Cusco, Peru

After enjoying Machu Picchu, we took the train from Aguas Calientes to Cusco city.  I was surprised to learn that Cusco is at a higher altitude (11,200 feet) than Machu Picchu (7972 feet). To reduce altitude sickness, visitors to Peru start at the lower elevations at Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and then visit Cusco.

This view of Cusco is from the "Cristo Blanco" (White Jesus) statue at the outskirts of Cusco.
The open square at right center is the famous "Plaza de Armas".

Cusco was the capital of the Inca empire. In the native Quechua language, Cusco mean "the navel of the world". Many ancient cultures around the wold, selected a sacred place and called it the center or navel of the world.

By 1573, the Spanish had completely brought down the Inca empire. Most of the Spanish buildings we see in Cusco today were built over Inca buildings and palaces. On 21st May, 1950 when a 7.0 earthquake struck Cusco, it cleared the Spanish built facades and walls that had covered up the Inca engineered stonework for centuries. Much of the Inca stonework and walls we see today in Cusco were discovered due to this earthquake.

Old neighborhoods in Cusco have very narrow streets and reminded me of streets in India. On many streets, the Inca built foundation and walls are visible.

I loved the narrow inclined streets of Cusco. The Casa San Blas Boutique Hotel we stayed is located at an elevation above the rest of the city. Either by car or by walk you need to deal with steep inclined roads.

This truck driver was kind enough to back all the way down and let our van pass :)

The Plaza de Armas is a large and lively square always full of tourists and locals.

The Plaza de Armas is surrounded by beautiful Spanish stone arcades filled with craft shops and excellent restaurants.

   

The Spanish architecture and beautifully decorated and colorfully painted wooden balconies jutting over the plaza add a nice charm to Plaza de Armas.

Plaza de Armas

The construction of the Cathedral at the left started in 1560 and took over 100 years to build. The Jesuits' church, "Iglesia de la Compania" is at the right. The Sun was setting and cast a long shadow right in the middle of these two buildings, further enhancing and highlighting their beauty. I recommend viewing this photo in full screen mode.

The Iglesia de la Compania, the Jesuits' church.

  

The streets leading from Plaza de Armas to our hotel at the San Blas area are lined with craft and souvenir shops that sell anything and everything that a visitor to Peru need to buy :) hand bags, shoes, Llama and Alpaca sweaters, hats, Llama key chains, etc.

A street with the original Inca built walls.

Some tourists had a difficult time walking up the steep inclined streets ;)

Casa San Blas Boutique Hotel.
Though it looks like a simple house from the outside, the hotel and the rooms are
beautifully decorated and very comfortable.

Morning Meditation at Machu Picchu

Wherever I travel, whether it is Grand Canyon or Cayucos, I always try to watch the Sunrise and/or Sunset at the location. For months, I had been looking forward to watch the Sunrise at Machu Picchu.  From Aguas Calientes, the first bus to Machu Picchu leaves at 5:30 AM. The gates to Machu Picchu opens at 6 AM.

I got up at 4:30, had my coffee at the Hatun Inti Hotel (where we were staying) and headed to the bus stop, which was right across from the Hotel. I was thinking/hoping that there won't be many crazy people like me and I would get in to the first bus to Machu Picchu. To my astonishment, there were around 70 people at the bus stop.  Nothing to worry since there were already 5 buses lined up and I was able to get in to the third bus.

6/16/2014, 5:08 AM
Aguas Calientes. The crowd to catch the first early morning bus to Machu Picchu

6:00 AM
At Machu Picchu entrance.

6:17 AM
I was expecting lot of early morning fog and clouds. Again to my surprise, there was very little fog.

6:26 AM

7:13 AM
Though the Sunrise was at 6:09 AM, by the time the Sun cleared the near by mountain peaks, it was around 7:10 AM. 

7:20 AM

7:22 AM
As the Sun rose slowly,  section by section, the Machu Picchu ruins were getting illuminated by the Sunlight.

7:23 AM
The Sun fully came out and lit up Machu Picchu; more and more crowds started arriving.
I packed up my tripod and camera and started walking "backwards" towards the exit,
fully taking in the magnificent view and unable to leave the place I waited for 4 years to visit :)

For me, this is an exhilarating morning meditation worth experiencing at the mystical and magical Machu Picchu.

@Night: Yanahuara

At the Sacred Valley, we stayed at the "Casa Andina Private Collection" hotel for 2 nights. The hotel is located at Yanahuara (pronounced, "Yana Wara"), which is a small village between Ollantaytambo (blog post) and Urubamba.

The Casa Andina Private Collection hotel is surrounded by hills, spread out over a
large area with pleasing landscaping.

Just like I do in all the places I visit, I was ready with my tripod and camera to capture the night sky and
it turned out to be cloudy but beautiful.

Since it could rain anytime, there was a pot of umbrellas at each building!

I had better luck the next day/night with almost clear skies.  Before the trip , I was eagerly looking forward to
capture the southern hemisphere constellations (not visible even from San Diego). I was thrilled to capture
the "Southern Cross" constellation, which is towards the left top. The two bright stars above the
Southern Cross at an angle,  closer to the edge of the photo are Alpha Centauri and
Beta Centauri, from the constellation Centaurus.
June 13, 2014, 9:46 PM

Intihuatana

The Indians, the Egyptians, the Greek and the Mayans observed and clearly understood the movement of the Sun, the moon, the planets and the stars. The Incas did the same and the Machu Picchu ruins clearly demonstrate the Incas' mastery of astronomy!

1) Intihuatana

In "Quechua", the language of the Incas, "Inti" means the "Sun" and "huata" means "to tie". Intihuatana means the "To tie the Sun" or "The hitching post of the Sun". Incas were Sun worshipers and had a very precise understanding of the northern and the southern movement (solstices) of the Sun. Situated at the top of a hill, at the highest elevation at Machu Picchu, is a granite structure called Inithuatana. 

During the Southern Hemisphere's winter solstice, June 21st (summer solstice for the Northern Hemisphere), the Sun is farthest at north. After the winter solstice, the Sun starts moving south. The Incas built the Intihuatana to accurately predict the Winter solstice day. The Inithuatana is considered as the most important part of Machu Picchu.
 

The Intihuatana is at the top of the hill (middle, top of this photo).

The Intihuatana is sculpted on granite rock at the top of the hill.
The Incas used the shadow cast by the pillar to accurately predict their winter solstice.

On the Winter solstice morning, the rising Sun casts the shadow of the pillar to fall on curved notch, carved
on to a flat rock near the Intihuatana. When the shadow falls on the curved notch,
Incas knew that the Sun is going to start turning back towards South.
The flat rock with the curved notch on it is at the center, at the edge of the hill.

Close up view of curved notch.

2) Sun Temple

The second most important building in the ancient city of Machu Picchu is the Sun Temple. Wherever you see a curved/elliptical wall built by the Incas in Peru, you can safely assume it is to do with the Sun. I wonder if that is do with the Incas' knowledge of earth's elliptical path around the Sun.

The Sun Temple with a curved wall and the two windows to
keep track of the summer and winter solstices.

The Sun Temple.

There is no access to the inside of the Sun temple. Either you can see it from below or from the top. Only the walls were built buy the Incas and the rock inside is natural rock on the hill and is considered sacred by the Incas. During the Incas' summer (December) solstice, when the Sun's rays rise over a natural V-shaped notch on the top a mountain, 2 miles away, it enters through one of the windows and shines on the rock inside the Sun temple. During the Incas' winter (June) solstice, the same phenomenon happens through another window precisely placed on the curved wall. I have tried to show the path of the Sun light through these two windows during the summer and winter solstices with red lines in the next photo.

The two trapezoidal windows on the curved wall of the Sun temple are perfectly aligned to keep track of the June and December solstices.

It is really mind-boggling to think how the Inca engineers aligned the Solstice Sun, the V-notch in the mountain and the windows of the Sun temple. With no calendar system to keep track, this is only possible after years and years of observing the sky.

3) Rock shaped like Southern Cross

The constellation  known to us now as "Southern Cross", visible only from southern latitudes, is of great importance to the Incas. When the Southern Cross rises over the Incas' sacred mountain, Salkantay in May, it is the arrival of the rainy season for the Incas. 

In Machu Picchu, near the Initihuatana area, one of the rocks is sculpted exactly like the Southern Cross. Researchers have confirmed that this rock points to exactly the top star of the Southern Cross.

Rock sculpted like the constellation Southern Cross

Highlighted (or dark-lighted) the Southern Cross constellation in this photo I took in Peru. 

These three structures in Machu Picchu are definitely dedicated to astronomical events of great importance to the Incas.  They were very precisely and strategically placed in order to accurately predict change of seasons to help with their agricultural activities.

Mystical Machu Picchu

Do you know that Hiram Bingham was the inspiration for the movie character Indiana Jones? Look at the similarities in the photos below. Even Indiana Jones' hat was designed to look like Hiram Bingham's. :) In 1911, while working as a lecturer in Yale University, Hiram Bingham, with help from the local people, discovered the ruins of Machhu Picchu. Later on, he became the governor of Connecticut and then a US Senator. Today, the train to Machu Picchu is named after Hiram Bingham.

Hiram Bingham at Machu Picchu in 1911 and Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones.

We took the train from Ollantaytambo (link to previous post) to Aguas Calientes, which is at the base of Machu Picchu. Aguas Calientes is the last stop for all the Machu Picchu trains from Ollantaytambo and Cusco. From Aguas Calientes, the only way to reach Machu Picchu is by the Peru government run small buses (or you can hike fore few hours). This ride takes around 30 minutes and goes through narrow mountain roads with plenty of switchbacks (aka hairpin bends). The road is very narrow and in many places only one bus can travel. If another bus comes in the opposite direction, one of the buses have to travel in reverse for 50 to 100 feet until both reach a place where they can safely cross each other. It was fun backing up to the edge of the road :) 

The narrow bus road from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu hugging the mountain slopes.
This photo is from the web. Not mine :)

The buildings and terraces at Machu Picchu are spread over 5 square miles.
To get an idea about the size of the Macu Picchu ruins, zoom in to this map.

Mind blowing view from the Caretaker's Hut.
I don't have words to describe this scene. This must be experienced :)

Machu Picchu was well planned and built by the Inca engineers with an "Agricultural Sector" consisting of around 700 stepped terraces to grow crops and an "Urban Sector" with temples and houses for the Inca royals. The Incas also built a water canal that runs for around 2500 feet to the first fountain and then to 15 other fountains distributed throughout the area.

View of the Caretaker's hut from below. Water drainage system on the right.

The Inca house and the Sun temple on the left.
The Huayna Picchu mountain in the middle.

All the Machu Picchu buildings are believed to have had thatched roofs,
that didn't survive.

Close up of Huayna Picchu. There are more terraces and a Moon Temple at the top of Huayna Picchu.
The near vertical hike to Huayna Picchu is considered extremely challenging to those with fear of heights.
Everyday only the first 400 people  are allowed to hike Huayna Picchu

Huayna (pronounced as Waina) Picchu framed by an entrance.

Temple of the Condor. A condor's face is carved on the rock.
Since Condors reach very high altitudes, Incas worshiped them as the link
between the living and their ancestors.

The Machu Picchu mountains get an average of 76 inches of rain per year. Frequent land slides are very common in the area. Peru is also prone to major earthquakes. Machu Picchu was built at an altitude of 8000 feet above the sea level. All the needed stones had to be transported to this very difficult site.The Incas were fully aware of these challenges and had addressed each one of these issues. 

Today, civil engineers studying Machu Picchu have discovered a well-built foundation under the ruins and an excellent drainage system to handle the heavy rainfall. They have estimated that what we see above the ground is only 40% of what the Incas have done. The Incas didn't use mortar to construct the walls. Instead, they cut grooves and interlocked each and every stone. During earthquakes, the walls shake but they don't get damaged. 

Why would the Incas select such a difficult place to construct the "city in the clouds"? Incas had 3 reasons:

• The Incas worshiped the mountains since mountains connect the earth to the skies.
  Machu Picchu was built on a ridge between 2 mountains, Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu, which were worshiped by the Incas.

• There was plenty of water in the area with natural springs and the River Urubamba (considered the earthly equivalent of the MilkyWay) circling the  Machu Picchu on 3 sides. 

• The Incas also wanted to observe the Sun and the movement of the stars from this high elevation.

I have not written anything about the astronomical connections/constructions at Machu Picchu. That is the subject of the next post :)