Machu Picchu

Alright a few weeks ago we traveled to Peru and more specifically Cusco and Machu Picchu. Out of the four major school trips ACA took us on, Mach Picchu was the one I had been the most anxious for. Machu Picchu is just simply amazing. There's really no words that can describe it. I have a bunch of pictures so hopefully I can get them all to load up on here with our super-duper slow internet. This is Plaza Mayor, the centerpiece of Lima, Peru.The Lima Cathedral.Monastery of San Francisco. This place was awesome. This place still remains today a running monastery. Inside are catacombs and a library with 500 year old books.Sorry for the blurry image. This is the library inside the Monastery. On the right you can see a giant book. It is actually a very old hymnal of Gregorian chants (you can see the blockish notes). This is undoubtedly the oldest piece of music I have seen to date--surpassing even anything from the Baroque era. When I was standing in front of it (an amazing feeling) I hummed a few of the melodies in my head. Scholars believe these eight-modal chants, composed by monks, to be the basis of classical music and everything that has come after it.A hillside overlooking Lima. You can see the many colorful houses of a poor urban sector. Above is the flag of Peru painted into the landscape.Getting to Machu Picchu you have to take a train from Cusco. Mind you this is already at 10,800 feet. This is overlooking one of the neighborhoods perched on the surrounding hills.
A nifty view of Putucusi Mountain, a neighboring mountain of Machu Picchu.Need I say more?These were super cool. You'd find these crafty staircases all over the place. This is how the Incas would climb from one terrace to another.A closer shot of the Western and Eastern Urban Sectors. You can see the rock quarry in the far left.This is The Terrace of the Ceremonial Rock. Ritually significant river rocks are found all over the place. This section was roped-off.A view looking down from The Terrace of the Ceremonial Rock.And here is the Ceremonial Rock. Sacrifices? No one really knows for sure.This is how the Incas did their farming.The Western Urban Sector. Royalty stayed in the higher part while lower classes stayed in the lower part. The Incas related their social ladder with the condor, jaguar, and snake. The highest class of people were represented by the condor, etc. The snake, being the lowest to the ground, was represented by the lowest classes.View from the Western Sector looking towards the Eastern.

An example of Inca genius.

Temple of the Three Windows with enormous polygonal stones, which looks down on the Main Plaza.

East wall of the Principal Temple settled during Inca times.

The river below.

A better shot of the Eastern Urban Sector.Flying over the Andes on our way back to Buenos Aires.