More Machu Picchu views...

In this view of Machu Picchu you can see the extensive agricultural terracing on the front side. At the top of the photo is the Caretakers Hut, probably used for guard duty. This is the Principal Temple, where many of the important functions were held. In this picture you can see some of the deterioration that is happening at Machu Picchu. While we were there we were told that a team of scientists from Japan was studying the effects of tourists and the environment. The study is to be finished sometime this year and if the results show that deterioration is serious, they may recommend to close Machu Picchu for 10 years so steps can be taken to reverse the damage and prevent further damage.

I was interested in the various forms of walls and buildings that could be seen at Machu Picchu. In this picture you see a triangular wall made with smaller stones. Note the thickness of the wall and the trapezodial window.

Here is a double thickness door. The room that it encloses probably held something important. All of the windows and doors designed by the Inca were trapezoids.

This is the rock quarry. The large unused stones sit waiting to be used in building.

More views of Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is such an awesome place and no matter how many pictures you see, you can't really appreciate its beauty unless you visit. But, I tried to capture some of that beauty in my pictures and felt successful in some.

This picture conveys a little of the feel of surrealness that you feel when visiting Machu Picchu. The cloud forest hanging over the Andes in the background, the beauty of the nearly perfect remains of the stone buildings, the feeling of being suspended in air are all in this picture for me.

The area portrayed is called the Industrial Sector.

This is the Main Portal. I believe it receives that designation because it is the entry into the most revered part of the city, where the temples, the Intihuantana stone, etc. are located.

Look closely at the door and you can appreciate the precision with which the Inca construction was done. All of the stones were put together without mortar!!! And they fit together so closely that a piece of paper cannot go between them.

To the right of the portal you can see the sacred peak Putukusi.


In this view you see the rock on which the Intihuantana stone sits. This part of Machu Picchu is carved out of a large stone -- see the lower, middle section. If you remember from a previous post, the Intihuantana stone was considered to connect the Inca to the heavens.

In this view you can see some of the agricultural terraces. This is where the Inca grew their crops and where their llamas and alpacas grazed. Imagine as you look at this picture constructing those walls on the side of the mountain---and fitting together those stones with no mortar!

Machu Picchu!

On the morning of our visit to Machu Picchu, we arose at 4:30 a.m., got dressed, had a little breakfast (I don't even remember what we had) and headed to catch the bus to Machu Picchu. We initially had planned to hike in from Aguas Calientes to capture some of the sense of hiking the Inca Trail, but after hiking Putukusi the day before, we decided that we didn't need that experience. We would have had to leave at 3:30 a.m. to arrive at opening, 7:00, and felt that it may have been a little much.
There were what seemed to be hundreds of people in line for the buses and I thought, "Oh, great, we will have to deal with crowds all day long....", but amazingly, once we arrived, everyone seemed to disperse and crowds were not an issue. The bus ride was a twisty, turny ride on hairpin curves on a dirt road. I am amazed at the skill of the bus drivers. Everyone seemed full of anticipation and I know that although I tried to relax, I was not wanting to miss anything. I plan to post many pictures of Machu Picchu, since it was the most important part of my trip, so I hope not to bore you.

Well---here we are...Machu Picchu!!! ---the climax of the trip! It was everything I had imagined, and more! It was beautiful, mystical, other-worldly... amazing! I think we were very lucky to have gone during the off season, when it wasn't overrun by tourists.

This picture shows Machu Picchu at around 7:30 a.m. when we first arrived. You can see in the middle a room that is being renovated, the Temple of the Sun. I did some photoshopping on this picture in another view and erased the tarps, etc., but, in this picture you see it exactly as we saw it. The wispy clouds hanging over the Andes mountains added to the ethereal quality of the site. What amazed me most was how quiet everyone was. It was as though everyone could feel the spirituality.

Here's a picture of Grant and me with Machu Picchu in the background.

This is the sacred Inca mountain, Putukusi, which Grant and I hiked yesterday. The part we hiked was on the back side, away from what you can see here, but if you look at the very top, that's where we ended up and got the cloud shrouded view of Machu Picchu.

The llamas are the only official residents of Machu Picchu. They seem very happy in their home and not at all intimidated by the visitors.

In this picture you can see the part of Machu Picchu called the Industrial Sector with Mount Putukusi in the background.

Another view of Machu Picchu with the agricultural terraces in the background.

Urubamba, Aguas Calientes, Putukusi

The train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes follows the Rio Urubamba. It is a beautiful, powerful, river that the Inca believed to be the earthbound counterpart of the Milky Way and thus a direct connection to the heavens.














Aguas Calientes is little more than a shanty town at the base of Machu Picchu. We got off the train and set out to find a hostel. Pretty much all there is in Aguas Calientes are hostels and restaurants. When you disembark from the train you are met by a plethera of "hawkers" wanting you to come to their hostel. Grant did a much better job than I did at ignoring the protests. In this picture you see him on his way to find a hostel and escape the hawkers.
We got a very basic hostel and shared it with Valentin---there was only one towel---there was hot water, but no shower curtain, so that made showering interesting.






We arrived in Aguas Calientes in the early afternoon and there just wasn't much to do in terms of sightseeing. I read in our guidebook that Mount Putukusi, just outside town, offered some commanding views of Machu Picchu. It said it was an "athletic feat"---that didn't phase us. Valentin had been up all night the previous night and just wanted to sleep, so we left him in the room and headed out.
The hike to the top of Putukusi was supposed to take 90 minutes---it took us closer to 2 hours. It was the most strenuous trek I've ever taken. It starts with mainly a path up stone steps like those you see in the picture on the left and winds back and forth and then you are encountered with 6 sets of ladders. The ladder pictured at the left had 112 rungs! The others ranged from 12 to 60. It was pretty scary.
We met some people coming down about 30 minutes in and they were concerned that we wouldn't have enough time to make it u and back down before dark. Then about 20 minutes later, we met another group of 4 with a guide who said a storm was moving in. Grant had been very patient with me waiting while I rested after the ladders and steep climbs, but at that point I told him to head on and make it to the top. We had gone through all the ladders and were just climbing on paths. He headed out and got to see Machu Picchu before the clouds moved in. I made it, but we didn't have much time to sit and soak it all in.

This is what it looks like looking down from the top of the 112 rung ladder!

Here is a view of the Urubamba from our climb up Apo Putukusi. It winds its way through the Andes.

More Ollantaytambo...

These are some photos which show the beauty of Ollantaytambo. We spent only one night there, but I could have spent several nights. It was a beautiful location as these photos show.
In this picture two cattle are grazing at the base of the ruins. You can see the cloud forest floating over the Andes in the background.






Several little mountain streams flow through Ollantaytambo towards the Urubamba. In this photo, you can see how close we are to the tropical jungle. The vegetation is becoming more and more dense and very lush.
The Inca were very advanced in their engineering skills and harnassed the power of these streams.












These are ruins of the baths at the base of Ollantaytambo. Water from the stream above was diverted into these pools. Behind you can see the bathhouses.










This picture shows a part of the mountain which thrusts out and to me looks like the profile of an Inca. Grant was not totally in agreement.
















This is the carving of an Inca in the mountainside. He overlooks the valley and the temple.

Trip to Ollantaytambo

On Sunday morning, we left Cusco on a collectivo, a taxi for a group of people. We were going to take a bus, but this proved to be a good choice. In our collectivo were Juan Manuel, his mother Terecia, a lady from Japan, and some guy who lay in the back. He got off in Chinchero. Juan Manuel and his mom were going to Ollantaytambo to Juan Manuel's soccer game. It would have been fun to go see him play, but since we were only going to be in Ollantaytambo for the day, we had lots we wanted to see. Terecia was very nice and told us lots about the things we saw on our journey. The only problem was that she spoke only Spanish and I understood about 1/4 of what she said. I enjoyed the trip and it was fun meeting Juan Manuel.

This is a view of the Sacred Valley. It was beautiful and I could have taken tons of pictures, but our little taxi was going fast. We did stop once and I got to take this picture. It's pretty obvious why the Incas made this their home.







This lady carrying a bundle of sticks made for an interesting picture. Everywhere you went you could see people who still lived much the same way they did hundreds of years ago.

















Sunday afternoon on the plaza---
life is good!










Our hostel in Ollantaytambo---"Ollantay" to the locals--- was quite scenic--- $15 a night and we had hot water in the sink and the best hot shower of the whole trip! The Andes mountains loom in the background. In the courtyard you can barely make out a stand with a game somewhat like washers. Some of the residents were playing as we headed out for a hike up the mountain overlooking the town.

Colca Valley

Here's a picture of Grant at the pass, the place where we made our offerings to the mountain gods. You can see that it is quite windy. Grant doesn't have a jacket on, but it was chilly and most of us didn't want to spend much time stacking our rocks.






This woman's hat is representative of the other indigenous tribe, the Collagua. The Andes mountains loom in the background.




This is the other plant that was in the coca tea--- the one the guide called "chacha culpa". In Cusco, later in the trip, we were at a ruin, high above the town, and I was not feeling well---a little nauseous and light headed. Our guide walked over and picked a couple of plants and told me to rub them together in my hands and then breathe them deeply. That helped more than the coca leaves. They had a minty smell and seemed to clear my head.

Colca Valley

This is the pass over the mountain to Colca Valley---elevation, 16,100 feet. This was considered to be the spot closest to mountain apus (gods) and the locals stacked stones and made offerings to the apus. Our guide let us off so we could make our stacks and wishes. Our guide encouraged us to chew coca leaves to alleviate altitude sickness. I didn't like chewing the coca leaves. They made my mouth numb and I didn't like the feeling they gave me.




Along the way we stopped at vistas, or miradors. There were always children dressed in traditional costumes of the valley. This little girl's costume is "Cabana", one of the ethnic tribes of the valley. Her embroidered hat is the distinguishing feature. The two groups still speak the native languages and in many aspects still live much the same as they have for years. The town of Chivay, the largest in the valley only got electricity in the 1980s.

This view shows the Colca Valley in the background and the town of Chivay. I don't know the elevation here, but the town of Chivay is at an elevation of 12,000 feet.