Phil sees Machu Picchu

So we arrived on the train and got a bus - it went up the switchbacks to the entrance to the world famous UNESCO World Heritage site of Machu Picchu.  Our time was limited (one of the draw backs of doing the one day trip) so our guide tried to squeeze in lots of information but this  limited us somewhat in just how much of the site we could see. 

Since I had spent two days here the last time I was fine with a quick revisit.  This trip as I mentioned was really a trip to Ecuador and this was a pre-trip add on for us in order that Phil could see MP.

here are some of the photos from the  last time I went followed by a few photos from the current visit-  old photos are pre-digital so lack some of the clarity of the newer ones but since I had so much more time I have a lot more things as subjects- (this was a trip with travel buddy TB)

the Inca Trail pavement (such as it is) and the entrance into the site from the Trail that has come from Cuzco - a four day hike...

the view from the top- from the Guard House (or watchman's hut) and then looking up toward the Guard House-

Our guide showing the incredible Inca stone masonry-

local llamas head for the hills-

more views of the site-

TB sits in awe of the scale of the once vital city- and below that he and Pam overlook the Urubamba Valley-

TB and Tor - the souvenir shot...

a view of the switchbacks up the mountain side- with the river down below-

 

so on to the current visit- almost 15 years later- no kids running the race against the buses on the switchbacks- better road on the way up to the top... way more tourists and well- as you saw in the entry http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2013/06/you-can-not-turn-back-time.html - a paved Aguas Calientes that has lost something along the way - once I considered this place the end of the earth- now it is the center of the universe (a rueful laugh) - time marches forward.... regardless of how we feel about it, things change... you can see from this photo why our guide didn't take us directly up to the Guard House - and the following one shows another location still crawling with people-

 

 

yet still the same magnificent setting- magically located on a mountain top overlooking the river valley -

 

 

 

with the mind boggling stone work -

and with some judicious photo editing through cropping - can be seen as a vast an relatively empty site (wishing reality away if just for a moment)

 

 

 

time waits for no one...