A hard trek to the lost Incan city of Choquequirao

[Judi Lynn]

A hard trek to the lost Incan city of Choquequirao
Posted : Tue, 05 Feb 2008 03:12:18 GMT

Cuzco, Peru - A final ascent and the last pass was crossed. At 3,100 metres above sea level, the lost Incan city of Choquequirao came into view. The name means "Cradle of Gold" in Quechua, the Incan language. Sometimes the ruined city is called Machu Picchu's "sister" because of its similarity to the famous tourist magnet in the Peruvian Andes. Offering views deep into the Apurimac Valley, Choquequirao is indeed an alternative to overcrowded Machu Picchu.

Some 2,000 visitors daily now swarm over Machu Picchu, and every year about 500 hiking groups with up to 40 members each get in each other's way on the Inca Trail. But adventurers have Choquequirao almost all to themselves -- except for the archaeologists, whom they can watch at work.

Choquequirao is situated almost 45 kilometres from Machu Picchu. Only about a quarter of it has been excavated to date. The city is thought to have been one of the last bastions of Incan resistance to the Spaniards in the 16th century.

It has aqueducts, temples, residential buildings and fountains. The white stone llamas embedded in the walls of the large terraces are famous.

DPA
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/182860,a-hard-trek-to-the-lost-incan-city-of-choquequirao.html



http://www.aracari.com.nyud.net:8090/aracariperu/destinos/choquequirao/choquequirao-cover.jpg

[semillama]

1. Wow. I had never seen pictures of this city before

Really impressive preservation. Looks like it was abandoned about 100 years ago!

[Judi Lynn]

2. Sorry the second photo disappeared. There are a whole lot of good ones at google images, here:

http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-37,GGLD:en&q=Choquequirao+Peru

It is amazing it looks so intact, isn't it? This city, along with Manco Pata, in a recent post by L Coyote, and the site at Machu Picchu makes South America even more fascinating than a person can endure from this distance! Unbelievable.

I just found an article today which I posted in Science which said that they have traced the origins of the potato to a mountainous area in Chile!

So hard to accept what was done to all these peoples by the early invaders who "discovered the New World."

[semillama]

3. yes, it's interesting to speculate what the Americas would look like today

if it hadn't been for the Europeans and for some bad climatic changes back around 1200 AD.

[L. Coyote]

4. Still waiting for this area to update with hi-res imagery in the digital globe. Pisaq

just updated in Google Earth.

Follow the trails from this point to various Pisaq ruins: -13.408310 -71.844911

You will find a series of ruins along the Inca Trail.
Follow the links from the Pisaq placemark in Google Earth.

Almost forgot, but as you can see, a danger of farming here is falling from your field :rofl:

[Judi Lynn]

5. Somewhat riskier than stepping on a rake! n/t

[Judi Lynn]

6. Finally broke down, downloaded google earth. My gosh! Now I see what you're talking about.

There are more ruins up there than I ever knew.

The view takes a while to get used to. It's amazing. Overwhelming, even.

Thanks for pointing to google earth in your posts. It's an excellent tool.