Machu Picchu Terraces

This photo was taken on a trip to Peru a few years ago. This was a totally awesome sight seeing this entire city built on the top of a mountain at 8,000 feet, thats higher than Denver by quite a bit. It was a ceremonial center and had a solar observatory for the eqinoxes. It was abandoned by the time of the Spanish conquest , no one knows why.
This shot is of the terraces on the side of the mountain that make it possible to walk around. All of this stone and building material had to be carried from the river valley at the foot of the mountain, and they didn't use the wheel! The photo is done on infra red film which is why it looks the way it does. It records the infra- red radiation not the visible spectrum. I think it adds quite a bit to the other wordly feel of the place. It is definately someplace worth visiting!