Beautiful photos .. WE used to have a member here who lived semi permanently in the uk & Russia, and he travelled almost constantly, and would post stunning pics.. and one of his trips was to Machu picchu... which was the first time I saw it close up.. very beautiful and of course historic..
We stayed in the town of Aguas Calientes for two days, and took the bus to Machu Picchu on both days. On the second occasion we took the early bus & got to Machu Picchu before sunrise. Then we walked from there up to Inti Punku (Sun Gate). We watched the sun creep over the mountains & saw a sunbeam come through a break in the clouds & light up just Machu Picchu. The surrounding area being much darker. It was an incredible sight.
I wasn’t expecting it. I then fumbled trying to get my camera out of the bag & put on what I thought to be the correct lens, and then I had problems with the battery that I then changed, but missed the moment. What a lost opportunity!
Later we walked back down to Machu Picchu, waited for it to open, the spent all morning there. We jumped on the bus to take us back to town; down a winding road with I think 13 switchbacks. A boy ran down with the bus. He was taking a more direct route & would jump out in front of the bus from the trees, & wave to us as the bus drove by. Much to the amusement of everyone on the bus.
At the bottom, the bus stopped & the boy got on board. Everyone was clapping & giving him money & gifts. Quite the entrepreneur. Got the impression he had done this many times before. Then later I started to wonder whether he actually worked for the bus company.
