Photos By Date| Machu Picchu | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Click on a thumbnail to enlarge the picture. When viewing the full-size pictures, you can also view the remaining pictures "slideshow-style" by clicking on the "Prev" or "Next" buttons.
Note: For more information about these pictures, read about our whirlwind tour of Machu Picchu.
 |
Wandering Llama — Keith pauses to pet a llama caught wandering through the fields of Machu Picchu. |
 |
Courtyard — Looking down at the courtyard in the center of the city from the path leading in. |
 |
Courtyard — View from the courtyard, looking north toward the peak of Huanay Picchu. |
 |
Courtyard — Another view from the courtyard. |
 |
Incan Architecture Demystified — Looking inside one of the temples gives some insight as to how the Incans built their structures to last. First, the predominant use of trapezoids, instead of rectangles, for windows and doorways, offering more resistance to earthquakes. (Most foundations were also built on top of 2- to 3-meter high piles of pebbles, allowing for vertical movement.) Then, there's the perfect fitting of stones, without mortar or concrete of any kind. To fit the stones more securely, bevelled notches were carved into the sides, then fitted into holes in the adjacent stone. All in all, these people make the Mayan temples look like sandcastles. |
 |
Temple of the Sun — A staircase to the sun? Okay, actually, we don't even remember if this is Temple of the Sun or not. We know we saw it, but don't recall which structure it was. In fact, almost all of the structures have names, but we don't know them. We confess this ignorance is not due to absent-mindedness, but solely becauses the cheapest guide book we could find was something like $20 US, which we deemed out of our league, especially given how much money it cost us just to get into Machu Picchu, let alone get there. We considered making up some things (hey, like you'd know we're lying?), but ran out of ideas too quickly to pull it off. So feel free to use your imagination if it helps. Begin by imagining this place here was a great temple.... |
 |
Terraces — The Incans left no piece of earth unturned, building terraces that stretched for hundreds of meters up mountainsides. |
 |
Terraces — Another view of the extensive terraces, stretching from valley to ridge. |
