Machu Picchu 2012
Our destination was Machu Picchu, the amazing city built on top of an 8,000 foot high mountain in the heart of the Peruvian Andes in the 1400s. After arriving in Lima and spending a short night in an airport hotel we flew to Cusco, a gateway to Machu Picchu. Then by bus, train, and bus again we made our way to the Sacred Valley of the Incas.
From Cusco we traveled by bus to Urubamba and stayed in the beautiful hotel Sol y Luna.
Another view from Sol y Luna
This alpaca wanted to be fed by Julie, but she wouldn't share. I have sympathy with that alpaca.
This bird (which I can't identify) enjoyed watching us feed the llamas and alpacas.
Back at Sol y Luna hotel I photographed a few of the many flowers
Early morning view
During our stay at Sol y Luna we were treated to a Peruvian folklore dance performance
We didn't understand who the characters represented, but we let our imagination work
A beautiful princess also walking high on stilts
And the ravishing queen of the ball
And I captured the twirling fire batons by slowing the shutter speed to create these circles
Out entertainers taking a bow. I'm not sure how the $100 bill fit into the story.
As part of the visit to the Sacred Valley of the Incas we traveled by bus to the town of Ollantaytambo which was built in the 1500s.
Located at Ollantaytambo is the Temple Hill and the Terraces of Pumatallis shown here
Temple Hill stands at 9160 feet elevation and was the estate of Emperor Pachacuti who conquered the region in the mid 1500s.
The temple sector is made out of cut and fitted stones as you can see on the left and the remainder of Temple Hill is built from field stones.
We appreciated the precision riding, man and horse working together
The next day we traveled by bus, then train, and another bus ride to reach the gates of Machu Picchu. We were fortunate to stay in the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge located just outside the entrance gate. That afternoon we got our first view of this amazing place.
We climbed to the highest point on Machu Picchu, struggling for air at 8000 feet elevation, to take this photo in which the mountain was bathed in sun.
Machu Picchu was built in the mid 1400s by the Incan Yupanqui, the 9th ruler of the Incan empire.
The stones to build the walls were excavated and hauled up the mountain. The stones on the right were ground by other stones to perfectly straight edges and exact dimensions so they fit without the need for mortar. And those walls still stand 500 years later.
The terraced fields were used to grow maize and potatoes
Today the site is a popular tourist spot, especially after it was named a World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
Machu Picchu is believed to have been a royal estate and religious place for the rulers of the Incans,
In the 16th century plagues and Spanish conquistadors wiped out the Incans and Machu Picchu became the lost city of the Incas.
In 1911 Hiram Bingham III, a Yale professor, was searching for another lost city when he found Machu Picchu. He and others began excavating the site thereafter and the world became aware of this sacred place when National Geographic devoted a full issue to Machu Picchu in 1913.
How the Incans built Machu Picchu remains mostly a mystery. Although they were aware of the wheel, they did not use the wheel to move the stones. It appears they used hundreds of workers to move each stone into place.
