Peru - Machupicchu

Machupicchu is overwhelming.  As I have been reviewing my photos to post here, I realize I was totally unprepared for it.  I also think that to take truly good pictures of Machupicchu requires more time than I had, and probably multiple visits.  I have a lot of pictures to share here, so I'll try to keep explanations brief.

Part of the difficulty was that I had only one day to visit Machupicchu. I was only in Peru a week, and I felt that was all the time I had to spare.  I won't make that mistake next time.  I will at least stay overnight near the city and will definitely hike, if not on the Inca Trail, then at least up the mountain.

As it was, I took a tour van from a hotel in Cuzco to Ollantaytambo, a town at least as old as Machupicchu.  From there, I took a train to Aguas Calientes, the town at the foot of the mountain on which Machupicchu is built.

Train Station at Ollantaytombo

Mountains from Ollantaytombo

On the train to Aguas Callientes (Inca Rail)

Line for the bus at Aguas Callientes

Once in Aguas Calientes, most people take a bus to the top of the mountain.  It is possible to hike as well, but I had an interesting experience on the bus I won't soon forget.  There were several school children from Arequipa, who, once they discovered I was American and friendly, wanted to try out their English on me.  They also got a kick out of hearing me speak American English. They actually asked me to read a paragraph in English so they could videotape me.  It was quite amusing.  For a few minutes there, I thought I was the tourist attraction.  I still managed to enjoy the ride on the single-lane dirt road, full of switchbacks and breathtaking mountain views, and really, the kids were great.

When I finally got up to Machupicchu, I met my tour group and got my passport stamped.  Apparently the US government isn't all that keen on having passports stamped with a location that isn't actually a country, but everybody does it anyway.

Then, with my group of 13 American and British tourists, I stepped out into Machupicchu. It was almost like a dream.  I'm generally the sort of person who is unusually aware of what's around me, but in this case I think I was just too overwhelmed to fully comprehend what was happening.

And here I am posing in a classic photo, trying to convince myself and anyone else who might see my picture that I'm really in Machupicchu:

So yeah... here are more pictures.... a lot of them....

A tomb.  You can't see it in this picture, but someone several decades ago

etched "Jesus Saves" into the rock. Ever since then, many of the important 

areas have been blocked off. UNESCO personnel also keep watch.

Curved wall of the Temple of the Sun

Temple of the Three Windows

Natural rock formation mirroring the mountains of Machupicchu

Intihuatana, or The Hitching Post of the Sun

Some tourists and Peruvians believe a special energy comes from this structure

and for a long time people came here to touch it.  Now there are protective ropes.

Huayna Picchu

View from what would have been the second story of a residence

The tour guide told us if a woman hugs the large rock on the right, she

will find a good man. I hugged it, just in case.

Llamas!

Posing in front of the agricultural sector

My favorite picture. I set it up and had a friend take the photo.

A friend, you ask? I explain below.

Temple of the Condor.

I didn't get good pictures here because of the crowd,

but the mix of natural and carved structures creates a 3-D condor.

Running llama

People say Machupicchu has a magical energy.  Many Peruvians I spoke to seem to believe it, as do other Latin Americans I've mentioned it to.  Some aren't so sure the Incas even built it - they believe it was the work of alien beings, not from this Earth.  (In reality, there is very strong evidence that most of the structures here were built by the Incas, probably in the 15th century around the time of the Inca emperor Pachacutec, who is also believed to be responsible for the city of Cuzco.)  I'm not one to believe in magic.  But a very odd and wonderful thing did happen while I was at Machupicchu.  

There were a couple of women in my 13-member tour group who thought I looked familiar.  I discovered this when I asked one of them about the Washington Nationals cap she just happened to be wearing.  We compared notes for a few minutes, until we finally realized that one of the women had been one of the attorneys I had clerked for at United Mine Workers of America nearly a decade earlier! The other woman had also worked at UMWA at the time.  When we figured it out, the labor lawyer and I embraced.  Both of us came all the way to Machupicchu from Washington, DC, and after not seeing one another for 9 years, there we were, in the same tour group. We wound up having lunch together after the tour in Aguas Callientes.  I don't know about magic, but strange things apparently do happen at Machupicchu.