Well today was one I'd been looking forward to since the beginning of my journey from Quito, Ecuador and in fact truth be known it was probably one of the driving forces behind the whole idea of my taking on this crazy adventure. A visit to Machu Picchu.
As one of the few tourist sights that I knew of in South America, admittedly one of the reason I was so keen to take advantage of the opportunity to visit, hence signing on to Bike Dream's little trek through Latin America was that I'd seen a documentary which had mentioned that Machu Picchu was located on or close to two fault lines, and hence could be subject to destruction, should an earthquake occur in the wrong location, etc.
Situated on a mountain ridge 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level, I was concerned that something could potentially destroy something that had recently been voted one of the "New Seven Wonders of the World".
It would seem, I needn't have been so concerned.....
Having been built around 1450AD, before apparently been abandoned a mere 100 years later and without the Spanish conquistadors every seemingly discovering the site, it would seem that the Inca were fairly cluey people. Mining stones from a quarry on site, then lining them up and shaping them to fit together perfectly. I doubt a credit card can be inserted between them. At any rate, the consequence of the Inca fitting the stones together so closely it transpires is that when an earthquake occurs, as it has done in Cusco only some 80KM away, the stones in the buildings at Machu Pichu are said to “dance”. That is, they bounce through the tremors and then fall back into place. In other words, the place should be around for another six hundred years or so....
Whilst we spent many hours wandering around the site, with a local guide at one point who explained a lot about it's layout, construction and it's significance to the Inca when they built it, all of which I am sure can be read in the book I subsequently purchased in Cusco OR on the web, I have to mention that the "highlight" of today's visit to Machu Picchu was....
Climbing the mountain, Huayna Picchu, which is the tall peak on the right hand side of the picture above. Why, because it's something that only 400 people per day are allowed to do and more importantly because I did it successfully, cause those of you who know me, may also be aware of the fact that I have a tendency to suffer from Acrophobia. IE: A Fear of heights.
Now at this point I should mention, that the Bike Dream's crew had secured tickets to Huayna Picchu, in each of our names, for all of us, when they'd organised for us to visit Machu Picchu. As a result when we filed through the separate ticket booth entrance area, tickets & passports in hand, I assumed it was to ensure that only "authorised" people were climbing on the date allocated on their tickets.... How wrong I was! It transpired that they also require your passport when returning back into the main Machu Picchu site. Why? Well from what I can only guess is because of the number of people who don't return....
As one of the few tourist sights that I knew of in South America, admittedly one of the reason I was so keen to take advantage of the opportunity to visit, hence signing on to Bike Dream's little trek through Latin America was that I'd seen a documentary which had mentioned that Machu Picchu was located on or close to two fault lines, and hence could be subject to destruction, should an earthquake occur in the wrong location, etc.
It would seem, I needn't have been so concerned.....
Having been built around 1450AD, before apparently been abandoned a mere 100 years later and without the Spanish conquistadors every seemingly discovering the site, it would seem that the Inca were fairly cluey people. Mining stones from a quarry on site, then lining them up and shaping them to fit together perfectly. I doubt a credit card can be inserted between them. At any rate, the consequence of the Inca fitting the stones together so closely it transpires is that when an earthquake occurs, as it has done in Cusco only some 80KM away, the stones in the buildings at Machu Pichu are said to “dance”. That is, they bounce through the tremors and then fall back into place. In other words, the place should be around for another six hundred years or so....
Whilst we spent many hours wandering around the site, with a local guide at one point who explained a lot about it's layout, construction and it's significance to the Inca when they built it, all of which I am sure can be read in the book I subsequently purchased in Cusco OR on the web, I have to mention that the "highlight" of today's visit to Machu Picchu was....
Climbing the mountain, Huayna Picchu, which is the tall peak on the right hand side of the picture above. Why, because it's something that only 400 people per day are allowed to do and more importantly because I did it successfully, cause those of you who know me, may also be aware of the fact that I have a tendency to suffer from Acrophobia. IE: A Fear of heights.
Now at this point I should mention, that the Bike Dream's crew had secured tickets to Huayna Picchu, in each of our names, for all of us, when they'd organised for us to visit Machu Picchu. As a result when we filed through the separate ticket booth entrance area, tickets & passports in hand, I assumed it was to ensure that only "authorised" people were climbing on the date allocated on their tickets.... How wrong I was! It transpired that they also require your passport when returning back into the main Machu Picchu site. Why? Well from what I can only guess is because of the number of people who don't return....
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