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The day starts with a short bus ride from the nearby town of Aguas Calientes. Machu Picchu, one of the best preserved example of Inca's city, is located on a top of a mountain, immersed in a beautiful scenery made of majestic mountains and deep canyons. |
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| The southern gate was the only access to the city, as, from any other side, she was already protected by steep mountain sides and other natural obstacles. |
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On the left, the houses of the guardians and the terraces for agricolture. The terraces was sometime used also as ornaments or to consolidate the mountain's sides. It is belived that, after building the wall, the terrace was filled with fertile soil excavated and transported from the below valley. On the right, the complex of the industrials and intellectuals, so called because some remains demonstrates that the more "learned" men lived here (intellectuals) and because of the presence of two mortars (industrialists). |
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A zoomed view over the zone of the industrials and intellectuals. |
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In the background, a view of the Intiwatana, a site used for astronomical observation and, perhaps, for religious purposes. On the top of the hill there is a stone shaped like a nearby mountain's top, with its angles exactly aligned to the cardinal points. |
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| A view from the Intiwatana over the main stone quarry and the terraces. |
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The wonderful scenery around Machu Picchu, with the Urubamba river running inside the valley and the road climbing the steep mountain's side. |
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Sometime the clouds are so low, that they go under Machu Picchu. Part of the Urubamba river is faintly visible between a cloud and the mountain. |
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| A view over the mountain's side, totally covered by terraces for agricolture. |
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| Walking in Machu Picchu. The city is big, and several hours may be required to see everything. Unfortunately Machu Picchu is currently sinking, by one centimeter per year, probably because of the pressure from tourism (1000 visitors daily on average). | ||
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| The most beautiful pictures in Machu Picchu, are those taken through windows. Often the windows are perfectly aligned one behind other, up to 5 like in the lower-right picture. | ||
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The Temple of the Sun. Two windows are positioned to let the first sun ray on March 21st (spring equinox) and June 21st (summer solstice) to enter in the temple, illuminating its center. The angle formed by the two windows with the observation point, is 23.5 degrees, equal to the earth's axe inclination. |
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The acqueduct, still working although the modifications to bring drinkable water to Machu Picchu hotel, is made of a narrow duct carrying water to several fountains, covering about 25 meters of elevation difference from the highest to the lowest. |
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| From the house of the sentinels, there is a nice view over the entire site. | ||
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| A lama observes the ruins (left picture), then goes away searching for something to eat. |
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| Me in Machu Picchu. Follows now a selection of the best WidevieW pictures taken in and around Machu Picchu. |
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| 180 degrees WidevieW from the terraces below the upper cemetery. |
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| A 360 degrees WidevieW near the house of the sentinels, which visible on the right. |
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| A nice WidevieW taken from the terraces below the house of the sentinels. |
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| 180 degrees WidevieW over the terraces and the "industrial, intellectual" part of the city. A lama walks between the ruins. |
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| A 250 degrees WidevieW taken from the stone quarry. Parts of the stones are visible on the left and on the right of the panorama. |
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WidevieW taken from the terraces: the city can be seen on the left, while the houses of the guardians are on the right. |
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| Unfortunately it is the time to say goodbye to Machu Picchu and head back to Cusco by a 5 hours train trip |
PICTURES OF PERU - BOLIVIA - CILE: IMAGES FROM THE TRIP DAY BY DAY |
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09.08.2003 - Santiago day tour Guided day tour of Santiago, visiting Plaza de Armas, the downtown with its tall skyscrapers, and the outskirts. |
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10.08.2003 - Winery tour from Santiago Chile is getting every year more competitive in the wine market, thanks to the quality and to the increasing quantity. A winery tour in a farm near Santiago lets to discover the wine production process and to taste excellent wines. |
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11.08.2003 - San Pedro De Atacama The Atacama desert in Chile is considered one of the world's driest place where, in several areas, there are no registered rainfalls for many consecutive years. But this doesn't mean that there is no life or nothing to see... |
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12.08.2003 - San Pedro de Atacama and Salar De Atacama Day tour from San Pedro de Atacama to Salar de Atacama, a huge salt flat surrounded by majestic volcanoes, where flamingoes have made their home. |
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13.08.2003 - from Laguna Verde to Laguna Colorada Today the groups gets into Bolivia where an adventure by 4x4 begins. The today itinerary goes from Laguna Verde (green lake) to Laguna Colorada (red lake) driving off road or onto dirty roads, between spectacular lunar landscape of extreme high mountain. |
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14.08.2003 - Crossing Bolivian plateau by 4x4 The Bolivian desert expedition by 4x4 continues at altitudes between 3.500 and 5000 meters above sea level, in an incredible landscape of rocks sculptured by winds and other extreme elements. |
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15.08.2003 - Salar De Uyuni tour With an average altitude higher than 4000 meters, the Bolivian plateau offers spectacular scenery, like the immense Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat. We make a stop at Isla Pescado (fish island) a small hill in the middle of the salt, where there are giant cactus. |
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16.08.2003 - Travel from Uyuni to Potosi Travel by public bus service from Uyuni to Potosi, over partly paved roads at extreme altitudes, in the middle of the Andes. |
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17.08.2003 - Potosi city tour and silver miner excursion Excursion to the interesting "museum of the coins" in Potosi, then tour into a silver miner where people work in terrible conditions, inside a mountain above 4.000 meters of altitude. |
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Travel by public bus service from Potosi to Uyuni, Bolivia, then short Sucre city tour and excursion to the "dinosaurs footprints" park, a vertical wall of rock where dinosaurs tracks were left impressed after a sudden catastrophic event. |
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Flight from Sucre to El Alto, one of the world's most elevated airports, near the city of La Paz, Bolivia. A short city tour of La Paz follows. |
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Excursion to Tiahuanaco ruins by bus, departing from La Paz. This archeological site is very interesting and belongs to pre-Inca time. |
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21.08.2003 - Travel La Paz - Puno via Copacabana Travel by public bus from La Paz to Puno (Peru) via Copacabana. Today, we cross the border line between Bolivia and Peru, traveling along the Titicaca lake shores. |
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22.08.2003 - Titicaca lake cruise Like the ancient Uros people, about 2000 Peruvians still populate the floating islands built of Totora reeds, over lake Titicaca in Peru. Everything, from homes to the floating islands itself, is built using Totora reeds, a plant growing along the shores of lake Titicaca. |
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23.08.2003 - Travel Puno - Cusco by train Travel from Puno to Cusco by train, over one of the world highest railway. The entire journey takes almost 12 hours, but worth because of the beautiful scenery. |
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24.08.2003 - Excursions from Cusco Cusco, in the middle of the Andes in Peru, is a city full of history and fascinating museum. The first day spent in Cusco is dedicated to an excursion to Sacsayhuaman fortress and to the temple of the sun. |
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25.08.2003 - Pisaq and Ollantaytambo tour Drive from Cusco thru the Sacred Valley to Pisaq with its ancient ruins and the local handicraft market. Continue to Ollantaytambo where we spend the night. |
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26.08.2003 - Travel to Machu Picchu by train Travel to Machu Picchu by train from Ollantaytambo. The narrow gauge railway finishes in Aguas Calientes where we have some rest and overnight. |
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27.08.2003 - Machu Picchu tour <YOU ARE HERE> Machu Picchu, the ancient Inca town, has been discovered only in 1911, although was always known by several local farmers. A tour of Machu Picchu gives the possibility to better understand the everyday life of who has lived here. |
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28.08.2003 - Cusco city tour and museums Only one day in Cusco is never enough, so, in this second day, I visit several interesting museums and do more hikes in the city, where many modern buildings are built over ancient Inca walls. |
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29.08.2003 - Flight Cusco - Lima Short flight from Cusco to Lima by a Lan Peru Airbus A320. This journey thru the Andes of South America is now about to finish. |
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Excursion to a pre-Inca cemetery, before visiting Plaza de Armas and the interesting San Francisco monastery. |
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Collection of the best pictures The most beautiful pictures from Peru, Bolivia and Chile are collected in this page. Click the highlighted links for additional travel information, for useful links and for a description of the photography equipment. |
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