Peru and Machu Picchu

Turgon

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I just spent a week visiting Peru to see some of the archaeological sites in and around Cusco, including Machu Picchu and what an amazing experience! It's difficult to put into words everything that I saw and felt, but undoubtedly I started to develop a deep sense of reverence while there. I stayed in Cusco for the first few days and got to see all the architecture, which was a mix of Spanish Colonial built on top of Inca ruins and remains. I saw Sacsayhuaman which included massive megalithic stones, the largest weighing around 120-180 tons! How exactly the Inca's managed to move those stones and place one on top of the other is open to debate. Apparently they dragged the stones with rope that took hundreds of men to do so. While there I asked several tour guides and they believe they also built ramps to push/pull them in place from quarries nearby. I find that hard to believe.

In Graham Hancock's Fingerprint of the Gods he believes there was a previous civilization or culture, that brought this kind of architectural knowledge to the people of the Andes, highlighted in the legend of Viracocha, which Hancock describes as the father of invention and that the current conventional wisdom as to how they actually moved and shaped some of those larger stones seem unlikely.

I ended up seeing Pisaq, Moray, Puka Pukara, Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu.

Overall, it was pretty safe going to Peru and I got to see so much of the countryside, the Sacred Valley which contains the Sacred River that the Inca's built so much of their central civilization around. And there was just such a different environment and feel to it all. This is subjective, but living in a big city in Canada, I'd say there was far less of a 'frequency fence', and noticed the difference in the way I was thinking and feeling, with this sense of aliveness being there and this subtle internal shift and perspective. This became more prominent the closer I came to Machu Picchu itself. There was an emotional awakening of sorts that was deeply felt.

Elevation sickness is something to watch out for when arriving in Cusco being 3400 metres above sea level, but I'm happy to say that Wim Hof's breathing techniques did work when it came to adjusting to the altitude. I started noticing it the first day but by the second day in the afternoon felt nausea and could barely walk without feeling completely winded and my heart pounding from exertion. Oxygen content is about 85% there of what it is near sea level, which is the altitude I live in. Coffee helped temporarily but I was still bedridden for most of the day. EE helped with the nausea, but I still wasn't able to move around a lot. So finally did 5 rounds of Wim's technique and after the 4th round starting noticing a change and felt much better afterwards. I kept doing it every morning after that and quick breathes described here (without holding it at the end like he does) whenever I became winded or out of breathe seeing the sights.

There is of course, extreme poverty in some of rural Peru, but crime didn't seem to be a major issue, although I did go with a tour company. At the same time, at least from what I could see, a lot of children seemed to be happy and engaged, some of them finding fun in the simplest of things. Walking around, you see there's a lot of warmth and affection between one another in Peru and in other Latin American countries that I've visited in the past that you don't see as much of in Western culture. That may also have to do with the temperate climate, more sunshine and less EMF's and the like. These are just my observations but I couldn't help but wonder how many people in Peru are actually on anti-depressants, anti-anxiety meds or the like which has become so prevalent in North America.

Anyways, here a some pictures and videos from the visit!
 
Oh how lovely the Andes!

I’m glad you had such a lovely trip, and the pictures are amazing!, that place is definitely on my list to visit.

My mother and her husband (Peruvian) went a few years ago and have been recommending me to make it ever since.

What locals usually use for the height sickness is coca, either chewing the leaves or having some tea. I’ve heard it works wonders.
 
Turgon, that's marvelous, and yes, as Alejo said the 'pictures were amazing'.

My partner and I were recently talking about going exactly there one day, especially after following the history, stone workings and other finds.

Oh, and those skulls, wow.
 
Great pictures Turgon! :thup: I especially liked the skulls (one of them was huge!), the new buildings on top of the old, and that circular 'specialized growing terrace'.

What locals usually use for the height sickness is coca, either chewing the leaves or having some tea. I’ve heard it works wonders.

Yeah, a friend of mine went on a charity hike to Machu Pichu 10 years ago (travelling from the UK) and they were given some coca tea to help with adjusting to the environment, she said it was "strong" but that it helped.
 
Wow Turgon. What a lot to pack into a week and the difficulty breathing. Re-reading Laura's SECRET HISTORY OF THE WORLD and what she writes on South America. The history, vastness, and time spans in that part of the world are jaw dropping and someone from the Western Hemisphere is bound to feel some of the vibes that must remain in certain areas.

Felt some of the vibes myself looking at you amazing photos. Thank you.
 
Thank you for sharing the pictures, Turgon. Very happy to know that you were able to visit the multiple archeological sites on what it seems to be the sunny days. So, Wim Hof's breathing did help you to stay well in the high altitude, good call! I will remember it to practice the technique if I ever have a chance to visit mountains someday.
You got a nice picture of yourself with alpacas, too. Perfect!
 
Great pictures Turgon! :thup: I especially liked the skulls (one of them was huge!), the new buildings on top of the old, and that circular 'specialized growing terrace'.

Pretty cool pics and vids Turgon, would love to go there one day. On the skulls, did they really explain the massive size and shape as "cranial deformation"??SSyXFmT.jpg
 
What locals usually use for the height sickness is coca, either chewing the leaves or having some tea. I’ve heard it works wonders.

Oh yes! I did start drinking that but can’t say for certain if it had a profound effect or not. I believe it is high in caffeine which explains why coffee helped but don’t know if it has some special derivative that helps with altitude. If you do drink it, do it in the morning and no later than the afternoon otherwise you’ll have a lot of trouble falling asleep.

On the skulls, did they really explain the massive size and shape as "cranial deformation"??View attachment 33535

I questioned the tour guide a few times about it and why the skulls were twice the size and he chalked up the deformations to compression and reshaping which you can see in some of the pictures where they tie ropes and planks to the skulls and that it was done starting as babies. He mentioned trepanation as well to deal with headaches from the procedure but that still doesn’t explain how enormous they are. You can see in the other pics they are deformed but normal-sized.
 
Very well documented Turgon! :thup:

It is absolutely amazing what they can do with stones. The precision that they use is mind boggling, as is the sheer scale of everything. And that they were able to move those gargantuan stones around with only ropes and ramps... :whistle:
 
Merci Turgon pour toutes ces photos et vidéos pour les personnes comme moi qui n'auront pas la chance d'aller voir tous ces paysages de plus près... Merveilleux documents... Magnifique partage très apprécié...

Thank you Turgon for all these photos and videos for people like me who won't have the chance to see all these landscapes more closely ... Wonderful documents... Wonderful and much appreciated sharing...
 
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