Machupiccu in the Misty Mountains

Speaking of Machupiccu, it is maintained with the help of llamas which may be found wondering among the ruins and cropping the grass.  They provide a very pleasant contrast to the lifeless stones around them and provide great amusement to the throngs of tourists taking photos.

After joining a tour of the central area, Deb and I venture out along a trail that was a key access route before the coming of the roads, the busses and the trains.  In places, this trail is only a narrow shelf cut in a sheer rock wall with a drop that must exceed a thousand feet.  There is a unique feature in this trail, consisting of a missing section of the "shelf" spanned by a couple of logs that are easily removable.  Of course this makes the main village easier to defend from hostile forces like Spanish Conquistadores.

We don't cross the "Inka Bridge."
This is far enough.

To be clear, we understand the Spanish never visited Machupiccu and there is no evidence of battle.


Back in the central area, we swing through again, trying to absorb the significance of the structures.

Mysteriously shaped stones are the centerpieces of
several courtyards may have been altars.

Stone steps and water-courses are abundant and we enjoy thinking about the feet that trod the steps before us.  As the bard once wrote.  "So light a step will n'er wear out the everlasting flint."

Approaching the altar.

There are just a few restored buildings which give a sense of the appearance in the fifteenth century and in the case of two buildings, shelter scantily clad tourists from a brief rain shower.

Guard House or Storage - Memory fails

The entire complex is served by streams that originate higher on the mountain and follow channels through various buildings and sixteen fountains.  There is a separate drainage system for rainwater runoff which includes a porous sub-base in each of the terraces to prevent them from becoming mud slides decorated with corn and potato crops rushing down the mountain.

Did I mention the water still follows the channels?

Dear reader: amateur bloggers tend to get the sequence of blog posts inverted from time to time and on behalf of amateurs everywhere, I beg your indulgence.