| The day began with a breakfast at 5:00 a.m. before we were bused to the Machu Picchu train station. Machu Picchu is only accessible by two means -- helicopter and train. The train ride was an experience in itself, with 3 hours and 20 minutes of stunning scenery. Along the way, we saw checkerboard fields of potatoes, barley, and corn. Once we arrived at the Machu Picchu train station, we were bused the last 2,000 ft. to the top of the mountain and the site of the ancient Inca city (right). |  |
Chairs for the day:
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The Inca civilization was one of the world's most sophisticated Indian
societies. At Machu Picchu we learned of Inca engineering sophistication: Can you believe
they built the entire city by hand! Like many of today's modern architects, the Incas used
the existing landscape as a foundation for many of their structures. The main temple, for
example, is built on a solid foundation of granite, with each building block cut to
precisely fit the existing boulder. Water for ancient civilizations oftentimes determined feast or famine. At Machu Picchu, the Incas used water from a natural spring, which was gravity fed into a channel constructed of rock for irrigating fields and for human and livestock consumption. |
| The sophisticated terraces built there allowed the 1000 residents to
produce more than enough food for their own consumption. Main crops were corn and
potatoes. Inca religious practices centered on the sun: source of food and, thus, life. Most buildings are oriented with windows to the east to allow the life-giving rays of the sun to enter. |
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| Offerings to the gods were an important part of their religious ceremony.
At times the Incas offered their most precious gift to the gods: humans.The spiritual
center of Machu Picchu is a set of carved rocks with one corner set precisely to the
magnetic north, a sign of their scientific and astronomical sophistication. When the sun
shines overhead during the mid-day, there will be no shadows on the spiritual rock. For many in the group, Machu Picchu's power lay in studying the site's architecture. For others, the power lay in the setting of Machu Picchu and its surroundings--towering 10,000-foot-tall mountains covered with green vegetation and partly exposed granite precipices. For everyone, the visit to Machu Picchu was a day that will be forever embedded in our memories. After leaving Machu Picchu by train, we proceeded to Ollantaytambo, where we boarded a bus and traveled the beautiful "sacred valley" to the small village of Yukay. We meet there with the staff from the International Potato Center. |
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