Machu Picchu & Sacred Valley (Or; The Incas never finished what they started)

Breaking through the altitude/jetlag barrier using coca toffees, we took a bus then train then bus to visit Machu Picchu. As many of you know, Machu Picchu has been on my "list" for years, so to actually get there was awesome. In the truest sense of the word. It was absolutely breathtaking.

It was a hell of a climb up (when you can´t breathe cos of altitude. And perhaps being unfit, I suppose...) But the views are amazing. All around are the Andean mountains, and sprawled below you the Incan architecture of a sacred place. It felt incredibly spiritual to be there. And very quiet and peaceful. Other than the thousands of other tourists, naturally.

We three had a guide to ourselves which was great (the rest of our group already started in Ecuador and were doing the Inca trail, so we had a couple of days before they joined us) She was great at pointing out the spiritual and historical, but interestingly pretty much every building in Machu Picchu was unfinished. She pointed out stones and buildings that were only half complete. Plenty of them. It struck me as strange, as I would have thought you would finish one sacred building before starting another? Must have been like living in a building site!

I jest, it was an amazing place.

We also went to Pisac in Sacred Valley, which was also breathtaking in the mountains, although similar-looking to Machu Picchu. Again, the guide there pointed out unfinished buildings all over the place. A pattern emerges......