Peru -- Post 5

Besides Machu Picchu, I also got to tour the Sacred Valley near Cusco and had a free day to explore Cusco itself. We went to see some streets where foundations of buildings were actually Inca building. We also visited Museum of Pre-Colombia, which had some interesting artifacts. By the way, did you know that Peru is in dispute with Yale University over artifacts that were taken out of Machu Picchu? It appears that Peruvian government is set to sue Yale to recover appoximately 45,000 relics taken out of Machu Picchu to Yale according to this article.


Walk down a street in Cusco where you can see Inca foundation for buildings.

At the Pre-Columbian Museum, I really wanted to take these staffs. Too cool!

Or how about these necklaces out of seashells?

We checked out Los Perros, which is apparently a hang-out for a lot of tourists according to the Frommers Guidebook.


Inside Los Perros. The couches were awesome.

Peru and Machu Picchu -- Post 4

You didn't think I was done with pictures, did you? ;) Here are some more pictures:

Machu Picchu had pretty good irrigation system. This is just one tiny example of where water could've flown.


Steps going up part of Machu Picchu. I was very exhausted... apparently, I need to be in better shape!


I made it a goal to reach the thatched house at the top of Machu Picchu sanctuary ruins. Once we got there, we saw lots of llamas just grazing about.


Apparently, these llamas know how to use steps to get from one level to the next!


Picture of Machu Picchu from the thatched house...

From the window of thatched house. Pretty nice view to wake up to if you lived there. ;)


These nuns had the best spot -- shades and best vantage point of Machu Picchu from the side of the thatched house.

Inca steps/stones jutted out as stairs so that you can go from one layered terrace to the next. My cousin went up those steps.
My cousin jumping. =)

So across from the thatched house, there are terraces and this is the top terrace. On a whim, I decided to do some carwheels down this nice patch of grass and run up and down. I think my cousin took pictures of me cartwheeling... hee hee.

That's Machu Picchu and Wainapicchu. You can see it's sitting at the mountain top. It's a pretty steep drop down if you fall...

Irrigation system that's on the terraces to water crops.


A "street" between houses and buildings in Machu Picchu.

Water started flowing through the waterway in the afternoon.

And you could see how the water flowed from one level to the next and to wells.


The last parting shot of Machu Picchu before leaving.

Peru and Machu Picchu -- Post 3 (Tips)

Machu Picchu is inspiring. Some random tips:

1) It is high altitude, so see your doctor before leaving about getting prescription medicine to help you not get any altitude sickness. My drug was Acetazolamide (250 mg, took 3 times a day). It helps the blood flow.

2) There is only one bus company that runs from Machu Picchu to Agua Caliente (village that’s at the foot of the mountain). Once you are up at Machu Picchu, there’s only one really expensive restaurant to eat for lunch and supposedly you cannot take food in (there’s a storage locker). But if you don’t want to spend gobs of money on food or waste time by coming down from Machu Picchu by bus for lunch at Agua Caliente, then you should pack your lunch so you can spend as much time in Machu Picchu. When i was standing in line at 5:00 am for the first bus to go up to Machu Picchu, there were ladies selling bottled water and sandwiches (4 soles… that’s like $1.33). Buy those. I planned ahead and bought sandwiches the night before… but they got all soggy. If I knew there would be folks selling stuff as we were waiting for the bus, I wouldn’t have bought anything for lunch.

3) Take anything and everything you take into Machu Picchu out with you. It needs to be preserved, not wasted.

4) Right outside the “condor room,” there are little cracks where rabbits live… it’s kinda cool to see. This is the picture...

5) If you get into Agua Caliente early and spend a night there, then you could probably go see Machu Picchu twice. Do that if you can.

6) I went during the start of the rainy season (early November 2008). It didn’t really rain but it was hot. It’s hotter at Machu Picchu than at cusco (the major city most tourists will go through to get to Machu Picchu). Then it gets cold at night. By hot, I mean like high 70’s to 80 F. Wear light hiking boots, pants, and jacket. The steps can be steep and you’ll get a good workout, even without gorgeous weather.

7) There’s no restroom once you enter Machu Picchu. There is one right before you enter, but you need to pay 1 sole (so bring some change). You might as well go before entering because it sucks to go back to the entrance for bathroom and then go back in.

8) Take the time to enjoy the view of Machu Picchu… it’s quite amazing. =)

Peru and Machu Picchu -- Post 2

Continuing with my pictures from Peru and Machu Picchu:

That's Wainapichu (sp?) where the sun is shining. It's supposedly 1.5 hour hike... which my cousin and I did not do. What can I say? I'm weak.

Machu Picchu against the backdrop of Wainapichu.

That's my cousin and me!


The terraces were used for farming and agriculture. They are layered terraces so that there wouldn't be erosion problem.


Condor room. On the ground is the condor (beak and face) and 2 slanted rocks represent the wings.

The tour guide explained that Inca Indians built (and this is true of other Inca buildings, not just Machu Picchu) buildings, windows, and doors in trapezoidal shape so that they can withstand earthquakes. This is just an example.

Machu Picchu is built on mountain top. It's incredibly high up. The sides are terraces where Inca Indians farmed. At the top, there are houses and schoolhouses. And in the middle, was this big field.

An example of Inca Indians' incredible engineering.

Machu Picchu with mountains surrounding it.

I have way too many more pictures to post. But I'm getting sleepy (because apparently, I'm still jet lagged!). I posted tips about Machu Picchu at 43places.com. I will repost here in another post. Then I'm going to sleep and hope that this work week won't kill me.

Peru and Machu Picchu -- Post 1

I came back from Peru and am catching up on sleep, email, news, etc. It was a one-week trip basically to see Machu Picchu and other Inca ruin sites with my cousin from New York. To see Inca's impressive, avant-garde civil engineering, against Spaniards' inferior building designs, was breathtaking.

I left on the election night and almost all tourists I met from all over the world asked about how we thought of the new President. Almost everyone expressed enthusiasm and joy (except for American tourists from Montana and Arizona) that Obama was elected as our new President. It was surprising how much the rest of the world took interest in American politics.

Anyway, here are some pictures from Peru vacation (although I'm pretty sure my cousin took much better ones!). Because I took over 300 pictures, I'm going to post only what I think are the best and in multiple posts. =)

We flew into Lima, Peru and then flew to Cusco, Peru the next day. On our flight from Lima to Cusco, Taca quite unexpectedly upgraded us to business class! This is my cousin, Gene, in our new upgraded seat. =)


From Lima to Cusco, we flew over Andes Mountain, covered in snow.

A hole in the wall near our hotel in Cusco, that served soup and entre for 4 soles. That's $1.33. No joke.


This was the soup... which was really good. Kinda brothy.
Cusco and Machu Picchu are at really high elevation. To combat that, I got prescription drugs and like the locals, drank coca tea.

One of the Inca site I visited in Cusco. That's our guide. Yes, the stones are really that big. And Incas somehow made them all fit! This is part of Sacsahwaman. Can you see Llama/Puma by the way stones are set right by our guide?

Sacsahwaman is a long snaking walls/fortress.


Apparently, Inca Indians were very much aware of earthquakes. So they built all their buildings in trapezoidal shape so that the buildings can withstand earthquakes. All the windows and doors are also built in trapezoidal shape.

Cusco valley from the top of Sacsahwaman.

Ollytomba -- part of the Sacred Valley which is just outside of Cusco.

It was 24 stories high. A lot of steps in high altitude!
Another example of how Inca built their buildings with stones that somehow fitted together so well!


This is the train track at Agua Caliente, the town at the foot of Machu Picchu. It's about 4 hour train ride from Cusco to Agua Caliente. Agua Caliente is pretty small (but full of restaurants and souvenir shops), and there are no taxis. Everyone has to walk. There is only one bus company that transport folks from Agua Caliente to Machu Picchu, which is about 35-45 minute ride. It starts going up at 5:30 am and last one down to Agua Caliente from Machu Picchu is at 5:30 pm.

Our tour of Machu Picchu began with taking the first bus -- 5:30 am. As we approached the top, sunlight began to shine on Machu Picchu.

Bankruptcy and Hiatus

It's been a while since I last posted. As a bankruptcy attorney, I've been very very busy... which doesn't bode well for the general economy. But I am about to take a vacation and hopefully, when I return, I'll have some cool pictures of Machu Picchu to post. =)