Machupicchu

On Monday we took the train to Machupicchu, the only way to get there other than walking for 5 days. Our train followed the stream that ends up at the foot of the mountain on which Machupicchu is built. The locals still farm on the terraces built by the Incas.

Machupicchu is one of those places with almost a mythic reputation. Can it really be as impressive as everyone says? Well, it is pretty damn impressive. It is not known exactly why the Inca empire built this place, the belief is that the permanent population was only about 500-700 and the Inca rulers came here from their home in Cusco for religious purposes.

They were pretty advanced though they never discovered the wheel or writing. They became masters of stone buildings and here they built an impressive city on the side of a hill using mostly stone.

They believed in using the existing natural stone formations as in this picture with a building that organically flows from the rock on which it is based.

Tomorrow we have the opportunity to hike to the Sun Gate but I don't know if we'll make it. There are so many steps here that after a day of trekking up and down stone steps we are pretty sore.