From Ollantaytambo to Agua Calientes in order to spend the next day at Machu Picchu.
We caught the train quite late in the afternoon and were taken up the Sacred Valley right next to the Rio Urubamba.
Dewald (in red), Inanda (at the back in mauve) and Neil (on the right) waiting for the train to start.
We travelled along the Rio Urubamba (which we had seen several times while driving through the Sacred Valley).
The mountains were clad in snow - and we felt the chill.
The sun was setting: some mountains still had sun on them while others were cast in shadows.
We passed several villages along the way. Imagine having to use this hanging bridge every day to get to your home or go to work on the terraces (top left) where you grow your crops.
When everything had been sorted out, we all 10 proudly stood for this photo on the eve of our Machu Picchu ascent - OK, OK - Inanda proudly sat for the photo?!?
We slept well. We met at 5am the next morning to have a quick bite of breakfast. Sarel, Peter and I munching away.
These pastries were particular tasty.
We had to brave the dark and the steep decline with our luggage and daypacks. The luggage was dropped at Toto's Hotel near the bus station.
The church on Plaza de Armas looked quite heavenly in the dark of the early morning. According to http://www.rediscovermachupicchu.com/aguas-calientes.htm it is a new building with an old look!
This moss and fern covered roof belonged to a house near the bus station.
The bus drive was exciting, especially when another huge bus had to pass us on the narrow road.
We had arrived at the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge which was the end of the bus journey.
Ready for sunshine or rain. Passport and ticket please? The turnstiles spewed visitors into the Machu Picchu site.
These plaques mark the entrance to the site. Machu Picchu was already built by 1450. It lies at 2430m above sea level - in other words, more than 1000m lower than Cuzco!
We had to queue to have our photo taken by another tourist (whose photo we had just taken)!
The enormity of the site cannot be described in words or captured in a photo. Yet - we would like to share some of the beauty of Machu Picchu with some of these photos.
Many of these Blue-and-White Swallows were happy to spend their days on the ancient walls of these ruins.
When looking in a northerly direction, one could see the famous Inca trail clinging to the slopes and wending its way into Machu Picchu.
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A closer view of he Popular District where the labourers lived.
The magnificent Urubamba Valley over which the Inca city presided.
Inge entering Machu Picchu through the main gate - the hinges of the doors were designed for protection as the door opened upward and ropes were threaded through the stone hinges to secure the door. Can you see the hinge/pivot above the lintel? Have a good look at the sunken hinges carved deep into the stone either side of the door (at my shoulder's height)?
The surroundings offered us some beautiful plant life too: A Stellis growing in natural conditions.
A building resting on natural rock. The size of the lintel indicated the importance of the building.
Mrad listening to the words coming from the other side of the Main Temple (+- 6m away?) - quite spooky.
Quite near the echoing area, this compass had been carved out of natural rock. Do you remember the photo where we were looking down at this area? As we visited the site in the morning, the shadows were on the western side which means that the elevated long point of the rock was pointing towards the north. The Incas were astute astronomers.
The famous "Intintuatana" stone and its base are carved from a solid granite. This Chechua (the language still spoken by Inca descendants) word literally means "Hitching Post of the Sun". It is located on the highest part of the Urban Area of Machu Picchu, but its purpose is not known.
The highest point seemed to be a good place for a group photo.
Looking towards the mountain range behind the site we could see the Urubamba River again. It flows on three sides of Machu Picchu. See if you can find the straight lines against the left hand slopes of the mountain? This is a hydro-electrical scheme which utilizes the Urubamba's water to generate electricity. Also take a good look at the terraces on the steep hillside - what a feat to work them! A lovely website for beautiful photos of Machu Picchu is http://viw.myfotojournal.com/2011/mar/15/machu-picchu-if-all-these-rocks-could-talk/.
The Inca Emporer had a garden in which beautiful flowers and unusual plants grew. Needlessly to say the Epidendrums caught our eye!
One of the ways in which the Inca's studied the stars can be seen below. The circular shapes were filled with water and the reflection of the stars and their movements were studied. The sunlight also shone onto the "laboratory" - we were there in April which is halfway between winter and summer solstice - hence the light is halfway between the two mirrors!
All the Inca structure have drainage - Machu Picchu was no exception.
Another stone copying in miniature the mountains on which it stands.
In contrast to the smooth dry-wall stones of the houses, some of the walkways had walls built of natural stone and grouting/cement.
In a thicket between some of the lower buildings we found this Sobralia Dichotoma (Orchid) simply growing wild.
Did we actually enter the site up there? From this point of view, we looked up at the terraces, not down as in the previous photos. Can you see the Guard House against the horizon? Just now, we'll climb up to this spot and look down at the ruins.
This is the stonework at the bottom of the Temple of the Sun. It's a beautiful example of the Inca's ability to follow the natural rock and "merely" add on stones to build a structure. Talk about being in tune with nature!
Here are a few views which intrigued us during our rambles around Machu Picchu. Note the typical angle of the walls and the trapzoidal shape of the doorway.
This is a Mountain Vicacha posed beautifully for us. It's a member of the Chinchilla family!
Another occupant of Machu Picchu was this beautiful little humming bird sitting quietly in the early morning sun.
A llama looked down at us from one of the terrace above us.
The common Rufous-collared Sparrow was here too. A cheeky little fellow!
The terraces are often interconnected with free-hanging steps: flat stones embedded in the wall of the next terrace. We made it to the Guard House (behind Mrad) which is the highest building on the site.
From up here we were closer to the end of the Inca Trail - you can see it zigzag along the mountain side behind the buildings. It must be quite a slog to get up here.
A view from the Guard House down to the homes of the ordinary people ( now roofless) and the commons where the Emperor addressed his people. On the right Huyana Picchu (Young Mountain) rises above the archaeological site. Can you see how much we had to climb to get up here to take such a breath taking photo?
We were joined by Christo and Peter at the top of the site.
This exquisite bromeliad seemed to give us a final greeting as we left Machu Picchu.
As we were descending, we passed these men carrying the building material up to the site for repairs.
At the bus stop, we found more bags of building material waiting to be carried up the steep slope.
On our way down in the bus we saw some of the tourists who prefered to walk the 6 km from Aguas Caliente up the steep hill. This walk can take up to an hour or more.
Our luggage was waiting for us at Toto's House in Agua Caliente.
While we were waiting for our lunch we saw this magnificent pizza being made.
This was the view from Toto's House's balcony - Agua Caliente hanging on for dear life.
Our lunch ended with an assortment of super desserts - now what shall I have today?
We were a happy group - our eyes had feasted on the magnificent archaeological site of Machu Picchu and our bodies had feasted on super food. Inanda and Neil
Leezyl and Dewald
Aletta and Christo
Inge and Mrad
The inevitable followed: waiting for the train to take us back to Cuzco.
Once again we enjoyed the snow capped mountains.
Mrad and Neil had a good chat while Inanda and I tried our best to capture our experience.
At Ollantaytambo we disembarked - fortunately our bus was waiting for us. Just look at this brightly painted local vehicle which serves as a taxi.
On our way back to Cuzco, we stopped for Mrad to take a photo of an ornament typically perched on the top of a house's roof. The bulls (in our photo they look more like pigs) symbolize prosperity, the cross indicates that the family are Christians (mostly Catholics) and if there are two flagons, then one if filled with holy water and the other with fire water - all eventualities are covered!
Directly next to the road, these "wild dagga" plants were growing - it felt like home!
The next blog is where we have arrived in Ecuador.
