Machu Picchu is a hard post to make - tons of pictures, little words. It's just hard to tell about it. Yes, it was amazing. Yes, it was huge. It's incredible - one of those things you just have to see for yourself. This is going to be a long picture post - sorry, but it was hard to cut it down to this many.
From the jungle, we flew to Cusco and then took a taxi to a village in the Sacred Valley called Urubamba. We stayed at a little hotel owned by a woman who used to live in Maryland. She had lots of great tips for us, so that was really nice.
We stopped at the Market in Pisaq on our way to Urubamba. This is the locals' area of the market, with fresh foods and meats, etc.
Tourist area of the market - mostly souvenirs.
On our way to the train station, which would take us to Aguas Calientes, the town at the bottom of Machu Picchu's mountain.
This guy at the train station kept following us...like I said, dogs are everywhere!
On the way to Aguas Calientes, we passed some small villages. We rode along a river most of the way.
At the train station, we didn't see anyone holding a sign for us from our hotel, so Brad thought it would be a good idea to try and walk to our hotel. It was mostly uphill with our bags and we made several wrong turns, but with the help of many locals, we made it.
We decided to spend two days at Machu Picchu, since there is just so much to learn and see. Here we are on our first day - after we just walked in. We got a guide that first day who showed us around and explained things for two hours. He spoke pretty good English.
I was obsessed with the family of llamas that live there! There were a couple of babies, and they were just so cute!
Machu Picchu is made up of living areas, temples, terraces, and community areas. This is one of the most important temples, the Temple of the Sun.
Isn't it crazy how PERFECT this wall is? Straight and level... The Incans were amazing.
The Incans had crazy amazing systems of getting spring water into these fountains all over their city from the mountain. Supposedly some of the purest water anywhere. The water would run from one fountain down to the next. They used it for irrigation on the terraces and for fountains in temples and houses.
An altar with some outcarvings for placing artifacts like vases, flowers, etc.
Attempting to capture the crazy system of fountains running down the mountain.
Temple of the Condor. The Incans used natural stones shaped like wings and then carved others to make a condor-like building. It's head is on the ground.
Up here was a living quarters area. All of the stone work survived and is in perfect condition. The Incans were here around 1500, so this is all over 500 years old! As you can see, the roofs did not make it. They were most likely a type of straw construction.
Brad with the main plaza area, which would have been used for worship or parties, behind him. The mountain in the background is Huayna Picchu. At the top are some ruins used for astronomy. Each day they let only 400 people hike up this mountain. We got up at 4:20am (MP opens at 6am) and we were about ten behind the last ticket...so sadly, we did not get to hike this mountain.
Temple of the three windows. The windows perfectly align with the summer solstice on June 21.
Some evidence that the Incas were still working on MP when they were conquered by the spanish. You can see that this rock is not finished being carved straight yet. Because of the condition of Machu Picchu, it is believed that the spanish never came here - either because of the remoteness or because they didn't know about it's whereabouts. The spanish destroyed most Incan cities, but this one is still intact. It is also believed that when the Incans abandoned it, they destroyed some of the roads or bridges leading to it, making it harder or impossible for the spanish to come.
Another unfinished rock in this section. The bottom of the indent should be straight across.
Another temple at the top of a mountain.
These guys really didn't care about all the people - they did as they pleased!
It is also believed that the Incas used different building styles for different things. Remember that perfect wall up above? Used for an important building, probably an industrial center. All the temple walls are similar. If you look below at this living quarters, the wall is not nearly as perfectly formed. Housing walls were usually just stacked rocks, not shaved into rectangles like the temples.
Main entry gate - from the inside of MP. You can see the handle areas where they would have roped up a door/bars for protection.
Main entry gate - from outside MP
View of MP from the guard house. AMAZING!
This year happens to be the 100th year anniversary of Hiram Bingham's "discovery" of MP. Technically, natives in the area knew there were ruins here and in fact showed him their location when he came with National Geographic looking for something else. But he was the one who brought a team and uncovered this area, which had been covered with trees and foliage over the years. There was only one small area that was damaged in his discovery. Supposedly he found many artifacts and took them all back to Harvard with him. They are returning them next year. You can see some workers setting up lights in the main plaza area here. They were closing the doors after we left for a select group to celebrate the 100 year mark.
Reconstructed roofs give you an idea of what it would have looked like!
On the second day, we hiked up to the sun gate. It was one of the hardest hikes of my life. All uphill, couldn't breathe due to elevation, rocky and narrow...We made it up hoping to see the sun come through the mountains on MP, but it was a cloudy and VERY foggy day. Still, it was an amazing view. People who hike the Incan Trail enter MP from here.
We hiked out to see an old Incan bridge. It's no longer used and is roped off because it's so dangerous. As you can see, I had a little trouble with the height and the fact that there are no railings anywhere!
Brad had no fear. If you look closely at his right hand, you can see the Incan bridge below him here.
Incan bridge. Based on MP and what I saw, I would say the Incas had a great sense of balance and were not at all afraid of heights!!!!
View of the valley and village below from up by the Incan bridge.
View of Machu Picchu. You can see many terraces along the side of the mountain. These were used for farming and as retaining walls. Supposedly the Incas started at the bottom and got the foundation secured, then worked their way up to the flatter area where the buildings are.
Terraces and Temple of the Three Windows from the plaza.
A house from the second story. You can see a faint line where the second floor would have been.
Saw several of these guys there too - chinchilla type things
Spectacular!
Here you can see the rounded Temple of the Sun surrounded by other buildings.
Village of Aguas Calientes where we stayed. Pretty much all based on tourism, kind of like the Dells, but poorer.
Our train ride back was crazy! We had some "entertainment." They put on an alpaca-wear fashion show and did some traditional dancing...
We were picked up at the train station, where we left to head to Cusco for one more night. Pretty much NO ONE ever got Brad's name right when they picked us up. We couldn't figure out why they just didn't copy it off of our reservation. Once we had "Bradiv Gabriel!"
We loved Machu Picchu, even though we did not love Aguas Calientes. I found out the train is the only way to reach the city, and therefore, MP (unless you hike the trail). There aren't any highways or roads that go there. If you go to MP, I would recommend getting a guide on the first day, so you know what everything is and can just explore and spend more time the next day. I would definitely give yourself two days. And maybe wake up at 3am to try and hike Huayna Picchu! :)
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