Machu Picchu

Tuesday, 21 August 2018

Visiting Machu Picchu was the main objective of our week in Peru. The site itself is perched in a large saddle between two mountains overlooking the Urubamba River. The elevation of the site is given as 7700 (2350 m) ft above sea level, but the site itself varies by at least 500 ft (150 m), not including the Sun Gate -- the topic of my next post. The site was abandoned by the original occupants and never discovered by the Spanish. As a result, it had not been destroyed, but overcome by nature when Hiram Bingham came across it in 1911. The original purpose of the site is unknown, although there are many hypotheses, and archeological work continues.

The site has three major divisions: agriculture, royal and sacred, and secular. The impressive terraces supported agriculture. The royal and sacred structures are noted by their precisely-fit stone work. The secular area is where lesser dignitaries, workers, and servants.

We arrived at Machu Picchu in the early afternoon. The day was cloudy, and by the time we left a light rain was falling. While this limited stunning sunny photos, it did keep the temperature in a very comfortable range. By the time we got back to our hotel in the evening, we were wet and chilled. We got to see Machu Picchu's water management problems in action: getting rid of substantial rain water on steep slopes, while dealing with a shortage of water for agricultural and domestic use (drinking, cooking, cleaning).

Our first breathtaking view of the site. "Machu Picchu" means "old mountain" and refers to the mountain behind us. The small mountain seen in photos of Machu Picchu (the city, not the mountain) is actually "Huayna Picchu" ("holy mountain"). A trail on this mountain leads to a number of sacred sites, and requires a special permit.
The royal and sacred area is to the left of the main plaza, and the secular area is to the right.

The obligatory "we were here" photo.

The "Caretakers Hut" is one of the first structures seen on the tour of Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu (the mountain) is in the background.

Another view of the Caretakers Hut. The steep roofs on most of the structures show that shedding rainwater was important to maintaining the integrity of the structures.

This temple was severely damaged by an earthquake (probably in 1650), but the fine stonework kept the structure from completely collapsing.

This wall was started with royal/sacred grade stone work, but was finished with lesser quality work. Perhaps it needed to finished quickly? Perhaps the emperors were running low on funds?

Llamas roam the large plazas separating the sacred and secular areas.

Residences in the secular area.

A walkway through the residential area.

This area had rooms that appeared to be dedicated to various crafts (ceramics, weaving, metal-working).

Wednesday, 22 August 2018

We returned to Machu Picchu the following morning, and I'm including this photo to show Machu Picchu on a sunny day.

Our morning in Machu Picchu started totally socked in with fog. Visibility was only a few meters. Lots of visitors were just sitting around waiting for the fog to lift -- they had a two to three hour wait! This photo was taken after we returned from the Sun Gate, about three hours after we started. I'm actually glad that we had good cloud cover during our tour, since it kept the temperature bearable.