...To Machu Pichu...

Ok, I'm finally getting around to telling about the main point of our trip - Machu Pichu!

On Wednesday morning, we took a bus up to Machu Pichu. The bus left at 5:30 in the morning and got us up to the Incan city around 6. It was so early, but definitely worth it. We had several hours to wander around and look at the architecture. It was really quiet, and it was just amazing to be there and see it up close. I kept trying to take pictures that would capture the 'essence' of Machu Pichu, but I finally had to accept the fact that it wasn't possible. I did take some photos that I really like, though. The day started off really foggy, which helped create the quiet, isolated atmosphere.

One interesting thing about Incan architecture is the trapezoid shape that appears throughout the architecture. The doorways, windows and wall niches are all trapezoidal: wider at the bottom than at the top. This shape helped with earthquake-resistance. The tour-guide we walked around with during the late morning explained it like this: if you stand rigidly with your feet shoulder-width apart, it's a lot harder to push you over from the side than if you're standing with your feet together. He also explained some other earthquake techniques, but I didn't understand all of it. I gathered enough to be seriously impressed by their understanding and technique, however.

The stone-work is one of the most well-known and impressive aspects to Incan architecture. All of the buildings on Machu Pichu were made of stone. The regular, secular buildings were built using stone and mortar. The sacred, most important buildings were made by fitting stones together without mortar. These stones were fitted together meticulously, with no space in between. It was incredible.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that this was built up in the mountains, practically on top of one? Stairs, stairs everywhere! I concluded that the Incas of MP must have had incredibly developed leg muscles. And hopefully no fear of heights!








I realized that I have lots of pictures that I want to share, so I'm just going to post some more without descriptions. Just more photos to try to give a better idea of the whole experience.