Day 4, we take a bus up this winding road to be at Machu Pichu when it opens at 7am or so. The cool people who hiked the main Inca Trail are hiking the last few steps toward the Sun Gate about now.
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The entrance to Machu Pichu is definitely not the entrance the Inca's intended. These are the store houses, so you feel like you are coming in the back door.
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The clouds and fog don't seem to bode well for taking good photos today. Still, we rush across the site to get to the foot of Huayna Pichu. We have tickets that allow us (and 150-200 others?) to climb this peak and explore some ruins up there.
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Yes, there are lots of tourists at Machu Pichu, even at 8am, and even at the beginning of the rainy season.
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We are heading for Huayna Pichu for a climb. Tourists are not allowed to just wander all around the ruins, so it is still possible to take photos like this that make it look quiet and untouched… and very green.
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There are some serious snow-covered peaks in the distance, but we didn't get good views or good photos of everything.
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Looking back at the site that we just rushed across. One guy from our group is going to climb Mt. Machu Pichu, which is the pointed peak in the middle. We are on the opposite end of the saddle, ready to climb Huayna Pichu.
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Good views of the river below leading in the direction of Hidroelectrica, where we were the day before.
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The trail to Huayna Pichu is shrouded in fog as we go up and down a bit before starting the real climb. Looks like our views from above may be completely blocked by clouds.
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Very lush vegetation and very steep trail. Machu Pichu actually looks pretty far away at this point.
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Yes, you have to use ropes in some places. Machu Pichu, at 2430m, is lower than all the places we hiked, but still, the 300m climb up Huayna Pichu made some a bit winded.
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Yes, that's me, still here.
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Arriving at the top of Huayna Pichu, we find ruins, including terraced farminig, steep staircases, and other and buildings.
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The ruins on Huayna Pichu are pretty impressive, but you spend much of your time looking back at Machu Pichu and taking photos of it.
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The river below winds all the way around the site from the right to the left and then past Aguas Calientes. The views from up here are pretty cool really.
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The famous Inca Trail is the diagonal line on the opposite hillside entering the site from the top. The couple up above were fighting because the woman was set on getting the perfect photo and the guy couldn't please her!
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Some of the cliffs on Huayna Pichu are pretty steep. Also note the terraced farming at the bottom left indicating that the site is bigger than just the main village.
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There was mobile internet service, so I checked-in on Facebook: "Obligatory check-in from above Machu Pichu at 8am on a Wednesday"
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As we climbed the terraces of Huayna Pichu, it was tempting to take a photo of Machu Pichu from each terrace, even though the view was pretty much the same on teach. See the guy trying to descend the "Inca steps."
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More terraces...
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Yes, there are plenty of terraces on the peak of Huayna Pichu at 8am. The views were worth a pause here.
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More snow-capped mountains in the distance.
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I thought this guy looked pretty sexy with the pink flower bush behind him, but the aura just doesn't show-up in the photo...
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Heading back down another face of Huayna Pichu. These people make it look steep!
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I really can't remember what the three windows were supposed to mean, but this structure is matched in one of the important buildings on the main site.
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The sheer cliffs off the "back" side of the site are pretty impressive. There is actually a trail that leads out the back way to the right. We hiked part of it later to the "Inca bridge."
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Still here :)
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The Temple of the Sun is the most finally constructed building because it was the most important. It sits on a rock with a couple caves that were also worshipped.
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This is what you find under the Temple of the Sun. The doors don't really go anywhere. They were probably used to display something that was stolen long before Hiram Bingham re-discovered the site in 1911.
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Notice the varying quality of walls depending on the importance of the structure. Also notice the Japanese tour group. They are always the most polite: the guide whispers into a microphone and his voice is beamed to headphones in each person's ear!
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The royal toilet of Mr. Inca himself. I guess it was a squatter style. Or maybe this was the bath?
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Cool fountain running through town.
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Mostly only the stones remain, but the archeologists did rebuild some of the thatched rooves and this is one of the few buildings where they demonstrate how the second level might have been made.
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Three of the other more sacred structures are in the foreground. Most of the site was taken up by basic farming, though.
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The residential section is across form this field which was probably used for a market, sports, parties, camping?
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