Machu Picchu

It was an amazing day at Machu Picchu, though the sun rose into thick fog so we didn�t get to see the sun shine through the window in the temple of the sun. Still, we got several hours extra at Machu Picchu out of the deal, and I had a wonderful time exploring and photographing. The photo above is of the Temple of the Sun at sunrise.

The first hour or two that we were at Machu Picchu is was raining, and raining enough that I couldn’t take photos except with the disposable I brought along. Add to that a seriously sore knee, thousands of steps and a tour that focused at least as much on the Spanish conquest and rudimentary astronomy as Machu Picchu. Jerry, One of the guys on the trip, took a picture of the group that was absolutely brilliant. All pancho-clad and soggy-looking with the most incredibly long and bored faces you’ve ever seen. Every face was hilarious and we all had a good laugh at it later that night over beer.

The temple of the condor. The natural rock formation is meant to form the condor’s wings.

Water flowing down into the ceremonial baths below.

The highest point pictured here is the main temple at Machu Picchu, which contains the “Hitching Post of the Sun” which of course our guide told us was a sun dial (it’s not). This is not to be confused with the Temple of the sun, where the solstice phenomenon we were hoping to observe occours. That temple is in the complex below the main temple.

Terraces, looking down.

And walls and windows looking out.

The residential area at Machu Picchu.

And the lookout building (?) looking up from terraces below.

There were lots of lizards at Machu Picchu.

The temple of the sun below. This is the window that we were hoping to see the solstice phenomenon through.

Water flowing to a ceremonial bath.

Detail of a wall.

And more stairs!

There are llamas at Machu Picchu. They are planted there for the tourists and also it seems to help control the vegetation, though that may just be wishful thinking on my part. I was taking photos in a little orchid garden and this llama walked right behind me. Llamas have very interesting feet.

The rock quarry at Machu Picchu, where new stones were cut and shaped.

A stone that was being split. No one knows how it was done exactly, but some theories think that the gaps were carved and wood was placed into the gaps and then soaked in water so that it would expand. In any case, a decent it of work.

The temple of the 3 windows.

The hitching post of the sun.

This rock, they say, has 37 different angles. People count and everyone gets a different number, but the way it fits in with the adjoining rocks is really a wonder.

Looking back at the Sun Gate from Machu Picchu.

A chinchilla that was just hanging out on a wall above a path. It was really calm around people and a site guide came up to me and said “Se puede tocarla” (you can touch it) and I of course asked if they bite (not much, he said and proceded to pet it behind the ears) He left and I took a few more pictures as the Chinchilla continued to pose. I was beginning to think that it was either pracically domesticated or totally trapped on the ledge when a booming Texan came around the corner and it revealed a hole which it promptly scurried into.

The llamas, as I’ve said, are planted at MP for the tourists. And the tourists do enjoy them. Every few minutes you see Joe American with his XL hiking pants and safari hat yelling to the kids to look at the llamas, and quick! The kids squeal with excitement at the fenceless, ancient petting zoo. The photo below really captured the Machu Picchu experiene for me. It was incredible but loaded with tourists, even in the off-season (only a handful of people there realized it was the solstice or that there was any significance to it at the site) I was really thankful that we’d been able to be there the night before and early in the morning, when the site was virtually empty.

The temple of the condor again. The rock below is carved to look like a condor and the winds are formed by the natural rock formation behind that the temple is built on.

Ceremonial baths.

We all met in Aguas Calientes before taking off to the train station to say goodbye, though it was only really a goodbye to our guides as the porters and cooks had already left and the rest of us were near one another on the train and met up for drinks once we got back to Cusco.

We all met up at the Cross Keys, a British-style pub in the Plaza de Armas. I figured that I should have a pisco sour while I was in Peru, so I had one there and it was seriously powerful. That, and a Cuscue�a, had me singing for the rest of the night. And, since I woke up to catch my flight a mere 4 hours later, a good part of the next morning as well.