The Adventures of Kerri & Matt

The path out to the Incan bridge  was one of the steepest trails we went on.

The Incan bridge is more of this path, but there is a section missing in the middle. This used to have planks that could be removed to prevent unauthorized people from passing.

 

They have put some new wooden planks there, but visitors are not allowed to use the bridge because it is unsafe.

There are some floating steps going down from the bridge, and at the bottom we saw a spectacled bear. He is the same kind of bear as Paddington Bear.

The observatory is on the top of a big hill.

There are many stairs leading up to it.

Machu Picchu has a lot of terraces.

The really narrow terraces in front of the temples were mostly to prevent erosion from destroying the temples. They probably had decorative flowers. They do not have any irrigation, which makes it unlikely they were used for farming.

But there were plenty of farming terraces on the other side of the mountain.

And higher up on Machu Picchu mountain.

And generally all around the city.

All of the stone chips created from carving the stones for building are put in the bottom of the terraces for drainage. This was important because Machu Picchu gets a lot of rain.

There were even more terraces down below the city. These were probably partially defensive because they make it hard to get up the mountain without being seen, and easy to block people because the only way up is the stairs.

The building called the guardhouse is at the top of the hill.

It has a very good view of the city.

And it would be impossible to get up there without them seeing you.