Our guide was named Wander.

Seriously.

If that doesn't tell you what you need to know about our successful and fun 5 day trek through the Salkantay Pass to Machu Picchu, then maybe the pictures I'll hopefully be able to put up tomorrow night will.

Mike and Margaret and I are showered, in (relatively) clean clothes, and catching up on the rest of the world at the local cyber cafe in Aguas Calientes, the tourist trap that rests about 45 minutes by foot from the gates of Machu Picchu. None of us brought the connectors to our cameras though (why make the horses -- or us -- carry that extra 5 grams?) so please be patient for images. We have some stunners though, including our crossing this morning of a raging river in what they call an oraya -- but what sensible people might call an insane way to get pulled across a chasm: in a rickety metal and wood basket hanging from a steel cable.

And we have a couple great shots from Sunday, Margaret's 32nd birthday. The trail staff serenaded her (and Mike and me, her tent-mates) before 6:00am and presented a yummy improvised cake -- with egg white frosting and strawberry jam, plus a little "Feliz Cumpleaños" sign written on the back of a tea wrapper. We ate it at breakfast and sang her the Happy Birthday song in English as well.

But mostly, of course, we have great memories -- steep hikes and moon rises, belly laughs and deep appreciation, breath-taking views and gut-satisfying accomplishments. Oh, and Margaret has a new title: she's a body-heat vampire. And Mike has the unusual position of both cleanest-looking and nastiest-smelling feet. God help me.