Machu Picchu

So, of course the Woman’s favorite part of our visit to Peru was the Inca Trail. In the 1,300’s the advanced civilization of the Inca’s built over 25,000 miles of roads, far more than the Roman’s built. While the trails still can be found, and in many cases are still in use, many of the roads built by the Inca’s are far more strenuous than anything the Woman has encountered on the Appalachian Trail.

We were very fortunate to have two days at Machu Picchu. One of our days we met an entire day of rain. We learned that our Amazon guaranteed waterproof products were far from waterproof – maybe water resistant, but even that might be a push. I will say that my raincoat held up for about an hour, before the long-sleeved shirt I wore for warmth began to drip from being waterlogged. While it didn’t dampen our enthusiasm to check one off our bucket list, we did get a bit soggy.

We found it hard to imagine the scope of this city, especially since it was built in the early 1,400’s with no heavy equipment. They had no cranes. All stones utilized in the construction were moved by human power. The carving of the stones to fit together so precisely were apparently made using obsidian stones with sharp edges. The Inca used no mortar – they stacked stone on stone with such a precision fit that they have weathered the earthquake ridden area for over 600 years.

Exploring Machu Picchu, we saw how the Inca made sure that water was available. The evidence of managed water flow was clear – they diverted nearby water sources, routed them through their city, and made it easy for the residents to access fresh water. They knew that water was an absolute need, and set their cities adjacent to reliable water sources.

The other need for a city is food. The Inca built extensive networks of agricultural terraces where they grew the food needed to feed the estimated 1,000 people living here. They carved the hillside, carefully placed 4 layers starting with rock, then gravel, then sand and finally fertile soil. With the water sources they created and the created agricultural terraces, the Inca were able to grow the food necessary to make life possible.

We climbed to the sundial where the Inca monitored the growing season. There is reason to believe that the Inca clearly understood the solar year – they appeared to have built structures that could predict the summer and winter solstices – with the assumption that they used that information for their agricultural activities.

This was amazing. We walked through homes inhabited by Incas in the 1,400’s. We walked through the house that the Inca – the name given to the leader – which was obvious because it had water directly to it, and was the only house in the city that had a latrine – apparently the Inca had to figure out how to do their business.

We loved our visit. One of the two days we got sunshine and warm weather – it was glorious. Even though it was sunny, we saw rainbows across the valley from us. I hiked up the trail to Huayna Picchu, the peak that overlooks the city of Machu Picchu.  While I didn’t make it to the top, in part because the trail was one where you had to walk using your hands to grab the trail, I walked far enough to get a magnificent view of the city from above.

Talk to you soon.