"10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good."
Genesis 1
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| Exploring the Lost City |
After a week of seeing partial temples and palaces, Machu Picchu steals the show. It was absolutely incredible 😊. It's untouched structures and surrounding mountains take one's breath away (also the high elevation...). The city is untouched because it was abandoned by the Inca when the Spaniards arrived and wasn't found until 1911 by a Yale University Professor. Unfortunetly, Hiram Bingham III took all 10,000 Incan artifacts back to Yale a year after Machu Picchu's discovery. Only 300 artifacts have been returned to Peruvian soil.
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| Machu Picchu |
I don't want to overstate how beautiful the area is, but I could watch the Sacred Valley for hours. The Inca truly were incredible artists when it came to planning of their cities; they always had the big picture in mind.
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Lower Platform View
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| Three Guides |
In the last few years, the Peruvian land management department has implemented new rules to help preserve Machu Picchu for future generations. One of these rules is the assignment of a "circuit" to each ticket; you can no longer see every part of Machu Picchu. Thus, we needed three guides to break our group up so they could make sure we stayed on the path and respected the grounds.
Tourism to Machu Picchu didn't ramp up until 2007 when it was made one of the "new" 7 World Wonders. I think it's kind of funny that Machu Picchu gets a stamp of approval and suddenly everyone wants to go. Also, tourism in Latin America is much younger than I thought it was.
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| Mountains |
I couldn't help but throw my hands up in the air. Along with Machu Picchu, the Andean mountains are as beautiful as they come. I could spend weeks traveling the valleys and climbing these mountains.
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| City Layout |
At this point, I could basically give myself the tour. After visiting so many Incan ruins, I feel like an expert on their culture, even though I've barely scratched the surface.
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A Pile of Rocks
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| Sundial |
I'm always amazed by the intelligence of Incan scholars. Their knowledge of astronomy, geology, and masonry never ceases to amaze me.
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| Open Area |
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| A Monument to the Mountain |
The mountains were sacred and often considered to be incarnations of gods. The Inca shaped the stone behind me to mirror the mountain behind it.
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| The Condor |
The condor represents the highest degree of glory (heaven). The Inca shaped the stones on the ground to be the body of the condor and the two large stones in the back are the wings.
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| Arroz Chaufa |
I finally had some arroz chaufa with is a fried rice with chicken. I also had an Argentina food day eating empanadas and milanesa de pollo.
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| Aguas Calientes |
Aguas Calientes is the name of the city that sits below Machu Picchu. It is a cute tourist town with bridges spanning the river and lots of little shops and restaurants. It has hot springs on the north side, but I didn't end up going. Next time.
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| Occam's Razor |
After Machu Picchu, we had a transfer to Puno City. This included an 8hr road trip across southern Peru where we stopped by several Incan villages. Most had their temple stones used to build catholic chapels, but they were still neat to walk around.
I mention Occam's Razor because, although there is a 400 year old catholic chapel 10 yards away, our group is completely satisfied with seeing who can throw pebbles the best.
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Peruvian Buffet
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On this plate is a few dishes including pollo a la brasa, arroz chaufa, and lomo saltado. I had also tried ceviche at a different buffet a few days ago. It was all delicious.
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| Incan Village |
You can see the original stones on the lower section and the adobe recreation above.
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| Village Houses |
Finding these little Incan villages reminded me of the villages on Minecraft ⛏️
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| High Altitude |
We reached about 14,000ft on our bus ride and I felt it. My face got flushed and I took a nap.
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| Mountain Plains |
I fell in love with these high mountain plains. It reminded me a lot of Easter Oregon, although at a much higher altitude. There's really not much up here besides little villages and people living off the land. There was a small river that snaked across the landscape; I'd love to kayak it someday. (hopefully, it will be as adventurous as canoeing in Eastern Oregon @Paul).
Interestingly, I'm finding myself becoming more environmentally conscious on this trip. When you realize that all the plastic bags and water bottles end up in the rivers and fields, you start to not want to use them so much. It's saddening to see the rivers and land here start to fill with garbage, despite their desolate nature.
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