Machu Picchu Peru View VI

Another good view.

Machu Picchu Peru View V

This view shows the river that is below Machu Picchu. I’m not sure how far below me the river was in this shot but I do know that there was no way I wanted to fall that far, One of the things that gives Machu Picchu such an impact on a person’s psyche is that it is so disorienting in terms of how high it is relative to the river below it that surrounds the site on three sides. It is also lower than the surrounding mountains on the other side of the river. I was constantly being reminded of the spatial disorientation that the site produces. Plus, I was always worried about tripping or falling on the stone walkways or stairs. Every time I went somewhere that the Incas had established a serious presence I was impressed by how they liked to live adjacent to high precipices that I found disorienting.

Machu Picchu Peru View I

Here we see another view of the river from another section of Machu Picchu. This view must have been a little later in the day as it’s much clearer. Yes, it’s still quite a drop no matter what time of day it is.

Machu Picchu Peru View II

Here is the best shot I got of the classic Machu Picchu view. I went there wondering if I was going to get to be able to return with one of those great shots that I’ve seen. While I know it’s just a snapshot I felt I got lucky and captured some of the essence of the place. If you look at the original size, you can get a lot more detail.

Machu Picchu Peru View III

Another snapshot of the class view.

Machu Picchu Peru View IV

Another shot of the classic view. I was told that many people go there for only a few hours, arriving around 10 AM and leaving sometime after 2 PM . The site opened at 6 AM and closes at 5 PM. It cost about $47 to get in for one day. I don’t know if they have multi-day passes, but I doubt it. I could imagine going to see the site for more than one day, but I think that one day is what most people devote to the site and I think they rarely have regrets that they didn’t go another day. The place really isn’t as large as a person might imagine and the potential visit is 11 hours. I was done and satisfied after about 8 hours.