Machu Pichu

So much bigger and grander than any photo on the internet can make it seem. It has an air of mystery that it still retains with thousands of tourists walking around. You can feel how sacred the land is when you walk through the site or stand in it's temples. Of course, I'm talking about Machu Pichu!

Quick note, blogger.com is not integrating my videos on YouTube, so if you want to watch them, and I recommend you do, because they are better than the photos, click on the links. 

You really get a sense that this is for the privileged people of the world. Because the only way to get to MP is by train. And it's not cheap. The entrance ticket is also not cheap. But once you get up there, you realize that it's all worth it. Unfortunate that most Peruvians can't even afford it.

From Cusco, I took a bus to Ollantaytambo, where the train station is located. From there, a short 1.5 hours later gets to you Aguas Calientes. The small, extremely touristy town at the base of the mountain where MP is situated.

The day started out foggy and misty. I'd read about this, that some days are just foggy the whole time and you never really get a clear view. I was hoping that wouldn't be the case. I got up at 5am so I would be able to watch the sun rise at around 7. Why 5am? Check out the line for the bus to MP at 6:10! Whatever yo! Can't reduce my excitement!

Video for the Morning View

The road to get up to MP is full of switchbacks and sometimes two buses can't fit side by side and one has to back up to let the other through. You can see the road winding up to MP in the photo. It was foggy in the valley and even foggier on the site itself. It made for some amazingly eerie videos and pictures.

Video: Foggy sight #1 in Machu Pichu

Video: Foggy sight #2 in Machu Pichu

I walked around for a bit exploring the site and what I could see. There wasn't much to it I thought, but that's because I didn't know that I was only looking about about 10% of the site at the time. This would make a great set for a scary movie.

I walked about 3km away from the main site to the Sun Gate. It's named this because in the December solstice the sun shines through the gate straight onto the site. It's a slow-going slog uphill over slippery rocks and stairs. But it's really worth it. These pictures are going to and coming back from the Sun Gate. 

It was terribly disappointing when I got to the Sun Gate because the best views of MP are supposed to be from there. But there was such a thick blanket of fog and clouds that nothing could be seen. There were people waiting there since 7am to get their picture. I arrived promptly at 9:30 lol. There I waited, and held my breath as the fog lifted, then exhaled as it came back in. And repeated this several times. The fog wouldn't fully clear, but what you could see through the fog was nothing short of spectacular. Then finally, after about 1.5 hours, the sun burned through the fog and the wind blew away the clouds and gave a view that, quite simply, took my breath away.

So foggy :( Will it ever clear up?

Me and the other losers sitting here for a few hours

Still kinda cloudy, but a great picture anyways

It finally cleared!!!!

Video: View from the Sun Gate

Photoshop? No! I swear I was there!

After that, I walked back on the Inca Trail to the citadel. The two pictures below are the best I took on the site. The first one shows the Inca tombs and temples on the left, in the middle are the plazas where they congregated for meetings and special events and on the right are various houses for the nobility.

This picture shows Huayna Pichu. This is the VIP section of Machu Pichu. There is a temple and a courtyard and terraces where the Inca leader and the high priests could look down below. The way to get there is through a series of stairs and ladders and other dangerous stuff, so I decided not to do it. Maybe if I was a younger man.

So because I didn't get a guide, what you will get in this blog post is DB's Guide to Machu Pichu. Mainly I made up stories I thought could be plausible and based on some readings I did beforehand. If you want to know the truth, buy an Inca book. This is my truth. 

This passageway is perfect for showing Inca construction. For regular walls, they found stones that fit well together, and stacked them. But for royal rooms and temples, they cut, polished and sanded the stones into proper bricks, which they then placed on top of each other in a way that would prevent them from ever falling over. Both of these contruction methods were without mortar. So these buildings have been standing since 1450 without the help of a binding material. That's crazy!

This picture above shows the Temple of the Moon in the top left and the Royal room in the centre left. There are also terraces below the Moon Temple which acted as stabilization for the entire site rather than agriculture as the terraces in other pictures. There is also what I choose to call a stone graveyard. These are the stones the builders didn't deem suitable, or the ones they didn't need. If you look at the people in the photograph, you have to wonder, how did they get these massive stones here. They are easily a few tonnes each. And this place is on top of a mountain. It boggles the mind.

Video: Structures in Machu Pichu #1

Video: Structures in Machu Pichu #2

Below is the principal plaza. Where the Inca and his peeps would chill, relax, create royal decrees and govern the land. Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire, this would be the resort town hideaway. All of those triangular structures on the top of the picture are the supports for the thatch roofs on top of the houses for the noble people.

View from the Principal Plaza

I can see why the nobles would want their houses on the edge of MP. The view is just incredible, amazing, fantastic, pick your adjective. It fits here.

Video: Mountain Vistas

The terraces in the picture above is where the main agriculture for the city occured. The Incas would produce the food on the terraces and then store it in buildings designed for ... food storage. The picture below is the last thing you see as you exit MP. It was is an awe-inspiring site that really lives up to the hype. I really, really enjoyed it. A nice way to end Peru. Onwards to Bolivia!

A passport stamp to remember my journey to Machu Pichu! 

It was...wait for it....Inca-redible!