The Inca City: Machu Picchu

Hiking to this outstanding sight is by far the best way to explore and enjoy Machu Picchu. We worked really hard for that experience and it was worth all the effort. Words can´t really do justice to what you see and feel in this place. There are so many unanswered questions and such mystery surrounds it. The American Hiram Bingham is credited for discovering Machu Picchu in 1911 but nowadays people disagree with some of his hypothesis. No one will ever really know so it`s best to take it in and use your own imagination.

For two hours we wandered around with our group seeing the main, important structures. Our guide made his propositions as to what they were and how they might have been used. It was still early and we didn`t have too many crowds to contend with. The rest of the day was our own until about 4 when we needed to gather our stuff and get on the slowest moving train ever!!! Jay and I spent hours basking in the sunlight, either checking out the spots we`d missed or lazing about on the terraces.

Some of the highlight spots:

• MP can roughly be divided into 3 areas: agriculture, religious and urban ( residential and industrial: weaving and ceramics)
• Temple of the Condor - On the ground is a rough image of a condor head. Behind it the rocks form its` wings. Tucked away behind the wings was an area that might have been intended as three sacred tombs but was never completed. The tombs are about 2" high, just the perfect size for a mummy in the fetal position.
• Temple of the Sun - This is the only circular building in the whole place. It is made of medium sized, very smooth rocks because it was an important spot. Though we couldn`t get inside it we stood in lower down room that likely belonged to the priest. Some of the multiple windows are aligned with the sunlight at solstices and equinoxes. In the middle of the temple is a big rock. Below the temple is a sort of cave with niches and a step like altar that was thought to be a tomb but no mummies were found there.
• Sacred Plaza - There is the temple of three windows but no one knows why there are 3 or what they represent. There are several unfinished pieces of work as pillars are set up along the inside of the temple but nothing is resting on them. On the left of that is the unfinished and damaged main temple. This entire area was constructed with large, very smooth rocks.
• Intihuatana/ Hitching Post of the Sun - Some say it is a sundial and our guide said it was used as a calendar. Either way this was an astronomical tool. At certain times of the year the sunlight`s rays would cast a shadow of 21 or 31 degrees on this tool so they could determine the solstices and equinoxes. Such information was important for farming related rituals. The stone is missing a chip on a corner because a crane smashed it during a beer commercial production!
• Rock Quary - Rocks of all sorts of shapes and sizes are found embedded in the middle of the site. You get a better idea of all the work that was involved. There are a few experimental rocks where professors have used local supplies as a way to demonstrate methods used to break the rocks; from tools to heating the rock and then cooling it.
• Ceremonial baths - Thought I am uncertain where the water source is you could see it cascade from one pool to another. In total there are 16 of them connected by tunnels and waterfalls.
• In the center is the main grassy plaza. Beyond that is the area that was divided into houses. There are 3 different blocks. All the structures are missing the roofs as they were made of thatch. Twine was wrapped around rocks sticking out of the side of the walls to secure everything in place. One house near the temple has a special cubby corner room that has a drainage tunnel. They guess the room was used to make Chicha the special corn drink. On floor of one room was a smooth concave mortar dish. In another a shallow bowl that when filled with water would reflect the stars and act as a telescope.
• Safety - Rather than have locks or gates small circlular holes were carved out of the rock. This was a sign that certain people were not permited to enter any further. At times rope may have been threaded through these as a visual way of saying stay out. They were found mostly in the religious areas.