2 posts tagged “machu picchu”

 A few words and pictures cannot do justice to Machu Picchu.  The site is huge, with over 200 buildings in multiple sectors.  The stonework is in amazingly good shape, considering that the site had been abandoned to the elements for about 400 years.  Somewhere between 80-90% of the structures are complete - only minor restoration and reconstruction has been required.

When we arrived, the city was wreathed in mist.  We entered at the Guard Houses, which had been reconstructed with the traditional thatch roofs.  In front of us was the Urban Sector.  As we walked into the city, we could get a sense of the scale of the Agricultural Sector with its terraces and the Principal Plaza with the Urban Eastern Sector.

The history of Machu Picchu has been lost.  It is believed that the city was built by the Inca Pachacutec in the 1400s and abandoned when the Spaniards invaded Peru in the early 1500s.  The Spaniards never reached Machu Picchu.  Although Machu Picchu had significant agriculture, our guide believed that certain staple crops did not flourish there, and were imported from Cusco on the original Inca Trail.  When Cusco fell to the Spaniards, Machu Picchu could no longer be maintained, and the inhabitants moved to other cities.  Based on reports from locals, Hiram Bingham of Yale University re-discovered the site in 1911.  The city was heavily covered with vegetation and virtually hidden from view.  Bingham led the considerable effort required to clear the site. 

We visited the Temple of the Sun with the Royal Tomb below.  At least, this is the usage that researchers ascribe to the buildings.  High status buildings like these were constructed of excellent stonework with polished faces and tight joints.

 

Deeper in the city was the building called The Three Windows with an example of an Inca cross, the Intihuatana, and the Condor Temple.  The Intihuatana (or 'hitching post of the sun') marks the winter solstice on June 21 (we are now south of the equator) by a triangular beam of light that appears for just a few minutes.  The Condor Temple has a representation of the head and beak of the condor, the white markings around the neck.  The natural stone rising up on both sides behind the condor represent the wings.  Much of the stonework for Machu Picchu was quarried locally in the area behind and to the right of us.

 
The north side of the city was quite steep, but also covered with terraces.  All of the terraces were kept neat by roving llamas.  After the official tour was over, we climbed to the Caretaker's Hut at the very top of the Agricultural sector, a vantage point that provided an excellent view of the entire site.
We decided to head back and grab lunch in Aguas Calientes.  The first picture below gives a sense of the height of Machu Picchu above the train station.  As often happens, the sun started to break through.  This time, we were actually part of a train, although without an engine.  We had a 'front row seat' just to the left of the driver.

After supper, we watched the sun set over the mountains, arrived in Ollantaytambo, located our driver and headed back to Cusco and the Hotel Ruinas.  Exhausted and feeling the effects of altitude, we quickly fell into bed.
 

 

 We were picked up bright and early at 6am.  It appears that the train journey from Cusco to Aguas Calientes (the nearest train station to Machu Picchu) is quite slow leaving Cusco, so many tour companies are driving their customers to Ollantaytambo.  The journey was uneventful.  In spite of the altitude, we saw considerable agriculture and ranching.  Many taxis appear to be covered tricycles with smoky engines, definitely not 'safe at any speed'.  Many roofs had ornaments: clay bulls are variously associated with luck and fertility, or warding off evil.

Ollantaytambo lies at an altitude of 9,100 ft (2800 metres).  It has been inhabited for over 700 years and has significant archaeological treasures.  We had little chance to experience any of it other than the bumpy cobblestone streets and the train station, crammed with vendors and hawkers.  We saw a group of back-packers who may have hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, a 33 kilometer trek that typically takes four days.

When it was our turn, we did not actually board a train, but rather a diesel-powered railway carriage that followed the Urubamba River for about 1.5 hours.  Vegetation was surprisingly lush, with some ruins tucked up into the hills.
The end of the line was Aguas Calientes, a village at 6560 feet (2020 meters) with few attractions other than being a gateway to Machu Picchu.  It had started to rain, so after a cursory check of the train station for anyone looking like a guide holding a sign, we donned heavy weather gear and walked to the bus that climbed the ridge on which Machu Picchu sits at 7,810 feet (2400 meters).  We must have looked lost, because we were approached by a guide who tentatively asked for us by name.  It turns out the guide had been waiting for us at the train station, and the tour company had been frantically calling around trying to locate us.  They dispatched another guide to the entrance of Machu Picchu.  All is well that ends well...