Pinnacles of Granite
Two things escaped me about Machupicchu. First, I never realized how green and lush the area would be. I´m thinking 2500 meter altitude and that´s above the treeline. Not so around the equator and Machupicchu is full of tropical and montane flora. Second, I thought the ruins would be the main draw, but I found the setting with mammoth granite peaks surrounding the site to be the most appealing part of Machupicchu. I absolutely love how the ruins seem part of those pinnacles being that they are from the same stone. I am sure most of my best photos are the ones framing the ruins with the surrounding peaks. I found myself staring at the fog/cloud enshrouded mountains and the valley floors circling them more than the actual ruins. I climbed halfway up Montana Machupicchu today after finding the trail to Inca Bridge closed and was in awe of the views back down to the ruins and across to Waynapicchu where I hiked up yesterday. This is by far the best location for photos. I put my macro lens on before descending and ended up crawling most of the trail taking photos of the little world surrounding including ferns, moss and flowers. My head was so full of the big scene and this helped me get back to planet earth. I am amazed how different the world becomes when I put that lens on and start seeing things in macro mode. It makes me realize again how infinite the world is in the microscopic manner just as it is in the universal manner. I got back to the ruins and decided to hang near the hordes and see the rest of it before leaving. In a world of cattle and sheep, you can still find your own private niches and I work on this almost daily especially here on the gringo trail. I have photo after photo that makes it look like I was the only person there today and I would say that was basically my experience. Me and my own little world on Machupicchu. The train ride back to Cusco was stellar. It is the best train ride I have ever taken. As we climbed from Aguas Callientes to Cusco, the countryside changed from lush jungle to almost desert to high plains farms. We arrived in Cusco at night and the city was lit up beautifully especially the cathedrals around Plaza de Armes. I am quite positive I just visited one of the greatest achievements by humans and one of the greatest landscapes on our planet. I am quite excited to spend more time in this wonderful country of Peru.
Tags: machupicchu, peru, south america, Travel
vagabondrick
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