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Published: July 27th 2006
View From The Trail.......
This is the view as you approach from the inca trail...So after a 14 hour overnight bus journey from Nazca we arrived in Cusco, and boy did we know it!!! the alttitude here is 2500m so you can tell immediatly! just walking down the street gets you out of breath.... So the advice from everyone is take 2 days out to get used to it and drink lots of coca leaf tea (which is nice!!!)...
We stuck around for a little longer as Kay was suffering with the sickness pretty bad... But on day 4 headed of to the Sacred Valley to do a few stops before arriving at Machu Picchu, the logic behind this is the general tourist (maily Americans) gets the only train there and back on the day and has from say 10am till 4pm at the site, but if your backpacking its possible to stay in Aquas Calliantis the night before and get up there at 6am to see the sunrise and miss the tourists in ya pictures!!! stay till the end and another night in the hostal....
So its Sunday and were heading of to Pisaq which has a big market and is also hosting the festival of the vigin carmen which starts today
Sacred Valley......
Me In the Sacred Valley..Just pondering stuff!!! for three days.... The market was manic and got a few alpaca woolies for Bolivia as will be very cold!!! and sat on a balcony ate lunch and watched the religious festival, which was really amazing!! the 16 local villages all enter a team of dances that dress in different sparkly themes, from the devil to drinkers and thieves many more... Now the plan is to dance to each village have a drink and move on!!! returning to the plaza in the early evening!!! Its pretty much the equivalent of the Welly Rd but starting at 7am (the trumpet!!!) and getting to the Racehorse at 11pm. The evening was that good we stuck around overnight... Dodgy firework display that had everyone running for cover was the climax.... In between all this we trekked up the local mountain to see the inca ruins...
Next day headed to Urambamba and then onto Ollytatambo both beautiful places with there own inca sights to visit and trekking to be done before getting the train to Aquas Calliantis...The train is a rip off but its the only way!!!! its called Peru Rail and in that you assume your helping with preservation and the like
Stunning Place...
Sunrise over the ruins... with the high ticket price!!!! Wrong!!! its owned by a British company (Great Train Robbers!!!)....
Nearly forgot !!!!!! while in Pisaq thought i'd try to eat Guinie Pig!!! (Check out the pictures further down!!!) there they were in there litttle pen with as much grass as they could eat!!! if only they could see round the little wall that was shielding them from the massive oven (which also contained 3 whole real pigs!!!) then theyed stop eating!!! Being Fat Can Kill You!!! Its a fact..... But after seeing semi prepared ones waiting to go in i changed my mind!!!!! ow and i also passed on chocolate frog in Nazca!... yes you got to choose ya frog from the tank, then it was blended in front of you and you could choose a selection of fruit or as i was told its best with chocolate!!!! into a nutricional drink high in protine!!! Bizaar but totally true.......
So Machu Picchu, got up at 4am to make sure we were on the first bus, which for once went ok?? no issue or anything we were actualy 2 & 3 into the site itself... The place is breathtaking!! you get there before
the sun has risen over the surrounding mountains (its light but not sunny), take a few pictures and find a good spot for breakfast picnic and watching the sun... We decided to spend the day apart as its a special day and lots to see and you can't really compramise the way you want to do it!!!!!!!!!!!! I watched the sun then head up WachuPichu for the veiws, now this is a hard steep climb and to preserve it they only let the first 400 up and by 10:00 all the places had gone!! i left at 9.30 and was number 291... It takes about 1 hour to get up and once at the top the veiw stretches in all directions and the site just becomes a small jigsaw piece missing from a forest sceene... I don't know how people haven't died up there!!!!!? its just a few giant rocks with crazy tourists clambering for the best angle to include a mug shot and the ruins!!! most of them in norman shoes!!! (they must keep the death toll a secret!!)...I spent about an hour up there then headed down, which i MORE scarier than going up!!! Big feet and inca
steps don't go!!! Saw a liitle sign for Great Cave on the way back which i took! glad i did but it nearly killed me!! most people have had enough and go striaght out but in taking the path i was about to go on a 2 hour trek around the side of the mountain to the back where the Temple Of The Moon was located, it was beautiful all through dense forest and really gave you a feel of exploring!! your mind was constantly off in "I wonder if i stumble on a bit thats never been found!!" mode... Ray The Explorer... The Temple Of Ray... Took me 4 hours in total and i ran out of water!!!!
Back in the ruins i didn't get a guide i just milled around different groups for the history. The alpaca were cool too just wondering around free to go anywhere (i must confess i have had an alpaca burger and a steak and they were both delicious...). Stayed most of the day before returning to Aquas for a dip in the hot springs (God i miss the spa pool!!)...
All i can do guys is let you have a
Beautiful Picnic Spot...
Not allowed to walk on the grass!!! you have to stick to the paths ever since a Beer Company attached a telescopic arm to part of the stone clock and a section snapped off!!!!!!!! look at the pics to get a feel for the magic of the place!!!!!!!! Ive also included a bit on the history for you to ponder over at your liesure....
Next Stop Colca Canyon and Condor watching..........
Bit for the Travellers:- Enterance $24 Train, $64 rtn ($44 if from olly to Aquas), you can take food in they don´t search bags as stated and the Cusco touristico ticket is not $10 as stated in LonleyP its now $20. don't get sucked into a tour!!! you will find accomadation even in high season (40 soles for 2). And do the sacred valley slowly you see nothing on the wistle stop 25 soles tour, the local buses are fine and cheap (1or2 soles each stop). Cusco is fun for a night out and Paddy's Irish Pub has the BEST food ive eaten this trip!!! The creamy Cottage Chicken Pie Is Not To Be MISSED!!!! you can get round the whole Plaza on free drink tickets from the touts without buying one!!!!!!!!!!!!! Local sight around the square are also worth a look....TAKE YOUR PASSPORT TO MACHU PICCHU!! you can get it stamped on the way out at baggage collection for the
Supporting Beam??......
Some of the stone work is unreal...3 tonn boulders carted over 5 miles up cliffs and calved??????????? price of a PorFavor and Gracias....
Facts & History Bit.............
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION The site is located on the highest part of the eastern Andes, above the Rio Urubamba and northwest of Cuzco (Cuzco Department). The park is accessible by road or by rail from the lower valley and then bus or car to the ruins. 13°10'S, 72°33'W
DATE AND HISTORY OF ESTABLISHMENT Created as a historical sanctuary (santuario histórico) on 8 January 1981, under Law (Supreme Resolution) DS 001-81-AA. Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1983.
AREA 32,592ha
LAND TENURE Private ownership (property of four main "predios": Mandorpampa, Q'ente, Torontoy and Santa Rita de Q'ente).
ALTITUDE Ranges from 1,800m to 3,800m
PHYSICAL FEATURES The site lies in the Selva Alta zone, and includes part of a highly dissected mountain massif of the high Andes plateau, which rises steeply from the Urubamba River valley. The area around the ruins of Macchu Picchu consists of many rocky pinnacles with exposures supporting thin soils, although the area also includes sites with complex systems of old Inca terraced land constructed to conserve the soils. The Urubamba alluvial basin is an almost continuous zone of arable
Me and My Friends...
This was a hard climbe but these two little cherubs were just dancing and playing half way up!!! and pastoral farming land. Geologically the area is very complex, being a combination of marine sedimentary rocks of the Cretaceous-Tertiary period and intrusive volcanic material, including lavas and granites. The sedimentary deposits include Ordovician schists, slates and quartzite. Streams and rivers feed the major Rio Urubamba valley system as well as a number of smaller valleys in the north such as that of Quillabamba (MAA, 1986).
CLIMATE The annual temperature averages 16°C and annual rainfall is between 1500mm and 3000mm at low altitudes. At 2,500m altitude the average temperature drops to 10.2°C, and annual rainfall is 2170mm. The dry season lasts from May to September and the wet season from October to April.
VEGETATION The site has been influenced by man for many centuries, leading to a combination of man-made habitats, paramo grassland, Polylepis thickets, partially degraded virgin forest and former cultivated land which has reverted back to forest or scrub. At lower altitudes, patches of woodland predominate, their extent being dependant upon past human interference, especially during the Inca period. The vegetation rises from the dry subtropical forest along the river valleys to the very humid low montane forest. Trees represented in the denser woodland include locally
Stone Calander Clock...
calander clock for telling time of day.. used to help with the planting of the crops and change in seasons... endangered mahogany Swietenia macrophylla and species of the following genera; Ceder, Podocarpus (the only conifer in Peru), Lauraceae Ocotea, Cunoniaceae Weinmannia, Nectandra and Cecropia. A number of tree ferns are present, including Cyathea sp. and also palms such as Geromoina sp., Guasca sp. and Riupala sp. (MAA, 1981). Reeds Phragmites sp., willow and alder occur around rivers and streams, whilst open grassland, low shrubs and scattered thickets of Polylepis sp. and bamboo are found close to the ruins (Parker et al, 1982). The high altitude subalpine paramo includes many Graminae, Festuca sp., Stipa sp. and Puya sp. such as P. raimondii (I). The mountain ridges are characterised by bamboo Gaudua sp. (Parker et al., 1982).
History - Lost City Of The Inca's
It's remarkable that Machu Picchu was first brought to the attention of the world in 1911. The Spanish invaders at the time of the Conquest and during certuries of colonial rule, never discovered the city, and nobody ever led them there, suggesting that the site had long since been abondoned and forgotten.
In the nineteenth century explorers like Eugenie de Sartiges, George Ephraim Squire, Antonio Raimondi and Castelnau never reached Machu Picchu, although most
Hello Little Guinie Pigs....xxx
Hey Dave aint this great we sit in here the suns shinning and fresh grass?? hey i haven't seen Bob for a while?? come to think of it nor Eric,Chaz,Mikie,fran,sandy,Anita,Wayne,Julie,Frank,
Billy,Chris,Sally,Dammo,
Michelle,Tinker,Spud,Jem or any of the others from yesterday??? of them crossed the Andes to the almost inaccessible ruins of Choquekirau, built high above the Apurimac river. In fact, the outside world simply stumbled upon Machu Picchu, for it had never been lost to those who lived around it. Those same people eventually led the American explorer, Hiram Bingham, and his team to the site in 1911. Hiram Bingham, now world-famous as the discoverer of Machu Picchu, did not initially travel to South America to explore the land of the Incas. In fact, the Hawaiian-born Yale and Harvard educated historian first journeyed south from the United States to complete his study of the great nineteenth century liberator, Simon Bolivar.
In December 1908, Bingham attended the First Panamerican Scientific Congress in Santiago, Chile. It was there that he decided to follow the old Spanish trade route from Buenos Aires to Lima, and it was to that end that he traveled to Lima and hence to Cusco.
In Cusco Bingham made the acquaintance of one J.J. Nunez, then prefect of the Apurimac region, who invited him on the arduous trip to the ruins of Choquekirau, thought at the time to be the site of Vilcabamba, the much sought "last
Lost & Found!!!
Found two Guinie Pigs!! Identified as Anita and Bob from dental records!!!!!!!! resting place of the Incas."
On his return to the USA, Bingham decided to organize another expedition to Peru. He arrived in Lima in June 1911 where he began to study the seventeenth-century chronicles of Antonio de la Calancha and Fernando de Montesinos. The writings of these two men first inspired Bingham to seek the last two capitals of the Inca, Vilcabamba and Vitcos. Leaving Lima in July, Bingham returned to Cusco from where he journeyed on foot and by mule through the Urubamba Valley, past Ollantaytambo, and on into the Urubamba gorge.
On July 23, Bingham and his party camped by the river at a place called Mandor Pampa, where they aroused the curiosity of Melchor Arteaga, a local farmer who leased the land there. Through Sergeant Carrasco, the policeman who was his guide and interpreter, Bingham learned from Arteaga that there were extensive ruins on top of the ridge opposite the camp, which Arteaga, in his native Quechua, called Machu Picchu, or "old mountain".
According to Bingham, "The morning of July 24th dawned in a cold drizzle. Arteaga shivered and seemed inclined to stay in his hut. I offered to pay him well if he
Doctor Dolittle Eat Ya Heart Out!!!
It's A Push-Me-Pull-Me!!!!!!!!!!!!! showed me the ruins. He demurred and said it was too hard a climb for such a wet day. But when he found I was willing to pay him a sol, three or four times the ordinary daily wage, he finally agreed to go. When asked just where the ruins were, he pointed straight up to the top of the mountain. No one supposed that they would be particularly interesting, and no one cared to go with me."
Accompanied only by Seargeant Carrasco and Arteaga, Bingham left the camp around 10 am. After a short while the party crossed a bridge so unnerving that the intrepid explorer was reduced to crawling across it on his hands and knees. From the river they climbed a precipitous slope until they reached the ridge at around midday.
Here Bingham rested at a small hut where they enjoyed the hospitality of a group of campesinos. They told him that they had been living there for about four years and explained that they had found an extensive system of terraces on whose fertile soil they had decided to grow their crops. Bingham was then told that the ruins he sought were close by
Wow!!!
From the top of WachuPichu... and he was given a guide, the 11-year old Pablito Alvarez, to lead him there.
Almost immediately, he was greeted by the sight of a broad sweep of ancient terraces. They numbered more than a hundred and had recently been cleared of forest and reactivated. Led by the boy, he re-entered the forest beyond the terraces. Here young Pablito began to reveal to Bingham a series of white granite walls which the historian immediately judged to be the finest examples of masonry that he had ever seen. They were in fact, the remains of what we call today the Royal Tomb, the Main Temple, and the Temple of the Three Windows.
As evidenced by his writings, Hiram Bingham was genuinely inspired by the beauty of the region he was exploring.
According to Bingham, "I had entered the marvellous canyon of the Urubamba below the Inca fortress. Here the river escapes from the cold plateau by tearing its way through gigantic mountains of granite. The road runs through a land of matchless charm. It has the majestic grandeur of the Canadian Rockies, as well as the startling beauty of the Nuuanu Pali near Honolulu, and the enchanting vistas
Me And My Peruvian Friend!!!!
We watched this guy from the balcony sneek away from his dancers and straight to the beer so went down for a chat and he took great delight in having us take photo after photo!!!! of the Koolau Ditch Trail on Maui, in my native land. In the variety of its charms the power of its spell, I know of no place in the world which can compare with it. Not only had it great snow peaks looming above the clouds more than two miles overhead; gigantic precipices of many-coloured granite rising sheer for thousands of feet above the foaming, glistening, roaring rapids, it has also, in striking contrast, orchids and tree ferns, the delectable beauty of luxurious vegetation and the mysterious witchery of the jungle. One is drawn irrisistibly onwards by ever-recurring surprises through a deep, winding gorge, turing and twistng past overhanging cliffs of incredible height
Above all, there is the fascination of finding here and there under swaying vines, or perched on top of a beetling crag, the rugged masonry of a bygone race; and of trying to understand the bewildering romance of the ancient builders who, ages ago, sought refuge in a region which appears to have been expressly designed by nature as a sanctuary for the oppressed, a place where they might fearlessly and patiently give expression to their passion for walls of enduring beauty."
Other people saw
and even lived at Machu Picchu before Hiram Bingham even set foot in Peru, but had neither the means nor the opportunity to bring the "lost city" to the attention of the outside world. Bingham himself found two families living at the ruins and was led to the main plaza by a young boy. As early as 1894, a local farmer called Agustin Lizarraga led one Luis Bejar Ugarte to the ancient city. This same Lizarraga took his friends Gabino Sanchez and Enrique Palma on a treasure-seeking trip to the ruins on July 14, 1901, visiting all the accessible parts of the then uncleared site. When Bingham arrived at the ruins he found the rock that the three friends had signed with their names and the date of their visit. In his later writings, however, he downplayed this discovery.
The three treasure hunters met Anacleto Alvarez (whom Bingham later encountered) who told them that he had been living among the ruins for 8 years, where he grew his crops of corn, yucca, sweet potatos and sugar cane on the fertile soil that the Incas had carried up from the river valley to build Machu Picchu's magnificent 300 meter high
Temple Of The Moon!!!
And Just As Far Away!!!!! series of terraces!
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Bee
non-member comment
Hello! That all looks fantastic! well, not the pigs, but the rest does. Although I am a little disappointed at your face, i thought i was going to see my big brother with an enormous beard by now. stop shaving! it makes me happy to see your having a great time - stay safe! x