Moochu Peeky

It was a dark and stormy night outside the crowded airport. The girl stood fidgeting at the international arrivals gate, looking around apprehensively. She was tired. It had been a long and stressful day for her, walking, eating ice cream, bartering with Indians, planning a day of tourist attractions to be enjoyed with the company she was waiting on. After what seemed ages, the door finally gave way exposing a crowd of passengers ambling off the plane, among them a rather large bald man. She noticed him right away as he was the only person in the entire airport dressed in shorts and velcro sandals. Immediately she waved and shouted, dancing around behind the barriers, holding up the sign she made. He gazed around and spotted her just as one of the security guards opened the barrier, enabling her to run at him and almost knock the poor man over whilst grabbing the attention of nearly a hundred suddenly interested onlookers. There was a long, precious hug, a very dear father-daughter moment now shared by the rather large entertained audience. As they pulled away, she immediately turned to one of the security guards and asked him to take a picture. With a large grin on both their faces, the guard took the photo as she held up the sign, "I'll take the Canadian."

Although Lima is chilly now as it is winter, there is a beautiful "Magic Water Circuit" show, which my father and I attended. Dad bought a tuque, (A heavy stocking cap worn in Canada. And sometimes in Peru.) and was very reluctant to change out of his only pair of beloved shorts, which over the years have accumulated holes and paint all over them.

Me: What shall we do today?

Dad: Just wait, why did I come here again? Oh ya. It's your birthday.

Me: Glad you remembered.

Dad: And where am I again? Peru? Hmmm. Don't people do the Moochu Peeky when in Peru? Why don't we do that.

Me: It's called Machu Picchu, Dad. Sure let's do that, but as an early birthday present, you can't wear your shorts.

And so ladies and gentlemen, I spent my twenty-fourth birthday in Peru at the magical Machu Picchu with my father.

I never really understood what all the hype was about Machu Picchu to be honest. Until I had the experience, digested the wealth of culture and fascinating history, breathed in the air, absorbed the atmosphere and marvelled at the breathtaking beauty it beholds, I thought it was a bunch of rocks arranged by people trying to house themselves near the jungle to escape conquistadors. Turns out there is so much more to it than that.

Now, I am going to try to keep this relatively short when talking about Machu Picchu. This is what Google is for. A paragraph will not take your breath away or do justice to demonstrate the magic and intoxicating enchantment I felt the second I set eyes on it, but this information is interesting enough. The building of Machu Picchu commenced around 1400 AD by the Incas. The Inca Empire was the biggest in pre-Columbian history, occupying much of the western part of South America during their time. These people were brickhouses. I'm positive they built the pyramids and then came back to do this just for kicks. Incas were also ridiculously smart when it came to creation of their city and the tactics behind it. They strategically built it near a water supply from springs that were next to unstoppable, in between 2 of the steepest mountains they could find which they terraced to make it near impossible for invaders to ascend, with enough land to grow food for their people four times over, and the entire whereabouts of the city was a well-kept secret with difficult drawbridges and steep trails leading up to it. They built the city so that, when viewed from above, is in the shape of a condor (giant bird which they believed to be the God of the sky) which they believed would take your soul up to the sun and the heavens when you die. But, 100 years after they started the construction of the city, the Incas abandoned the site because some bigshot spanish guy named Pizzaro came and captured the ruler of the Inca Empire, which completely ruined the party. Because of this it became known and is still sometimes referred to as, "The Lost City of the Incas" until some American guy named Bingham came across it in 1911. If your math is as brilliant as mine, you will realize this year is it's 100th anniversary of being 'found' again. Hoorah.

I would love to go on and on. All I will say is that climbing up to the top and having the world under your feet has the capability to fill a person with such reverential awe and profound delight that it makes you tingle. This was how I felt on my birthday.

And so, I have included 2 photos. They will not in any way portray mine or my Dad's feelings about Machu Picchu, but a feeble attempt is still necessary.

The birthday girl.