Machu Picchu High

Photo essay: Touring the Inca's amazing mountain-top village

by Jahanshah Javid
23-Jul-2012
 

I can't tell you how special Machu Picchu is. You climb hundreds of steps up the steep mountain, reaching the top breathless only to be blown away by the magnificent stone structures and terraces under the first rays of light at sunrise. Some would call it a religious experience but I was at awe at the people who dreamed up this place and actually build it over dozens of years. What imagination! What determination! What ingenuity! Absolutely awesome.

Photos
* 1-15: Van ride from Cusco to Santa Teresa check point
* 16-28: 12km walk to town of Agua Caliente at foot of Machu Picchu
* 29-40: Climbing up 1900 steps to Machu Picchu entrance
* 41-106: Machu Picchu
* 107-128: Back to Agua Caliente
* 129-133: Eating Cuy (guinea pig) the sacred food of the Incas
* 137-145: Walking back 12km to our van in Santa Teresa

Videos
* Steps up the mountain
* Sunrise
* Message to you
* Friendly dog
* Irrigation system

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more from Jahanshah Javid
 
Frashogar

خوش به حالت

Frashogar


جاى ما خالى


damonatello

kheilee ham ziba.....

by damonatello on

kheilee ham ziba......

one can't help but think how beautiful it would have been if Iran's relics were also so well maintained. I've never been to Peru, but looks like they're an appreciative people.  

 


Zendanian

 بخشی از ترجمه فارسی "بلندیهای ماچوپیچو"

Zendanian


 بخشی از ترجمه فارسی "بلندیهای ماچوپیچو"  تمامی این شعر طولانی  توسط فرامرز سلیمانی و احمد کریمی حکاک  به فارسی ترجمه شده است. این بخش کوتاه زیر، از یک سایت ایرانی میباشد، و بخشی ازترجمه ذکر شده در بالا نیست. //www.haftkalame.blogfa.com/post-241.aspx بلندیهای ماچوپیچو نمی توانستم در هر موجودی درختی را دوست بدارم

 

که خزان خِرد خود را بر دوش می کشد

تمامی مرگ ها و رستاخیز های دروغین را

بی خاک، بی مغاک:

می خواستم در گشاده ترین دستها شناور باشم

در گشوده ترین دهانه رودها

و آنگاه که ذره ذره انسان از من دریغ شد

و پلکان ها و درگاه ها بسته،

آنگاه از خیابانی به خیابانی رفتم و از رودی به رودی

و از دیاری به دیاری و از بستری به بستری رفتم

و صورتک پوشیده از نمکم شوره زار را درنوردید

و در آخرین منزل های خوار، بی فانوس، بی آتش

بی نان، بی سنگ، بی سکوت، تنها

گُرده گرداندم و از مرگ خویش مردم.

" پابلو نرودا "


cyrous moradi

Flower to flower gives up the high seed

by cyrous moradi on

Pablo Neruda ( 1094-1973) wrote  this poem circa 1950. Las Alturas de Macchu Picchu. It has been translated in English so many times.Probably John Felstiner is the best. I like this part very much:

While flower to flower gives up the high seed

and rock keeps its flower sown

in a beaten coat of diamond and sand,

man crumples the peal of light he picks

in the deep-set springs of the sea

and drills the pulsing metal in his hands.

And soon, among clothes and smoke, on the broken table,

like a shuffled pack, there sits the soul:

quartz and sleeplessness, tears in the ocean

like pools of cold: yet still

man kills and tortures it with paper and with hate,

stuffs it each day under rugs, rends it

on the hostile trappings of the wire.


Piyalechi

Oh, How I Envy You...

by Piyalechi on

The hair gone,

Was the last sign...

Oh, how you have liberated yourself...

On the Machu Picchu High,

How veryly,

Once again and pleasantly,

Found your restless self,

On the Machu Picchu High... 

Noush...

 

 


maziar 58

delam..........

by maziar 58 on

khaast.!

was copy writted by googoosh.

thanks for amazing pictures.

Maziar


daneshjoo

Dear JJ:

by daneshjoo on

Daneshjoo

The pictures are beautiful and informative.

Thank you for sharing.


Dr. Mohandes

Next trip: macho booseh inshalah.

by Dr. Mohandes on

And i will think faramarz will be up for this one .

Now faramarz jan just give me the directions to the peruvian embassyin esfahan or tehran or rasht so i can get my visa and besme llah...become your travel companion.

BTW jj: How do they treat Fasting muslims in pich peechee?:) do they sing azan in spanish?:)


Dr. Mohandes

China vs Peru vs iran

by Dr. Mohandes on

JJJcopolo:)

I hope you will continue to have a blast througout the whole deal. The photos are just marvelous.

They say Gunea pig meat contains more protein in it than chicken! a butcher-shop owner in tehran told me that and i just said...Look man...i dunno about that sh...are you sure? 

anywho, the point is that we have started to ex and sexperience with some new "species" to show how resolute we are in carrying our fight to the end against this chickenlessness .

Faramarz: 

We have a saying in iran that : no matter how it carries itself around, so long as it does not have any hair on it, it is not green and does not say Made in china, grab a chair and nail that sucker and have at it! 


Truthseeker9

Guinea pigs

by Truthseeker9 on

My childhood 4 legged furry "children" Yogi and Booboo are turning in their graves. 


Faramarz

Guinea Pig and Fries!

by Faramarz on

 

 

Yum!

And it didn't even taste just like chicken!

As they say in China, "If it flies, and it's not a plane, if it has four legs, and it's not a chair, then it's good to be eaten!"


Anahid Hojjati

Thanks Jahanshah for the answer and also amazing pictures

by Anahid Hojjati on

Thanks for sharing the pictures of your travels with us.


Jahanshah Javid

The point is

by Jahanshah Javid on

delam khaast


Anahid Hojjati

Esfande shaytoon, you replied so fast that I did not

by Anahid Hojjati on

get a chance to add to my comment that if JJ gets upset by my comment, you are to blame since you posted the picture and you used the word rodent. JJ is probably very upset wth you and no amount of JJJ will help you.


Esfand Aashena

Yes this is an outrage! We should alarm PETA!

by Esfand Aashena on

Everything is sacred


Anahid Hojjati

what is the point of eating this?

by Anahid Hojjati on

not to be mean or anything but it is disgusting to eat this guinea pig. Was there any reason to do it? Was it to say that you wre brave enough to eat it? knowing how men like to act brave and everything, that is the only reason I can come up with. Just because an experience is new, doesn't mean that we have to do it but then I am not an adventurous person.


Esfand Aashena

Guinea pigs are rodents!

by Esfand Aashena on

I hope you didn't think they were mini-pigs!

Guinea pig

 Everything is sacred


Jahanshah Javid

No chicken

by Jahanshah Javid on

That's a guinea pig Faramarz. Inca delicacy. Had to try it. Chicken is much better :)


Faramarz

Top of the World!

by Faramarz on

 

 

Great pictures. Thanks JJ.

It is great to see that you destroyed that half a chicken in solidarity with the people of Neishaboor!


masoudA

Thanks JJ

by masoudA on

Great coverage -

I never envied not being there with you on any of these trips - until.........well Pic #82. 

Good luck - great public service


Sinibaldi

On that feeling.

by Sinibaldi on

Only that

sunshine is

a beautiful

feeling calling

your nature

and a delicate

thought.

Francesco
Sinibaldi


Esfand Aashena

JJJ you littered the 6th Wonder of the World!

by Esfand Aashena on

And then we blame Iranians for littering Iranian sites! Last year you also littered Mount Rushmore, I guess it's an Iranian culture!

//iranian.com/main/image/186122 

Everything is sacred


Cost-of-Progress

Very nice

by Cost-of-Progress on

Thanks for sharing Jahanshah. The haircut looks comfy too.


bahmani

Awesome!

by bahmani on

Glad you made it! Watch! Now everything will be different for you!

If any of you have every wondered about MP, please go.

The flight out of LA or SF is about 9 hours, on beautiful LAN airlines, one of the most elegant airlines you will fly, best service, and hosts.

When you get to Lima (very similar to a Tehran vibe, but without the IRGC or Mollahs), you are on East Coast time but the seasons are opposite, so right now JJ is in the winter-ish time which is why there is snow on the peaks, and also why he is wearing a jacket.

The entire trip to Peru, Lima, Cuzco, and MP can be done in less than a week (7 days), and you will have almost no jet lag.

Cuzco is actually higher in elevation than MP and you will get altitude sickness or flu-like symptoms if you stay in C, so I would stay in or near MP if possible. There are awesome micro resorts and micro hotels run by Brits and Canadians and Germans etc, that are exquisite.

If you go around end of January-February, you will hit Summer/Fall which is perfect. Like many places it can suddenly rain, so take or buy a plastic poncho in your pack.

Peru has WiFi everywhere, so access is not a problem. Take your ATM card for when you need cash. Use your CC for the rest.

Go to Peru and MP!

It will change your OUTLOOK ON LIFE!

To read more bahmani posts visit: //brucebahmani.blogspot.com/


Yavar

Machu Picchu High

by Yavar on

Thanks JJ for taking us along with you on your trip.  Enjoyed the pics immensely.  Hope your shaved head is by choice and not by force.

Yavar