Other than crazy scenery and big mountains there's a lot of old stuff to look at in this part of the world. Most cities and towns have very old Spanish Churches, but there are also older buildings/ruins that are from Inca times and before.
There are many websites that give much more and better information than I could about the Incas, so I will just stick to pictures a few things that I found interesting.
You may see that not only are some of the stones used huge, there is no mortar between them. Pretty impressive to build in this way and it last so long. The picture on the left is a temple at Machu Picchu.
The Incas were smart in many ways, and all over the place there are waterways to irrigate the terraces for growing plants, and to move and save water. Pretty advanced when you consider how much water is wasted in many places these days.
Some of the buildings used existing rocks, and are perched in seemingly impossible places.
Some of the buildings used existing rocks, and are perched in seemingly impossible places.
The most impressive of all the ruins was the world-famous city of Machu Picchu. The location is incredible, perched on steep mountains in a remote area. The ruins were only rediscovered 101 years ago by some locals and an American explorer (8DB might remember we had a quiz question about that on the 100 year anniversary).
I walked up Huayna Picchu, the mountain in the background. Very tiring, but I must have acclimatised a bit to the altitude because it didn't seem as bad as previous walks, despite being hundreds of very steep steps.
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