Aleks in Peru: Machu Pichu 1: The Inca skillz

So how was the Machu Picchu, Aleks? This is the question I have gotten the most about this trip.

First of all let's get the negative impressions over with. There's certain parts I wasn't particularly impressed with. From up close, the architecture at Machu Picchu is quite weak.

The monuments are very simplistic, the sculpture is very primitive, and even the countless staircases are just a bunch of uneven, unpolished cobblestones with protruding edges, every stair has a different size and shape.

Here's an example of their finest sculpture at the MP: The solar clock, and the Condor.

Apparently on top of being able to carry stones, and knock them with some basic tools into barely recognizable shapes, the Inca had a very vivid imagination.

Compared to, for example, Roman architecture, or the Parthenon of ancient Greece (built around 2000 years earlier), the Incan constructions are absolutely lacking finesse. It seems like the Incas were simply lacking technology for the fine & detailed stonework.

However, as an overall composition, on the grand scale, Machu Pichu gives a very good impression.

Let's remember that even in the year of 1460 (that's about when MP was built), the Inca did not have the wheel, large cattle, a writing system, iron tools or any of the prerequisites you'd expect for a great civilization.

Despite that, the Inca managed to pull of a project of this magnitude, and that is awe-inspiring. Just the sheer size of the construction is massive, especially considering how high it is. It must have been a monumental undertaking to bring up all these stones (probably millions of them) to the mountain tops.