Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu (pronounced Machu Picktchu) means old mountain. The ruins here are for the most part as they were when Hirum Bingham cleared them of rain forest in the early 1900's. Many ancient ruins were reconstructed to some extent, but these were not. Except for long decayed roof poles and thatched rooves, the high quality stonework is in excellent condition, as it was when abandoned and overgrown by rainforest.

Extremely remote and invisible from the narrow valley floor 3000' below, it is believed to have been a hiding place for the Inca elite during times of war. Fertile topsoil from the Sacred Valley was carried up the mountain to fill the garden terraces. Many of the crops grown in Peru today were grown here in these terraces long ago, to make life in Machu Picchu sustainable during periods when crops were raided down below.

The earliest stone work was built in the megalithic period, many thousands of years before the arrival of the Inca, who expanded the site to what it is now. The megalithic construction is believed to be more of a spiritual nature, when population was sparse, and war wasn't as likely. However in the days of the Inca people, the Sacred Valley and surrounding mountains were well populated.

The peoples who constructed the Megalithic stone masonry here and all around the world are an even bigger mystery than the Inca. Almost nothing is known about them, except the fact that they lived many thousands of years before the Inca, and their knowledge of stone cutting and placement is unsurpassed even to this day. We can not duplicate it.

This leads one to suspect a more advanced civilization may have lived thousands of years before us, that man's understanding of his small window in time, his cultural methods and philosophy of priorities are in need of study, in light of the fact that these peoples have all vanished.

This will be the 1st of many images of Machu Picchu and Aguas Calientes I hope to publish here. If you are thinking of visiting Machu Picchu, spend the night in Aguas Calientes, and take the early shuttle bus up the mountain to beat the crowd. Be sure to book train tickets from Ollantaytambo (the end of the road) to Machu Picchu (Aguas Calientes) well in advance , as they at times are sold out. Shuttle bus tickets may be purchased the evening before in Aguas Calientes.

Images of Machu Picchu (Huayna Picchu Mountain) in the early morning . West / Left facade, then East / right facade from entrance gate of sanctuary.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machu_Picchu

Megalithic Stone work at Ollantaytambo, Peru

Megalithic Period stone work.

The stone masonry in this rock wall is believed to represent the earliest of all peoples to reside in The Sacred Valley. It is understood by experts, that these mysteriously advanced stone construction practices predate the Inca by thousands of years, as early works have been excavated and carbon dated to 12,000 years old at the lower levels, which is referred to as the Megalithic period. The Inca, in many places in South America, merely built atop the much older ruins of a far advanced civilization long vanished. What?

South America is a treasure chest of ancient ruins, the most awesome of which are accessible only by days of hiking, usually in remote high areas, and have never been cleared of forest or excavated, some estimated older than the Pyramids of Giza. If this is true, then life possibly began here instead of Africa.

The Sacred Valley of Peru is made of the highest convictions. The construction practices used, the artistic manipulation of stone ( stone masonry) the cutting/ fitting of dense material to such close tolerances as depicted, the transport of items to 300 tons from a distant mountain and across a valley are puzzling even by the standards of 21st century machinery and engineering. The oldest stone work here in The Archaelogical Park at Ollantaytambo is considered among the best in Peru.

As a whole, we don't understand how they did it, or what became of this discipline as it appears to have vanished long before the appearance of the Inca.

View from the top of the Fortress/Temple

The possibility is visible that, the spirituality/mindset/intellect/purest will of the peoples, who ever they are/were, that built these works of high regard, are/were by these values, superior to too many of us.

We as simple creatures have been taught that evolution along with the education process of this so called modern day will produce a more complete society, where in fact it is exactly possible that the contrary, amongst other unimaginable scenarios is true, and according to the ages, time in its vastness sees what men might ever think irrelevant. The intelligence of mankind is being limited by a shortsighted misconception, that there is no need for it, and possibly has been this way for millennia.

From the Temple/Fortress across The Sacred Valley to Pinkuylluna and Grainary Ruin

The answer could be in the purest form_ in the form of the question. It is well inscribed  into every particle here in this garden, into the Moan-tanes, and the night sky.

The question allows convictions of  the highest order, a freedom for each individual to create in himself, the scope of his being. The evidence here insists that if one wishes and works real hard at it, he may advance himself far above the understanding of a vast majority who can/will not read the inscription in every particle, the universally glyphic language of images. The understanding to the grave complications of humanity is contingent upon the ability to decifer from a far greater source of information, available only in a language of images. This is the best medium to deliver/translate information.

But to understand from what one sees, then decide upon an action to take is a responsibility a complacent population does not want to assume. It is a matter of choice to be so devout/deciplined. Only few will undertake such an enormous/incompatable endeavor. The far greater majority want to be comfortably led.

This is exactly where a population becomes separated into 2 groups. One who believes it is detrimental, and the other understands with good reason it is imperative.

At this point, these two groups of people loose the ability to communicate, one does not see the other as living in the same time. The other believes the one to be extinct. One struggles to speak, while the other only hears the wind.

Group #2 operates as a whole, their ideas are based on the human condition, worldly goods. What is valued most important to them is appearances and the self. Their numbers constitute the visible population of humanity.

Group #1 operates, each as an individual. Their ideas are based on every demention of the absolute. What is valued most important to them is the beauty of the truth, mans role in its appreciation. Their numbers are scant.

Group #1 built the lower levels of these sites.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ollantaytambo