Peru: Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu is a mountain-top city built by the Incas – the people who ran a large South American empire until the Spanish turned up and did it better (and more violently by the look of it). There are two things which immediately struck me as odd. Firstly, this city is very nice but its on the top of a mountain in the middle of a cloud forest … not exactly well-connected. Secondly, despite all the emphasis on heritage and that the whole thing was lost under forest for a few hundred years and then rediscovered – this isn’t actually an ancient site and is in fact only about 550 years old. Which is old, but to a European, not that old.
The day we visited was very wet so although I have approximately the usual selection of photos, some of them are quite eerie, with layers of cloud appearing at funny heights and giving an illusion of the whole city levitating in the mist.
We got absolutely soaked on this trip, and since we’d stayed overnight in Ollantaytambo, quite a lot of our stuff got very wet as well. Happily this means I also have have the tourists-in-rainbow-coloured-ponchos photo again.
Its an absolutely awe-inspiring sight (did you know “awful” at one time meant “full of awe”?), and although the site is quite large, we did brave the rain and explore pretty much all of it. We had a guided tour and then some free time afterwards and despite the inclement weather it was a stunning place to spend an afternoon. Also, we’re British – proper raincoats, sensible shoes, quick-dry trousers and a packed lunch are an essential part of our kit, even if its sunny in the morning!
There are a few more pictures in the flickr set for the day in Machu Picchu if you are interested, I tried but the photos really don’t do it justice.
Machu Pichu is wonderful place. I spent a month in Cuzco, met a lot of great people and chewed at least 100 leaves of coke.
> the Incas – the people who ran a large South American empire until the Spanish turned up and did it better
In a very ironic way, right? Considering that Spain invaded Peru and killed most of the Incas. At least, that’s what they told me.
Did you walk all the way up, or take the bus?
Federico: I am a true tourist so I got the bus! The comment about the empires was definitely flippant, I’m not a historian and don’t pretend to know much about what actually happened
This is an update on part of my trip to Peru. You might also like to read about the time spent in the rainforest, in and around Cusco, at Machu Picchu and en route to Puno on the Andean Explorer. Next we spent a couple of nights in Puno, including a da
My photos of Machu Piccu from this trip: http://www.flickr.com/photos/magickevin/sets/72157612933499839/
Here goes the final entry about my Peruvian travels. You might also like to read about the time spent in the rainforest, in and around Cusco, at Machu Picchu , en route to Puno on the Andean Explorer and around Puno itself.
We started and ended our tr