Machu Picchu, Part 2: Another Side

I could've taken the same pictures that you see in postcards and the Peruvian government's website, but why? They wouldn't have been as perfect, and you can see them on Google anyway. So without further ado, here are some MP pictures that you won't see on a Google search or any other website - except this one.

We visited in the peak of summer/rainy season, which meant a lot of greenery highlighted by the intense clouds overhead.

Quite literally, the backside of Machu Picchu.

Another view, with heavy cloud cover and a slight view of the muddy river in the valley far, far below.

The paths are maintained with grids of heavy duty wiring, but all the rain that falls between October and March still erodes them.

This is a view that usually only ants get...

The perfect picnic spot - to the left (not pictured) all the rest of MP.

The mountain top is surrounded by other mountains that are less cultivated but equally beautiful.

Down in the valley and around the bend, just a few hundred yards away from one of the most iconic sites in the world, there's a huge industrialized park next to the muddy river. 

Some more wild, rainy season beauty.

That mountain is the "nose" in the silhouette behind MP, the rest is hidden around the corner. 

Certainly not a part of the original..

That guy standing out there by himself will have a picture to die for. The pictures of people you see at MP are usually taken from this rock. Friends and strangers take turns taking each others photos, and as everyone recognizes that this will likely be one of the most epic pictures they ever get of themselves, they unselfishly stand in line and excitedly snap the photo of their neighbor in front of them, in turn handing their camera to the person waiting behind them. I heard English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, and some other European languages, but everyone knew exactly what everyone else was saying. One of the coolest moments of shared humanity I've gotten to witness.

It's in there somewhere.

This is the same thing you saw in the second picture, just from the other end.

"Work Zone." Yes, some people actually have a job here, maintaining, unearthing, keeping people off the structures, etc.

The playing field where they had nightly entertainment.

Building right next to the Sacred Rock, (Look it up, I couldn't a picture of it worth posting. It was to my right as I took this picture.) but I really have no idea what it was used for, or who used it.

The quick way down.