At about 7.30 we met our guide again to much muttering before he disappeared. He came back later and virtually shoved us over to another guide. We'd been the subject of intense transfer talk and we cost 4 Spanish speakers - fair rate of exchange!
Anyway into the site to be frisked by a policeman who decided that our bag of bananas was a threat to the security of Inca heritage and deposited said bag in the secure office.
Anyway off we went with a new and somewhat smiley guide -straight up several flights of steps. Eventually we reached the spot where we could take the photograph seen all over the world.
Taking this photograph should be classed as a dangerous sport as I had to sharpen my elbows and fight the world's papparazi in search of Diana's ghost ( i think that's who they were!), this while balancing precariously on a sheer cliff edge.
We continued around having our senses bombarded by the amazing site in its breathtaking setting and .. well there's not much to say so here's some pictures.
The weather was glorious and felt like a perfect morning. We'd arrived at the sit at 7.30 and entered about 15 minutes later. The guide escorted us around until about 12.00. The scale of things was what made it most impressive - the fact we could walk around, slightly hurried with a guide for around 4 and a quarter hours and still feel there was more to see was a measure of this fact.
And then we went for lunch. To do this we had to leave the site but our tickets allowed re-admission. The policeman was amazed when i went back to claim our bananas- he hadn't eaten them yet!!
So after eating what could we do? well, there was a path up to the Sun Gate or a path around to the Inca Bridge. We made a start towards the sun gate but after a few stops for breaths, we decided that the Inca bridge sounded more interesting so we turned back and turned a corner which took us away from the crowds. Then it started raining. Fortunately for us, our path was through woods and we were able to avoid the rain. In fact the pathway demonstrated to us how the area would look without being cleared as we were surrounded by a semi-jungle environment most of the way around. As a result there were all sorts of birds flitting about including one that had electric blue plumage. Some of the plants/flowers wer4e also quite stunning although photographing some of them was a little precarious as they were growing out out of the rock face above a 1,000 foot drop. In fact the path, though not too alarmingly narrow had no fence or railing and the drop was rather precipitous. The bridge looked a little disappointing but it and therefore the path beyond were closed due to someone falling to their death the year before.
when we got back to the main site we discovered that the rain had driven people away. It was only 2.00pm and we virtually had the whole of Machu Picchu to ourselves! It was then that I discovered the Black & White function on the camera....
Anyway into the site to be frisked by a policeman who decided that our bag of bananas was a threat to the security of Inca heritage and deposited said bag in the secure office.
Anyway off we went with a new and somewhat smiley guide -straight up several flights of steps. Eventually we reached the spot where we could take the photograph seen all over the world.
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| iconic |
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| not iconic |
Taking this photograph should be classed as a dangerous sport as I had to sharpen my elbows and fight the world's papparazi in search of Diana's ghost ( i think that's who they were!), this while balancing precariously on a sheer cliff edge.
We continued around having our senses bombarded by the amazing site in its breathtaking setting and .. well there's not much to say so here's some pictures.
 |
 |
 | ||||||
The weather was glorious and felt like a perfect morning. We'd arrived at the sit at 7.30 and entered about 15 minutes later. The guide escorted us around until about 12.00. The scale of things was what made it most impressive - the fact we could walk around, slightly hurried with a guide for around 4 and a quarter hours and still feel there was more to see was a measure of this fact.
 |
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| another llama! |
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| bored llama |
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| Anarcho-syndicalist guide |
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| chinchilla or squirrel? |
And then we went for lunch. To do this we had to leave the site but our tickets allowed re-admission. The policeman was amazed when i went back to claim our bananas- he hadn't eaten them yet!!
So after eating what could we do? well, there was a path up to the Sun Gate or a path around to the Inca Bridge. We made a start towards the sun gate but after a few stops for breaths, we decided that the Inca bridge sounded more interesting so we turned back and turned a corner which took us away from the crowds. Then it started raining. Fortunately for us, our path was through woods and we were able to avoid the rain. In fact the pathway demonstrated to us how the area would look without being cleared as we were surrounded by a semi-jungle environment most of the way around. As a result there were all sorts of birds flitting about including one that had electric blue plumage. Some of the plants/flowers wer4e also quite stunning although photographing some of them was a little precarious as they were growing out out of the rock face above a 1,000 foot drop. In fact the path, though not too alarmingly narrow had no fence or railing and the drop was rather precipitous. The bridge looked a little disappointing but it and therefore the path beyond were closed due to someone falling to their death the year before.
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| here comes the rain! |
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| Gary playing the intrepid explorer |
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| took about 5 attempts to even get this! |
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| The Inca bridge |
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| the path beyond the bridge |
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| It's a long way down! |
when we got back to the main site we discovered that the rain had driven people away. It was only 2.00pm and we virtually had the whole of Machu Picchu to ourselves! It was then that I discovered the Black & White function on the camera....
Amazing. I can almost feel why it's such a famous place and some of the photos are wonderful - just point and shoot. I think it was Robert Capa who said "if you want to get better photographs, stand in front of more interesting stuff.." That said, the shutter speed for the little birdy picture was clearly far too slow as you have camera shake. Some severe words of advice over a pint when you get back.
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