've wanted a postcard to be posted, send me one soon.

Yesterday, I received these postcards.

1. While I haven't mentioned the Mystery Sender since his/her homage(I, II, III, IV & V) a few weeks back, I am still receiving Mystery Sender postcards on an almost daily basis. This one, from the Greenbrier Military School, arrived yesterday. One of the fun things about the Mystery Sender's cards is they are always researched. In this case, we learn what was once the Greenbrier Military School (a spooky looking place from my perspective) is currently the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. Hey, it's also my first post card from West Virginia! That means there are now only seven states from which I've never received or collected a postcard. See this post for the complete list, in case anybody feels like filling in my collection.














2. My goddaughter, Jenna, is traveling around the US, taking a break from college. I remember camping once in the Grand Tetons in September. It was really really cold!




















3. My friend, Ellen, is traveling in Peru and Ecuador. This postcard arrived from Cusco, yesterday as well.

Machu Picchu, Peru

When I was 24, I traveled with my friend, Debra, all through South America. One of the highlights of this trip was visiting Machu Picchu. This is a postcard I sent to my parents and family during that time.

There happened to be a national strike in Peru when we were there, with riots and tank in the streets, and the complete shut down of much of the infrastructure, including the train to Machu Picchu. As you can imagine, many tourists rearranged their trips that year, opting out of Peru. However, we were traveling overland, and that wasn't something we considered. We were determined to get to Machu Picchu.

For a couple of days, we would go to the Cuzco train station, only to be told that yet again, the train would not be running that day. Finally, one morning we showed up and the train was preparing to leave, without much explanation as to when or why that day versus any other.

Our journey included staying in lots of very cheap hotels, often traveling by bus or hitchhiking and we were not on a fixed timetable or itinerary. For these reasons - planning and cost - there is no way we would have had a reservation to spend the night at the small hotel on-site at Machu Picchu. However, when we finally got to Machu Picchu, there was the opportunity to get a room, given that many of the reservations had been canceled due to the strike. I don't remember that we had anything with us beyond cameras and passports, but we went for it. We weren't sure there'd be a train the next day to get back to Cuzco, but decided it wouldn't be a bad place to be stuck and was worth the risk.

One of our better decisions. We were able to tour the grounds all that day, spend the night in the hotel (no electricity and not much food, again due to the strike), and get up at dawn to climb Huayna Picchu, which is the peak overlooking Machu Picchu. From there we could look down on the site, and see it with no people and no tour guides in view. I do remember being pretty happy when the train showed up, primarily to take the tourists at the site back to Cuzco.

If you look closely at the front of the postcard, you can see a little arrow pointing to the top of the peak. (If you click on the image, it will open up larger.) In re-reading the note I wrote my parents, I can see why my mom always says she was glad these postcards arrived after each of our experiences. Notice the casually thrown out line, "Debra and I almost died". So cavalier! As a parent now, I read these words and can't imagine receiving this postcard. (Sorry, mom.)

In case you're interested, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machu_Picchu.