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Machu Picchu
After a good dinner and a night of beer and singing we rose at 05:30am to catch sunrise. The group moved off together, in the dark at first and then the pre-dawn light. Its about an hour's walk to the ruins, and trail walkers usually observe the sun rising over Machu Picchu from Into Punku, the gate of the sun, above the city.
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Augusto though felt this would be too busy, so he moved us a little further down the trail to here, a smaller sun temple that overlooks Machu Picchu. In front of the temple is an Inca alter stone. The three levels correspond to the Inca heaven (the Condor), earth (the Jaguar) and hell (the snake). Few remain as Christian missionaries made a point of destroying them.
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And then below us was Machu Picchu, the fabled lost city of the Inca.
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Of course it was never really that lost. Presumably the Inca always knew where their city was. And even when Hiram Bingham 'discovered' it in 1911 there were several families of Indians living there. So I claim that it was never really found until I got there.
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The site is made up of both ceremonial and functional buildings. This is the side of the temple of the sun. It has some of the best stonework in the city. The cliche is that you can't get a sheet of paper between the stones.
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There is loads of information else where on what Machu Picchu is and isn't. I will just add that its an amazing sight. And truely is one of the things that you should see in your lifetime.
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