What A Ride

This photo was taken while in the train. We were on our way to Machupicchu, which is a four hour ride. This experience proed to be one of the most useful of the entire trip. Many times when people travel abroad, they only go to those sites which are designated for tourism. In Peru we saw Lima and Cusco, two sites very prominent for tourism. People travel and think they they see all there is to see, learn all the culture, and see how people really live. It isn't true. The city life in places like Peru are less common than life in the country. Most people live int he countryside, not Lima. Lima has eight million people, while the whole of Peru has twenty-five million people. This means that many more people living in Peru were not living in the capital or big cities like Cusco. The train was built in the seventies. By this time many people were living in the country. As we rode through the country wee got a chance to see people and their homes. Some of the most amazing views were that of the land. The amount of open space people had was tremendous. Their land extended for acres and acres. Being from New Jersey, where there is about 3ft of room per person, I was instantly jealous and decided I needed to move to Peru. Although this will most liekly not happen, it is amazing to think how much beauty the people get to see everyday, right in their own backyard. Some places had houses, farms, rivers, and mountains all within a short distance of each other. It was so beautiful. While the people live a more humble life these days, their ancestors once had a mighty empire with great technology, some of which is still visible. In this picture we can see the ancient Inca terraces, which farmers are more than happy to use. The people here get to view these works of genius everyday. I wonder if they realise how magnificant they are and how lucky the people are to live by them.