A few words on Machu Picchu

Up until now I haven't said much about the places we've stayed, or what our rest days have been like. Although of course Machu Picchu deserves a special mention.

Machu Picchu to start with isn't the only site worth mentioning. It's like Cradle Mountain of Tasmania Australia, everyone hears of it, yet there's so many other places nearby with their own merit.

We started seeing signs of the Inca Empire back in Ecuador, when we visited Ingapirca. To my untrained eyes, Ingapirca was simply a smaller and less complex version of Machu Picchu. The important buildings such as that for the King had excellent work done fitting the stone blocks together so perfectly, whereas the more functional and everyday buildings and walls have a mix of larger and smaller stones packed together.

In the Sacred Valley on the way to Machu Picchu, we also visited an Inca Fortress of Ollantaytambo. If it wasn't for Machu Picchu, people would often mention this place. For example, there's a storage house half way up a steep mountain. Those poor workers. I can imagine the Inca would say "Hmm, we need storage houses. Let's put them....hmm....up there! Get on with it". There were real reasons such as being above the flood plain, and the building of terraces on mountain sides made them more water efficient as the run off went to the next terrace, and also maximise how much sunlight they get.

Another fascinating feature shown to us at Ollantaytambo was there was a narrow water channel cut into granite which then had a small fall to a pool beneath. The theory goes that because the granite contains quartz, it builds a small static charge as the water runs over it. Our guide rubbed his hand against a dry area of the granite first, then rubbed his hand over the granite that had the water running over it. The result was the water twisted as it fell until it eventually flattened out again.

Ollantaytambo's store houses half way up the mountain

Some clarification. The word Inca refers to the King, not the people. At Machu Picchu and surrounding areas, the people are known as the Quechua people.

There are various theories about the functionality of the buildings at Machu Picchu. Our guide for the day was Quechuan, and here's what we were told.

• Machu Picchu was a university, where students stayed for a year before returning where they came from (other theories exist). To be honest, a lot of detail of what is discussed is theory, there's simply no ancient Inca to ask, and no written language.
• The city was a central point for communication, where runners ran a relay to other cities. Their messages were carried on a stick with different coloured ropes with different knots on them. The messengers were also educated in how to read them. The Inca trail splits off into many trails. Some of these messages from what I gathered have been found, but apparently the interpretation is anyone's guess.
• The modern Quechuan people have a belief that the Inca will return from the jungle.
• The city was built around 1450, and was abandoned over 100 years later thanks to the invading Spanish. The remaining people living nearby kept the existence of the city a secret. Smallpox also took its heavy toll, again thanks to the Spanish.
• Throughout the city there's buildings aligned, or setup to observe the sun and the moon.
• Sacrifices of animals (and if I remember rightly people also) were made to the mountains.

There's many more details that we were told, some of which was hard to catch given there was so much to see, and while our guide's english wasn't bad, it was sometimes hard to follow. If you want to know more, the internet is out there, you have the technology. Or you can ask a question and I'll try my best to let you know what I remember.

To visit a place like this, to truly understand what's known and what is theory, I'd say the city would need to be visited multiple times. The first visit is merely an introduction. Only after the first overwhelming amount of detail and information would I suggest a person could then begin to study it.

The terraces at Ollantaytambo 

Excellent quality mason work. The nodules apparently there to assist transport, and then normally cut away.

The obligatory smug here I am at Machu Picchu photo

Fellow riders collectively having the smug here we are at Machu Picchu photo 

This is the gateway into the city. 

When first found in modern times, it was blocked off. Note the stone sticking out over the top and holes either side of the doorway (Adrian is in front of the one on the right).

Looking up to the guard house. These terraces were to stop landslide and provide gardens as opposed to crops. 

Temple of the Sun

Famous coca plant! Hard to see in this photo. It's small as it normally grows at lower altitude.

Description of the Inca cross. The detail baffles me as it was hard to follow, but a good point to research from.

Looking down to Machu Picchu after climbing Huayna Picchu.

The steps alternated between ridiculously large and hard to step over, to small and hard to find a grip on.

My legs were very sore after clambering back down.