Walking Distance from a Cloud - Our Visit to Mach Picchu

     On Friday the 19th, we visited what the best known archaeological site in Peru, and arguably South America - the remains of the Machu Picchu temple. Built during the early and mid 15th century by the Incans, it was originally meant to be a temple for monitoring astronomical events such as solstices and the movement of stars. The temple was meant to be very specialized for this purpose - there are no remains of farming equipment or manufacturing areas that accompany the sites of Incan settlements, and would have had to collect food and other supplies from the surrounding area. Its remote location made it much harder to grow food; the complex sits thousands of feet above sea level, and is surrounded by dense jungle. It was ultimately abandoned before completion during the 1450s, and was not known to the outside world until 1911.
     We left for the site at 5:30AM, and arrived at 11:30AM; as with our other sites, we started with a personal tour. The guide started by explaining the site's purpose, and showing various stone statues that looked innocuous, but were used as sundials and reference points for the position of the sun in the sky. He also explained how the Incans brought water to the temple through gravity powered aqueducts; the Incans opened up springs in the mountainside and used sloped channels to make it flow throughout the complex. He also spoke of the artifacts found at the site, and how they revealed its religious purpose; many religious implements, ceramics, and even the mummified bodies of humans and llamas were found by the initial archaeological teams.
      At 1:00, we finished our tour, and were free to walk about the site until 4pm or go back into town. I opted to stay at the site; I walked with Eliza to help her with her broken toe, and to have some company. We revisited points from the tour since there were fewer people, and went up to the Incan bridge, a site currently under restoration. At four, we headed to town, and our group split to different restaurants for dinner; Sara, Harrison, Shelly, and I were able to split a pizza four ways. Our train ride back was delightful; the attendants treated us to an alpaca clothing fashion show led along by a man dressed in an Andean festival costume.