Brace yourself for pictures... It's the Macchu Picchu post!!!
I woke up in our hostel with a surreal feeling, I couldn't believe I was actually going to get to see Macchu Picchu! Actually I almost didn't as our alarm didn't go off and we only had half an hour to get ready, pack, eat breakfast, and be out the door! It was like Dejavu of yesterday when Fransisco came to pick us up and we weren't ready! A very rushed and panicked half an hour later we made it on the bus just in time.
And up, up, up we went along this extremely narrow dirt road with a sharp cliff on one side and buses going both directions! That was scary.
Macchu Picchu took my breath away both literally and figuratively, located atop a high mountain in the Andes, it truly does deserve to be one of the seven wonders of the world. I just saw one of the seven most amazing places in the entire world! That's crazy!
We were sad at first that it was such a cloudy day, but soon realized it made it even more magical!
These three open windows line up with the stars in Orion's Belt!
This rock formation was made to look like a condor, with the slanted black rocks in the background being the wings, and the curved stone the neck feathers. Falcons were extremely important as they were thought to be the messengers between the earth and the gods in the sky,
The sun temple, you can see two windows that correspond exactly with the angle of the sun in the winter and summer solstices! I can't even imagine how complicated it was to construct it like that!
Terraces! I could totally see myself living in my own little stone house, farming my own little terrace every day, how cool would that be?!
And the amazing view from the sun gate, you can see the windy dirt road we took on the bus to get up, and Macchu Picchu which is the area of un-forested mountain just above the road.
We were sad at first that it was such a cloudy day, but soon realized it made it even more magical!
So excited!
The company I had gotten my trip through provided us with a tour guide who told us a few interesting things like how most of the buildings there are devoted to astronomy, which is why it's built at the top of a mountain, because the stars were a very important aspect of Incan culture,
Reflecting pools that help track the Sun's movement and can be used to look at the stars
These three open windows line up with the stars in Orion's Belt! This rock formation was made to look like a condor, with the slanted black rocks in the background being the wings, and the curved stone the neck feathers. Falcons were extremely important as they were thought to be the messengers between the earth and the gods in the sky,The sun temple, you can see two windows that correspond exactly with the angle of the sun in the winter and summer solstices! I can't even imagine how complicated it was to construct it like that!
The tour guide also told us that no bodies of children were found there even though there were both women and men which was interesting, and that the government is planning on closing Macchu Picchu to the public pretty soon as the enormous weight of all those tourists is making the ground sink! So if you haven't been go soon!
A beautiful stone ally way, can you imagine how amazing this place must of been before?
These two people are so cool :)
We had a little bit of fun pretending to be real estate agents and saying things like, "well this one comes with particularly good storage for stones' or 'I wonder if this one comes with a llama-mower the lawn is just unruly!'
So many steps, so little air...
Terraces! I could totally see myself living in my own little stone house, farming my own little terrace every day, how cool would that be?!
Me in a window of a reconstructed house with a replica of the original thatched roof
Oh Tommy! Haha :)
Happiness!
Who needs doorsteps anyway?
So many amazing photos!
Authentic modern day ladder, woah!
And quite possibly the most amazing photo of them all. Hunter you look stunning.
After all this exploring we went and ate a good lunch and then went for a hike without Tommy, who being a Med student self diagnosed some tendon problem or other in his knee and had to sit this one out :(
We wanted to go for this hike up to a sun gate that was supposed to take about three hours but we only had one and a half hours so we went double time, practically running after Cecilca who was a really fast walker up this narrow rocky Incan path! Luckily we lost Chelsy who is still as annoying today as she was yesterday. Not that I don't like her exactly, it's just she disrupts the group dynamic.
Llama jam!
He's so unimpressed with you right now...
Sun gate ruins
And the amazing view from the sun gate, you can see the windy dirt road we took on the bus to get up, and Macchu Picchu which is the area of un-forested mountain just above the road.
Then we said goodbye to Cecilia, Tommy, and Chelsy who had an earlier train and then me and Hunter went on another hike to see an old Incan bridge
The disappointing bridge
The really, really scary path!
And then it was over. Just like that it was time to go back home, and me and Hunter sadly rode the bus back down. Back in the town we had a few hours to kill so looked around in the markets, the stuff was really cool, but our bartering skills could definitely use some help! I only ever managed to lower the price about five soles, or one U.S. Dollar!
We had a late train and it was so uncomfortable neither of us could get any sleep! Then the car ride back was even worse, over the bumpy cobblestone streets, with cars honking all around! We fell into bed exhausted when we returned, what an amazing day!
