Machu Picchu Day 2

We were up at 5 and ready to enter the ruins at 6 am. We visited the lower sections of the city where more homes were located.  A few were for nobles as witnessed by the finer stone masonry.  We saw a tomb under a huge stone, a two story home and a small temple area.  We knew it was a temple because it had three steps up to the alter that pointed east.  Each step represented the Condor which represents the heavens, the puma that is the earth, and a snake that goes to the underworld.

A green tent located in the center of the main plaza covered an excavation of a toppled monoliths that was knocked down so that a dignitary could land his helicopter on the plaza in 1978.

The last temple we saw was of the condor.  Two massive stones rose up from the ground to look like the wings of a condor while a large stone was imbedded in the ground along with a small stone head to represent the Condor landing.

We were back at the hotel for breakfast at 8:30 am then lounged around the hotel for the remainder of the day when we got back on the train and rode to Cusco.