We woke up at 4am to start out hiking at 4:30. The hike up the mountain took 2 hours and was pretty rough. I hate stairs, especially when they are over a foot high. Around the middle of the trip dawn started to break. My camera is not fabulous at night shots, but I got this one:
After reaching the top I was already beat. Add into this that I stupidly did not have any caffeine in the morning, so I had a raging headache. You can tell how exhausted I am by the slumped over position of my body and general weariness oozing out of every pore:
First glimpses of Machu Picchu:
I think this layered land is where they cultivated crops. I was tired and the tour was in Spanish so I only caught about half of it:
These were pretty cool - astronomical mirrors. When it's clear out you can see the sun's reflection in them. At night you can see the stars and the moon:
The surrounding mountains with tufts of clouds:
The houses they lived in. Machu Picchu was not a village, though. It was an educational center were people from the empire and capital, Cusco, came to study and learn:
Random begonia bush:
An altar for worship:
One of my favorite photos...shows how steep the mountain is:
A face carved in the stone. The grass is the eyes:
Me with the main plaza and Wayna Picchu in the background:
Looking at the "guardian house" through the stones. I don't think that house actually was a guard house - it's what the Westerner who "discovered" Machu Picchu named it. He didn't really discover it though - Peruvian farmers did in the 1800s when they were looking for fertile land! When the Westerner showed up they were living there and said, hi, welcome to our home!
Notice that my exhausted appearance has only increased since arrival. At this point I was in need of a caffeine drip:
The "guardian house" up close:
Looking out from a window inside the house:
Machu Picchu and the river below:
Flora of MaPi:
Me and a llama. They roam wild around the place:
Clearly my best picture of the whole bunch:
On the train back. I was slightly better though, having downed two cappuccinos in Aguas Calientes before boarding the train for the first leg of my return trip to Cusco. The second leg was a 6-hour busride through the Andes. We arrived at 10:30pm, after our driver was detained by the police for 2 hours along the way for not having the proper papers. (We used the time to each lunch.) Everyone else in the tour was staying in the city center and got out there, so I offered our driver 5 soles (about $1.60) to drive me home. He accepted the offer and I rolled in at 10:45. All in all, awesome trip.
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