Maccu Pichu (or what is Old Peak)

So we finally got to Aguas Clientes and drained of energy we crashed into our beds for bit of a "nanna nap", waking up later that night to get a bite to eat and some more bottled water. It was also here where we bid adieu to our guide, Rudy, the Mountain Man.

The next morning, another guide came to collect us for the Maccu Pichu tour so we jumped on a bus for a quick 15-20 minute trip up to the ruins. We soon realised why Maccu Pichu is so popular with the tourists...its a perfect postcard location. Beautifully (but tastefully) restored, there are no tacky souvenir shops or toliet blocks in the city itself (these can be found at the entry below the city =P) and it really was amazing how complete the city was compared to the city we saw at the start of the trek.

Maccu Pichu according to our very informative guide actually means Old Peak, a name given by the western founder of the ruins (i.e. the ruins had been discovered by a local man but no one believed him), a Yale professor called Hiram Bingham in 1911 after he asked a local what the city was called. The local didn't know himself, as the city was previously lost and the Inca language has no written form, and told Prof. Bingham what they called the area - Old Peak. Also next to the city is a smaller mountain called Huaynapicchu (or Young Peak) which tourist can climb the inca trails up. We didn't do this as the PJWT energy levels were being tested just walking around the city.

After we finished snapping a ton of photos at Maccu Pichu we left before the main wave of tourists came, heading back to Aguas Clientes to bum around for a few hours while we waited for the train to take us back to Sacred Valley and then on a minibus (not the back of a truck AND with seats!!) for a few hours back to Cusco.


The main square of Aguas Clientes


Money shot of Maccu Picchu


Your favourite PJWT explorers!


One of the local llamas who happened to be a huge poser for the camera. Photographer chose to remain a safe distance from this animal following the lessons learnt dealing with evil little monkeys.


Precision stonework using expanding wet wood at small intervals to create extremely straight splits, followed by very patient grinding of the blocks for an even smoother finish.


A type of sun dial used to measure seasons for planting and harvesting.


Way up to Huaynapicchu