Catt-Trax 2 - Machu Picchu http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/taxonomy/term/47/0 en January 7, 2007 – Machu Picchu to Cusco – The Case of the Disappearing Camera http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/268 <p style="text-align: center"><strong><img class="image preview" src="/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0610.jpg" alt="Machu Picchu at Dawn" title="Machu Picchu at Dawn" width="500" height="336" /><br />Machu Picchu at Dawn</strong></p><p>I was up at 5am to see if I could get up to Machu Picchu to watch the sun rise… but alas, when I stepped outside and looked up at the peaks above Aguas Calientes the clouds were thick and it was raining heavily. Weather changes though so I decided to make my way up to the site in hopes that the skies would clear. </p><p>The fog was thick when I got to the first viewpoint but it was warm and I was comfortable. It is not often you can relax and spend time taking in such a special place so I decided to plop myself down and just take it all in for awhile.</p><div style="padding: 3px; float: left; text-align: center"><img class="image preview" src="/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0512.JPG" width="211" height="158" /><br /><span style="width: 198px" class="caption"><strong>Thick Morning Fog</strong></span></div><p>It was a quiet, calming experience … at least for an hour or so… until the groups of trekkers from the Inca Trail started to arrive. Because of the huge demand to hike the trail, and the damage and overcrowding that was occurring, independent trekking was banned in 2001 and in 2002 new rules were put in place to regulate trail use. </p><p>Rules include:<br />- trail hikers must trek with a registered guide<br />- group size is limited to 16, with one guide per 10 hikers<br />- and no more than 500 hikers are permitted to start the trek each day</p><div style="padding: 3px; float: left; text-align: center"><img class="image img_assist_custom" src="/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0526.img_assist_custom.jpg" alt="Hikers on the Inca Trail Arriving at Machu Picchu" title="Hikers on the Inca Trail Arriving at Machu Picchu" width="214" height="172" /><br /><span style="width: 198px" class="caption"><strong>Hikers on the Inca Trail Arriving at Machu Picchu</strong></span> </div><p>It takes 4 days to do the Inca Trail so there are at any one time (in the height of the busy season from May to August) as many as 2000 hikers doing the trek. Other popular hiking and trekking areas have had to put visitor management strategies in place. In British Columbia for example, if you want to hike the West Coast Trail in Pacific Rim National Park on Vancouver Island, spots are limited so you must pay a fee and book a spot far in advance. The Bowron Lake chain (a very popular canoeing circuit in BC) in Bowron Lake Provincial Park is another example where high demand has necessitated a visitor management strategy.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>At Machu Picchu though it certainly makes sense. Not only is it the highest profile archaeological site in South America, it is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site which means it has international significance. If you want to learn more about World Heritage Sites you can check out the UNESCO website at: <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/">http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/</a></p><p>Here are a few questions for BCIT FWR students to ponder:<br />1. What does UNESCO stand for?<br />2. How many World Heritage Sites does Canada have?<br />3. Do we have a World Heritage Site in British Columbia? If so, what are they (or what is it)?</p><p>You can find the answers at the above website, or you can click on a page on the Parks Canada website which also has the information:<br /><a href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/progs/spm-whs/itm2-/site13_E.asp">http://www.pc.gc.ca/progs/spm-whs/itm2-/site13_E.asp</a> </p><p>The fog eventually lifted and I was treated once again to sunshine and great views of the site. I decided to climb to the top of the peak in behind Machu Picchu, called Huayna Picchu. It is steep… and on a hot day can take a lot out of you… but the view from the top is certainly worth the effort!</p><p>I was planning on putting a short video clip here… so keep your eyes on this spot. I am still learning the editing process, so it may take me a bit of time.</p><p><strong>Train Back to Cusco</strong></p><p>I made it down to Aguas Calientes in time to board my train to Cusco. Peru is an amazing country with diverse landscapes and wildlife, outstanding archaeological sites, and very friendly people but one of the things that the guidebooks tell you is that some partsof Peru are not always safe and to be careful with your property at all times. Lima in particular is famous for robbery and tourists of course are a prime target. Friends back home reminded me to keep my belongings hidden as best as possible but when you have an armful of camera gear it can be tough. I keep a number of key items in my LowePro padded hip pack and I also have an old ratty day pack that I put my camera stuff in when I am traveling in an area that may not be 100% safe. </p><p>The views from the train on the way back were as fabulous as those heading towards Machu Picchu. This time though I was going all the way back to Cusco. The train arrived in the outskirts of the city after dark which meant that we could get a wonderful panoramic view of the city at night. In fact due to the steep topography the train has to zigzag its way down into the city train station. This meant that we had the great view of the city for close to half an hour as the train moved slowly downward back and forth, back an forth. I was tempted to try to take a photo of the city with the churches all lit up by floodlights, but the train was moving, the light was way too low, and there was a train window to deal with (you can occasionally get some very nice photos shooting directly through glass… but in this case it would not have worked). So… I decided to just take in the sights and store them in my memory banks rather than on film (or a digital sensor in this case). But… a young traveler decided to offer to take a picture for his female travel companion and as the train zigzagged its way past a perfect view location he slid open the small window above the main window and stuck his friend’s camera outside to avoid the reflection of the glass. And then it happened. In a split second, a body leapt up from beside the tracks and grabbed the camera from his hand. A camera that was not even his! </p><p>The thieves must wait outside in the dark, poised and ready for that one opportunity. From outside the train they can see the passengers inside (as the train car is lit up with lights) but the passengers cannot see much of anything outside… just black, other than the lights that light up the city. I have no idea how often this camera-stealing system works… but in this case it did… and a $500 camera was gone in a flash. One of the train staff did say that it has happened a few times before. Lesson for the day? Keep your camera inside a moving train! <br /></p> http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/268#comment Cusco Equipment Machu Picchu Peru Peru Train Wed, 17 Jan 2007 11:54:57 -0800 Danny Catt 268 at http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2 Machu Picchu at Dawn http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/266 <img src="http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0648.jpg" alt="Machu Picchu at Dawn" title="Machu Picchu at Dawn" width="" height="" class="image preview" /> http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/266#comment Machu Picchu Peru Wed, 17 Jan 2007 11:48:10 -0800 Danny Catt 266 at http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2 The Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/252 <img src="http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0442.jpg" alt="The Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu" title="The Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu" width="500" height="336" class="image preview" /> http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/252#comment Andes Machu Picchu Peru Mon, 15 Jan 2007 07:31:51 -0800 Danny Catt 252 at http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2 January 6, 2007 – Machu Picchu http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/blog/danny_catt/251 <div align="center" style="text-align: center"><img class="image preview" src="/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0442.jpg" alt="The Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu" title="The Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu" width="500" height="336" /><br /><span class="caption"><strong>The Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu</strong></span></div><p>For many visitors to South America, one of their primary goals is to visit the Lost City of the Incas – also known as Machu Picchu. I too was very keen to see the hidden city perched high amongst the Andean cloud forest and so I ensured I gave myself a day or two to visit South America’s most famous archaeological site. I am not much of an historian, so I was a little surprised to learn that the Incan Empire was relatively short-lived (about 1440 to 1532) and also in a time period more recent than I had imagined. Being a curious sort… I wanted to find out what else was happening on the planet when the Incas were in their prime so I did a bit of research. Some key world events that occurred during the height of the Incan Empire in South America include the following (selected from the World History website at <a href="http://timelines.ws/">http://timelines.ws</a>):</p><p>c1440: Leif Eriksson drew a map of America about this time.</p><p>1451: Christopher Columbus, was born in Genoa.</p><p>1452: Apr 15, Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, scientist and visionary, was born in Vinci near Florence.</p><p>1457: King James II of Scotland (James of the Fiery Face) banned &quot;Futeball&quot; on the grounds that it threatened national defense by drawing young men away from archery practice. He banned &quot;Golfe&quot; for the same reason.</p><p>1460-1470: Machu Pichu was built under the Inca King Pachacuti in the Peruvian Andes. It was occupied for about 50 years before 180 Spanish conquistadors wiped out a 40,000-man Inca army.</p><p>c1470: The Quechua-speaking Incas came to dominate what is now Bolivia a mere 75 years before the Spaniards arrived.</p><p>1473: The astronomer Copernicus (1473-1543) was born in Torun, Poland. It was Copernicus who spread the theory that the earth and the planets move around the sun (a very new and controversial idea at that time).</p><p>1473: The game of golf was played in Scotland at the old course at St. Andrews.</p><p>1475: British fishermen lost access to fishing grounds off Iceland due to a war in Europe. The cod catch did not go down and it is presumed that they had discovered the cod-rich waters off Newfoundland, whose discovery was later attributed to John Cabot.</p><p>1480: The Spanish Inquisition was introduced by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.</p><p>1491: Henry VIII, King of England (1509-1547) and founder of the Church of England, was born at Greenwich.</p><p>1492: Christopher Columbus, set sail from the port of Palos, in southern Spain and headed for Cipangu, i.e. Japan. The voyage took him to the present-day Americas. His squadron consisted of three small ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Nina.</p><p>1492: Nov 15, Christopher Columbus noted the 1st recorded reference to tobacco.</p><p>1492: Leonardo da Vinci drew a flying machine.</p><p>1493: Jan 9, Christopher Columbus 1st sighted manatees.</p><p>1494: The earliest report of Scots making whiskey was made.</p><p>c1495: The 500-year-old body of a young Inca girl was found frozen near the summit of Mt. Ampato, Peru, by American archeologist Johan Reinhard in 1995. </p><p>1495-1498: Leonardo da Vinci worked on &quot;The Last Supper&quot; in Milan under commission for Duke Ludovico Sforza.</p><p>1496: English King Henry VII hired John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) to explore.</p><p>1496-1497: Michelangelo sculpted &quot;Bacchus,&quot; considered his first masterpiece.</p><p>1497: Jun 24, Italian explorer John Cabot (1450-1498?), (aka Giovanni Caboto), on a voyage for England, landed in North America on what is now Newfoundland or the northern Cape Breton Island in Canada. He claimed the new land for King Henry VII. He documented the abundance of fish off the Grand Banks from Cape Cod to Labrador.</p><p>1497: In Scotland the Declaration of Education Act required children to go to school.</p><p>1498: Toothbrush was invented. In China the first toothbrushes with hog bristles began to show up. Hog bristle brushes remained the best until the invention of nylon.</p><p>1503: Leonardo Da Vinci began painting the &quot;Mona Lisa.&quot;</p><p>1509: Henry VIII was crowned king of England.</p><p>1510: Sunflowers from America were introduced by the Spaniards into Europe.</p><p>1512: Michelangelo&#39;s paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were completed and first exhibited to the public.</p><p>1512: Newfoundland cod banks were exploited by fisherman from England, France, Portugal and Holland, who sent the dried catch back to Europe.</p><p>1515: Spanish conquistadores founded Havana, Cuba.</p><p>1516: The first published account of the discovery of North America appeared in &quot;De Rebus Oceanicus et Novo Orbe&quot; by the Italian historian Peter Martyr.</p><p>1520: Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean after passing through the South American strait, the straits of Magellan and entered the &quot;Sea of the South.&quot; He was first European explorer to reach the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic by sailing through the dangerous straits below South America that now bear his name.</p><p>1523: Sugar was grown in Cuba for the first time.</p><p>1531: Haley’s comet caused panic in many parts of the world.</p><p>1532: Spanish conquistadores reached the high valley of the Andes. Pizzaro entered Cuzco, Inca capital of Peru.</p><p>1534: Jacques Cartier reached Newfoundland, discovered Prince Edward island and became the first man to sail into the mouth of the St. Lawrence River.</p><p>So while Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were creating masterpieces in Europe, and Scots were sipping on whiskey while playing a round of golf at St. Andrews and while explorers such as Christopher Columbus and John Cabot were exploring new worlds, the Inca were expanding their South American empire. From their main stronghold at present day Cusco (also spelled Cuzco) the Inca built trails that connected their Andean centres north through Ecuador to Colombia, south to Chile and Argentina, westward to the Pacific Ocean and eastward into the jungles of no return – the mighty Amazon basin. And yet, with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, the less than 100 year dominance of the Incas… ended quickly. On August 28, 1533, Atahualpa, the last of the Inca rulers was executed by order of Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro. The Inca empire died with him.</p><p style="text-align: center"><img class="image preview" src="/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0009.JPG" alt="Cusco to Machu Picchu Train" title="Cusco to Machu Picchu Train" width="500" height="336" /><br /><span class="caption"><strong>Cusco to Machu Picchu Train</strong></span></p><p>From Ollantaytambo, I joined one of the three or four daily trains that connect Cusco with Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu. It was an amazing ride on a comfortable modern train (filled with tourists… not just from outside Peru, but with many Peruvians as well!). The train followed the valley of the Urubamba River and as we got closer to Machu Picchu the landscape changed with every curve of the tracks… the patterned patch-work of agricultural lands were slowly replaced by spectacular native forest on the steep valley walls. I even caught glimpses of small flocks of parrots cruising above the canopy as well as ducks in the river (likely torrent ducks). The mighty Urubamba was raging which just emphasized again that during the wet season it is not to be messed with! </p><p align="center"><img class="image preview" src="/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0040_DCatt.jpg" alt="Steep Valley Walls of the Urubamba River" title="Steep Valley Walls of the Urubamba River" width="500" height="335" /><span style="width: 498px" class="caption"><strong><br />Steep Valley Walls of the Urubamba River</strong></span></p><p>With a full train of tourists and at least two other full train loads of tourists already in Aguas Calientes ahead of me… as well as hundreds of hikers arriving at Macchu Pichu via the Inca Trail each day, I was quite curious to experience how the logistics worked for the actual visit to the archaeological site because the number of visitors per day is staggering… over 2000 people per day! </p><p>When the train pulled in to Aguas Calientes there was a chaotic yet somewhat organized process to get yourself from the train station and onto a bus up to Machu Picchu. The best thing to do is simply follow everyone else. Once you leave the station, there are a couple of dozen ‘hostal or hotel’ representatives waiting for your luggage (which you entrust to them) and continue en masse along the cattle track (ensuring to hang on tight to your camera gear). You then make your way through a maze of trinket and textile sellers to get on one of the non-stop busses that weave their way up the 8 km of road uphill to the site. I had not done much research and was worried that I might miss ‘my bus’… but alas, that is not an issue. Each bus leaves when full, and you simply get in line, show your ticket and away you go. At the top of the switch-backed road you get off and wait to hear your name being called (if you booked a tour) and then get in line with the other folks and your guide takes over from there. If you go without a guide you may miss some of the fascinating history of Machu Picchu unless of course you bring a field guide along with you (and there are many of those… so you can make your choice accordingly).</p><p>I had the good fortune of seeing Machu Picchu in rain, sun and fog. It is a place you just have to see for yourself.</p><p align="center"><img class="image preview" src="/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0077.JPG" alt="Machu Picchu in Rain" title="Machu Picchu in Rain" width="500" height="336" /><span style="width: 498px" class="caption"><strong><br />Machu Picchu in Rain</strong></span></p><p style="text-align: center" align="center"><img class="image preview" src="/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0417.jpg" alt="Machu Picchu in Sun" title="Machu Picchu in Sun" width="336" height="500" /><strong><br />Machu Picchu in Sun</strong></p><p style="text-align: center"><img class="image preview" src="/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0547.jpg" alt="Machu Picchu in Fog" title="Machu Picchu in Fog" width="500" height="336" /><strong><br />Machu Picchu in Fog</strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p> http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/blog/danny_catt/251#comment Andes Machu Picchu Peru Peru Sun, 14 Jan 2007 23:31:31 -0800 Danny Catt 251 at http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2 Machu Picchu in Fog http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/250 <img src="http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0547.jpg" alt="Machu Picchu in Fog" title="Machu Picchu in Fog" width="500" height="336" class="image preview" /> http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/250#comment Andes Incas Machu Picchu Peru Sun, 14 Jan 2007 23:28:47 -0800 Danny Catt 250 at http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2 Machu Picchu in Sun http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/249 <img src="http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0417.jpg" alt="Machu Picchu in Sun" title="Machu Picchu in Sun" width="336" height="500" class="image preview" /> http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/249#comment Andes Incas Machu Picchu Pereu Sun, 14 Jan 2007 23:26:41 -0800 Danny Catt 249 at http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2 Machu Picchu in Rain http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/248 <img src="http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0077.JPG" alt="Machu Picchu in Rain" title="Machu Picchu in Rain" width="500" height="336" class="image preview" /> http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/248#comment Andes Incas Machu Picchu Peru Sun, 14 Jan 2007 23:24:37 -0800 Danny Catt 248 at http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2 Steep Valley Walls of the Urubamba River http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/247 <img src="http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0040_DCatt.jpg" alt="Steep Valley Walls of the Urubamba River" title="Steep Valley Walls of the Urubamba River" width="500" height="335" class="image preview" /> http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/247#comment Andes Machu Picchu Peru Urubamba River Sun, 14 Jan 2007 23:21:08 -0800 Danny Catt 247 at http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2 Steep Valley Walls of the Urubamba River http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/246 <img src="http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0265.jpg" alt="Steep Valley Walls of the Urubamba River" title="Steep Valley Walls of the Urubamba River" width="500" height="336" class="image preview" /> http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/246#comment Machu Picchu Peru Urubamba River Sun, 14 Jan 2007 23:17:52 -0800 Danny Catt 246 at http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2 Cusco to Machu Picchu Train http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/245 <img src="http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/sites/blogs.bcit.ca.catttrax2/files/images/DSC_0009.JPG" alt="Cusco to Machu Picchu Train" title="Cusco to Machu Picchu Train" width="500" height="336" class="image preview" /> http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2/node/245#comment Machu Picchu Peru Train Sun, 14 Jan 2007 23:14:24 -0800 Danny Catt 245 at http://blogs.bcit.ca/catttrax2