Saturday, January 03, 2009

Day 6 Part 1: Jueves – Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu's awesomeness cannot be contained in a single post. This is the first part of the day.

Thanksgiving was the day for Machu Picchu. We were up at 4:15 so we could be at the bus station by five to be on the first busses at 5:30. Machu Picchu is on a mountain by the town Aguas Calientes and it took about half an hour to arrive. We entered the park about when it opened at six.

Machu Picchu is about 100 miles to the east of Cuzco and means Old Peak in Quechua. Hiram Bingham, a Yale professor, “discovered” it in 1911. The locals knew about it and some were even living in the ruins. Bingham removed many artifacts and moved them to Connecticut, where they still are today. The Spanish had missed Machu Picchu and so it wasn’t plundered like other sites. There was an epidemic of some sort (possibly syphilis) around 50-100 or so years before the Spaniards arrived leading the Incans to abandon it. Being in the jungle covered mountain it would easy to miss, especially if cloudy.

When we entered it was misty and we couldn’t see much. Willy put his hands to his mouth, did some special sounding call and the mist disappeared for a brief time so we could see. He said that he didn’t want to have to do it again. I couldn’t tell if he was serious or joking but I think he was serious.

Willy took us around part of the ruins describing different areas. It is a gigantic place.

The Incans were obviously master stonemasons, but they had different levels of quality for the job. The first wall is a wall of the dwelling for common people, the second wall the dwelling for the priest, and the last wall for the temple. The more important the job, the better the masonry.

Here is a rock carved to look like a llama. There is an eye cut into the top right that is a little hard to see.

The rock in the foreground it carved into the shape of Machu Picchu. The two mountains are to the side and the dwellings in between.

This rock is carved into an Indian head. The line towards the bottom is the mouth. The rock bulges by it since he’s chewing coco leaves.

Willy left around nine or so and Paul and Corah went off to explore together. The four of us climbed up Huayna Picchu (which means Young Peak), a mountain beside the ruins that gives you a good view of the area and has some ruins as well.

The hike was less than an hour, but it was straight up. Some of the stairs went up to my knee.

We were worried about not being able to see anything because of the mist when we got to the top, but it disappeared as we climbed higher and there it was: Machu Picchu.

The view from the top was amazing. We spent around an hour taking pictures, talking to other people and just taking it all in. This rock is the actual peak.

Here is Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6 Part 1, Part 2, Day 7, Day 8


Warren said...

I got the information about the epidemic from our guide Willy. But a book I'm reading on the Incas says that Machu Picchu was a resort of sorts for the Inca ruler (Inca actually means the king of the people so Inca ruler is redundant) and it was abondonded because of the arrival of the Spanish. Since it wasn't a major habitation and had no purpose with the wars with the Spanish it was never found by the Spaniards. I think the book is more reliable than Willy on this.

apyknowzitall said...

Wow... incredible pictures. I've always wanted to go to Machu Picchu ever since I heard my Spanish teacher talk about it. Thanks for sharing.