“It’s an irritating reality that many places and events defy description. Angkor Wat and Machu Picchu, for instance, seem to demand silence, like a love affair you can never talk about. For a while after, you fumble for words, trying vainly to assemble a private narrative, an explanation, a comfortable way to frame where you’ve been and what’s happened. In the end, you’re just happy you were there – with your eyes open – and lived to see it.” - Anthony Bourdain

To say I was excited & filled with anticipation on the day we waited in that bus line to take the final leg of our long journey to arrive at the entrance of Machu Picchu would be an understatement. My excitement was palpable. My excitement was sheer joy. JOY. WONDER.

…I felt like a 10-year-old boy walking through the crowds, wanting to push my way through the crowd in excitement, the way you feel on Christmas morning as child when you tear the wrapping paper off the gifts Santa has brought.

Around the first few corners, up tight staircases, to finally catch my first few glimpse of the world-famous site was magical… and it took my breath away. I just kept taking pictures, in a sea of people… at first, really, really bad pictures… and almost missing the moment, witnessing it through my camera lens and not right in front of me. I had to stop. Breathe. Focus. And be present in the moment.

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