Machu Picchu

We go from the beautiful Inkaterra Orchid garden to Machu Picchu. I mentioned in my last post that I admired and envied the hikers on the trail alongside the train.

Hikers following the trail of Hiram Bingham 

The route they're hiking is the same trail taken by the first person to see Machu Picchu after about four hundred years. That was Hiram Bingham in 1911.

A little history review

The Spanish made Manco Inca their puppet leader in about 1533.  He rebelled and eventually fled into the forest, continuing his fight from Vilcabamba. Ultimately, the Spanish conquered the Inca and destroyed Vilcabamba. But they never found Machu Picchu.

  

It’s possible Quechua Indians spoke of Machu Picchu to some 19th century explorers, but for the most part, it was a site abandoned by the original Inca inhabitants and unknown to conquerors. Because it was basically uninhabited for almost 400 years, Machu Picchu did not endure changes, pillage, or destruction--an amazing piece of history remained intact. 

   

Fast forward to the early 20^th century when Hiram Bingham was a professor of Latin American history at Yale. In 1911, he went to Peru to look for Vilcabamba. He found Machu Picchu. Still amazing.

First View

Glacial Sculpting 

Bingham’s first view would have been what the hikers see. The entry point for non-hikers is a little different. And still stunning.

First View of Machu Picchu

First View  of Machu Picchu- zooming in

Bingham returned two more times between 1911 and 1915 (always believing he’d found Vilcabamba).*

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* In 1964, American explorer Gene Savoy, discovered Vilcabamba.

The Breathtaking Beauty of Orchids

From Ollantaytamba we go to the neighboring town of Urubamba and our hotel, Sol y Luna.  Tomorrow we’ll take the train to Machu Picchu. Tonight we enjoy an elegant meal in the main lodge and the beauty of the hotel’s adobe, wood, and stone bungalows with private outdoor porches, surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens.   

Sol y Luna bungalow

From our early morning train to Machu Picchu we see hikers en route to the same destination. In a way, I envy them.  I certainly admire them.  But we've been traveling for a while (starting with the Galapagos oh-so-long-ago)-- the train is good.

Hikers on the trail to Machu Picchu

When we get off the train, Rosa suggests that we will avoid the hectic and crowded early-morning entry rush to Machu Picchu if we take time to visit a nearby garden, where she has arranged a private tour. We’ve come to trust her judgement, so our first stop is the stunning Inkaterra orchid garden.   

  

Amazing orchids.  

   

Paphiopedilum hybrid ?

I’ve had the opportunity to talk with someone on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Orchid Society (MOS) who helped me appreciate these beautiful flowers.  
  

Orchids are one of the most diverse plants on Earth. There are about 25,000 species and they live on every continent except Antarctica. 

Most orchids are epiphytes, anchored to other plants, like trees. They take nothing from the host plants, they just hang there.  

Bird of Paradise

One orchid seed pod can hold a million microscopic seeds. The seeds need a fungus that will feed them with sugars-- not hard to find in the jungle here.

Inkaterra Orchids

I used to think of orchids as small, beautiful flowering plants I could get in the supermarket. Two things wrong with that thinking.  

    

It wasn’t until the 1960s that growers learned they could use agar to provide the nutrients necessary for orchid seeds to germinate. Before that, the flowers were not easily available, and certainly not in supermarkets.

And then there was that idea that all these plants are small. Below our guide is talking to us about the elephant leaf orchid. That is the leaf, there, about the size of his torso. Nope, not small.

         Orchid guide showing us elephant leaf orchid

I do not know my orchids very well; I’ve ‘named’ a few that I remember from our guide’s information (although I confess I'm not certain about the names). I welcome input and feedback from readers.

Dragonface Orchid

 

                       

     

This early morning ‘side-trip’ has been a great start to the day.  And now…. Machu Picchu.

Thanks to Mike Badia of the Massachusetts Orchid Society (MOS)  https://www.massorchid.org for his valuable information.

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Next:  Machu Picchu 

Ollantaytambo

Pachacutec conquered and rebuilt Ollantaytambo to serve as a home for nobility.  

  
In the time of the Inca empire, this city controlled the roads leading to and from the jungle. We walk through a 'residential' area of Ollantaytambo, heading to the hillsides. Many of the people we see are in colorful Inca attire. I couldn’t resist this adorable lamb...keeping his owner company. Behind her, you can see the  mountainside, sculpted to create levels for farming.

We make our way to the hillside. Once again we see the hallmark terraces that are the product of Inca engineering, making the land suitable for cultivation, making treacherously steep mountains navigable, and helping manage the flow of water.

In Ollantaytambo, the plateau walls are a little higher than the terraces of other Inca farm areas, and the stones cut with greater precision to fit more closely together. This was, after all, the home to the emperor.

The structure and rock assemblies in the mountainsides also helped defend the community. In the photo below you see Linda and our guide, Rosa in a rocky area that was designed for protection from intruders, not for farming.

The people, the city, and the engineering continue to impress me, although I am no longer stunned by the ingenuity or creativity  

  

Then we see this:

I'm back to being stunned.

  

That is the face of Viracocha, carved into the mountain overlooking Ollantaytambo. He was the Inca's chief god, who created all the other Inca deities and all living things.*  The head, over 440 high, is protecting a grain storage structure.

Grain storage

Another example of Inca engineering. The Pinkuylluna grain storehouse above was most likely the work of Pachacutec.  Built high into the mountain, the storage not only helped preserve the grain and also protect it in case of attack.  

* I’ve also found the name Tunupa linked to the carving; some sources say that’s just an alternate name for Viracocha, some say Tunupa was another Inca god.  

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