Macchu Picchu
Cue drum roll - the picture you`ve all been waiting for. Well, not exactly. This is Macchu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas. No one knows why it was built, there`s speculation it was a temple (80% of skeletons were female -could have been a temple, or the men might have been off fighting). No one knows the real name - the Incas didn`t have writing.
Its a bit whelming really, neither over nor under. Grandiose names ("Temple of the three windows") give way to what are essentially piles of rocks. Very well hewn rocks, lugged halfway up a mountain, but this is the 1500`s were talking about, its hardly the pyramids.
Its also the most expensive tourist attraction in the world, at least that which I know off- figure 100$ to catch the monopolised train, bus and entry ticket. And don`t even think about doing the Inca trail in the high season anymore -booked out solidly for months.
The real spectacular aspect is the situation. It is perched on a mountain top, with ludricously steep slopes on each side. The mountain side has been terraced to grow crops on. An ingenious system of canals (at least, I couldn`t figure it out) somehow gets 24hour running water that high up.
It feels like its defined this leg of the trip, so many plans were made in the "and then we get to Macchu Picchu...".
Macchu Picchu as it was first discovered in 1911 (ok, the photo was taken in 1925), covered in vegetation, a lot of restoration has been going on.
View of the Caretaker`s Hut - see all the terracing.
Its a bit whelming really, neither over nor under. Grandiose names ("Temple of the three windows") give way to what are essentially piles of rocks. Very well hewn rocks, lugged halfway up a mountain, but this is the 1500`s were talking about, its hardly the pyramids.
Its also the most expensive tourist attraction in the world, at least that which I know off- figure 100$ to catch the monopolised train, bus and entry ticket. And don`t even think about doing the Inca trail in the high season anymore -booked out solidly for months.
The real spectacular aspect is the situation. It is perched on a mountain top, with ludricously steep slopes on each side. The mountain side has been terraced to grow crops on. An ingenious system of canals (at least, I couldn`t figure it out) somehow gets 24hour running water that high up.
It feels like its defined this leg of the trip, so many plans were made in the "and then we get to Macchu Picchu...".
Macchu Picchu as it was first discovered in 1911 (ok, the photo was taken in 1925), covered in vegetation, a lot of restoration has been going on.
View of the Caretaker`s Hut - see all the terracing.
posted by Matt and Lizzie at
10:11 PM
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