Machu Picchu – The Next Morning

The next morning, we decided to tackle Machu Picchu again, to see what we missed our first day.  Altho it felt like we saw it all the afternoon before, we soon discovered that there was a lot more – this morning we primarily focused on what I called the lower part of the ruins.  This is a long post, but hopefully, you’ll find it worthwhile.

Ancient Neighborhood

Just as a brief reminder, this is sort of where we left off yesterday.  This is a bigger, broader view of the ruins that haven’t been addressed in any way.  There’s a lot of texture going on that appeals to me.

Steps Up

This image shows you what were considered steps from one terrace level to the next.  I would say these were the more rustic variety, altho some might consider all aspects of these ruins rustic!

Interior Architecture

This piece of sculpted structure was found on an interior wall.  There is a hole that was somehow cut in the center (see image below) – amazing considering the lack of tools that the Incan people had.  No one really knows what this was used for – part of a door hinge, holder for a torch, or ?????

Down Looking Up

Llama Changing Address

These are a couple of llamas that we saw this morning.  The people now responsible for Machu Picchu did try to have both llamas and alpacas up at Machu Picchu, but the alpacas didn’t do well here due to the climate up here, so that now only the llamas are left.  We saw these two llamas (see above and below) on a terrace above a bit ago, but as we were exploring this lower area, they decided to change location and passed us by as they changed their address!

Out for a Stroll

Temple of 3 Windows thru the Window

One of the things that I loved about Machu Picchu from a photographer’s perspective were the cool shots that existed by shooting thru doors and windows.  This was no exception – looking thru a window at a portion of the Temple of 3 Windows.

Skinny Stairs

Another great photographic feature at Machu Picchu is the various stairways, and there are lots of them!  This one is really skinny.  I don’t think this one actually went anywhere, and was sort of closed to us exploring it.  But, it does make

a pretty cool photo!

 

Ancient Alter

We were told this was most likely some sort of alter.  It was in a sort of inside/outside area and felt like a sort of quiet reflective place…..as long as the alter wasn’t used for sacrifices!

Temple of 3 Windows

This is the temple that you saw a few images ago thru a window of another structure.  It’s not common at all to see that number of windows lined up next to each other in any building here.

Stairs out of Solid Rock

These stairs are one of the most amazing things here at Machu Picchu.  They look really smoothed out.  They are just sort of in the middle of a rock (the rock they were carved out of).  Again, how did the Inca’s do this without any of the tools you’d typically need for something like this.

Urubamba River below Ruins

As I wandered thru the ruins, I noticed that in this one place I could see the Urubamba River on both sides of the river as it flows thru the town of Agua Calientes.  You can see part of the ruins, the Andes, the river and a teensy bit of the town (look toward the lower right of the image).

The Road to Machu Picchu

These little strips of light color in the green are parts of the winding road that we took (in a bus) up to and down from Machu Picchu.  I included this to give you a better perspective about how remote it truly is.  Some folks hike up this way (it’s different from the 4-day hike).  There are rustic stairs/steps that lead up from one “strip” to the other.

Stairway to Floor 2

I mentioned before that some of the buildings did have 2 floors.  Here are the remains of one of those buildings, and you can see the remnants of an ancient stairway to the second floor.  I can’t really quite image how the second floor “worked” way back then – did it just surround the first floor (sort of like an ancient loft area around the perimeter of the walls) or did they put in a complete second floor?  It may be deemed to be a mystery for all time.

Better View of City Gate

On the way out of Machu Picchu, I looked up and could see the city gate much clearer this morning.  Somehow, it feels so appropriate that the very first entry to Machu Picchu by Hiram Bingham back in 1911 is our last view of this magnificent piece of history.

 

Enjoy!

 



 

Machu Picchu – A Rainy Afternoon – Part II

We continued our walk thru the ruins of Machu Picchu as the weather continued to try to clear…..

Multiple Doorways

At this point, we were walking down toward the factory house area of the ruin.  I happened to notice this great image waiting for me to snap it – looking thru a number of doorways until you are finally looking at a niche in the wall.  I also love our first look at a blue sky!

Mimic the Shape

I love this scene.  The Inca’s apparently built this wall at the far end of the city to mimic the shape of the mountain behind it.  How nice that the clouds were lifting enough to actually get to see that mountain!

Ruins in the Andes

There are a couple of interesting things going on in this image.  One is the view that was just outside the door to this building – I wonder if the Inca’s noticed that.  The other is the upper set of windows in the building ruin.  A number of the buildings in the city did have second floors, altho I don’t know if this was one of them.

City Gate

When Hiram Bingham first entered Machu Picchu he did so from what is called the Gate to the City.  You can see the highest guard house in the lower right corner of the image.  The gate (not a formal gate as we think of it today) is up above that guard house and to the left.  It is somewhat difficult to see – but know it is still there.  One other interesting note is that the people who chose to take the 4-day hike from Agua Calientes to Machu Picchu will enter the city ruins from this gate.  The gate is on the mountain that is known as Machu Picchu (the city was named after the mountain).

 

Peeking Bunny

Just because this is an ancient ruin, that doesn’t mean nothing is living there now.  One of the residents is this bunny, lying low and peeking out from under a structure.

Sun in the Mist

Here’s an image that allows us to see the terracing that’s in place in the city.  You can start to better see more of the Andes peaks surrounding Machu Picchu.  It’s difficult to imagine how the ancient Inca’s managed to get all the stones used to build the city from the different mountains surrounding them.  The mountain in the foreground (the green one) is called Wynapicchu.  I think it means something like the “old” mountain.  This is the mountain that people hike up in the morning to see the sun come over the mountain peaks and light up the city.  They hike up the spine of the mountain, which you can see in the middle of that mountain.  One sad piece of news that we heard about while we were there was that a woman doing the sunrise hike up the spine a few weeks before our visit, fell off the mountain and unfortunately, was killed.  We did not do this hike.

 

The Ruins

We ended the day today with this look at some ruins that are not in as good shape as everything we had seen earlier.  I really like the absolute rustic look to this part of the city.  More to see tomorrow!

Enjoy! 

 



Machu Picchu – A Rainy Afternoon

In 1911, American historian Hiram Bingham published the finding of what came to be considered the “lost city” of the Incas, Machu Picchu.  Situated high up in the Andes Mountains, from a defensive perspective, it was in a perfect location.  What is amazing about these ruins was that the Inca’s conquerors, the Spanish, never made it to Machu Picchu, and may have never even known about it.  That means, they never destroyed what the Incas built, and what was found, and still exists.

Guard House with Roof

As we made the initial climb to see an overall view of Machu Picchu, we came across several of these types of structures.  They were the guard houses for the original entryway into Machu Picchu back during Inca times.

Ancient Maze

No, this really isn’t a maze, but it sort of looked like one to me.  This is only one part of the entire city, but look at the intricate layout of the buildings or rooms within a larger building.

Village with a View

This was one of the first views of Machu Picchu from higher up.  We weren’t as high up as one could possibly get, but it was as high as I could get!  You can see from this image how the city is set right in the Andes Mountains.  This was taken between raindrops, so the clouds are swirling around us and the city.

Look Down on the Guard Houses

From this vantage point, you can see more of the guard houses and some of the terraces throughout and around Machu Picchu.  Altho the stonework dates back to the Inca’s, I’m fairly certain the thatched roofs are replacements.

Sun Peeking Thru

As the afternoon wore on, the sun began to peek thru and replaced some of the rain.  In this image, we’re looking down on a stone patio that is next to the main square.  The main square is off to the right of this image.  Above the larger stone patio, you can see a smaller one higher up (about 33 stairs higher, by the way).  On that upper patio is a sun dial that was used by the Inca’s.

Sunshine and Rainbow

I stood on the lower, larger stone patio while the rest of the group climbed the 33 stairs to the sun dial.  As the sun peeked out while some showers, I thought perhaps conditions might be right to see a rainbow.  And, look what I found!  The rainbow nicely crowns the tree growing in the main square!  I sent this image to the nurse who gave us our immunizations we needed for this trip, and she said she’s seen Machu Picchu in person or via photos many, many times, but she had never seen a rainbow there!  I really felt doubly lucky when I heard that!

Clouds Lifting

I like this image for a few reasons.  First, I love how the Andes are now starting to be visible with the rain clouds being burned off by the sun.  It creates a more realistic image of what we saw.  I also like the way you can get a much better idea of how steep it is in Machu Picchu.  People asked me how steep it was there….well, take a look at this image and you’ll know the answer!

Mountain Setting

Again, I’m standing on that stone patio, this time looking across the main square at what were considered factory houses and the industrial zone of the city.  I love the clouds wisping around.  More to come in part 2 of this visit –

Enjoy!



Ollantaytambo to Agua Calientes – Views from the Train

Machu Picchu is rather difficult to get to, and there are only 2 ways to get to it – hike for 4 days from Ollantaytambo or take a train from Ollantaytambo to Agua Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu.  As you can tell from the title of this posting, we opted for the train!

Viney Blooms – Crayon

The train traveled thru some very scenic areas and at times, stopped so that I was able to capture some images of flower blooms.  Both of these (above & below) just begged to be photo sketches, so I obliged!

Blooms on the Train Ride – Impressionist

 



In the Footsteps

While on the train, we passed the area where those who chose the 4-day hike would cross the Urubamba River and start following in the steps of Hiram Bingham, the man who is credited with discovering Machu Picchu. I tip my hat to these hardy adventurers!

 

Bridge over the Urubamba River

I can’t recall if the hikers would cross this bridge, but we found it interesting for a different reason.  Check out the right side of the bridge – the white area is actually sandbags piled upon each other to hold up that side of the bridge foundation!  This would not give me a lot of comfort if I were to cross it, as the speed of the rushing river doesn’t really encourage survival.

Follow the River

 

The train tracks followed very closely the bend of the river on this part of our 1 ½ hour journey.  We are heading around a slight bend, so that if you look closely, you can see the train engine on the right side of the image.

Waterfall Along the Way

We did see a lovely waterfall along the way – part of what I like about this image is the blurred vegetation surrounding the waterfall.  It gives you a real sense of our movement on the train.

Rushing Creek

Altho not a waterfall, I liked this image of a small tributary to the Urubamba River – it speeds along as fast as the river, much faster than the train, it seemed!

Fern Close Up

The train made fairly frequent stops along the way for reasons unknown to us at times.  On one of these stops, I was able to capture this image – I love the texture of the leaves!

The Blue Door

I was rather amazed at the very small, run-down shelters (I hesitate to even call them cabins) we saw along the way.  There are no roads along here, and one has to wonder at how the people who once lived here managed on a day-to-day basis.  And, somehow, they managed to get some bright blue paint for their door!

Enjoy!