Jim Wilson writes: > Sure is. This is probably the most popular tourist spot: > http://www.raingod.com/angus/Gallery/Photos/SouthAmerica/Peru/IncaTrail/images/MachuPicchu01.jpg > > A friend told me once about being at Machu Picchu on the day that a > photographer tourist had stepped backwards one step too many to get a shot of > the rim. The sides are very steep, and very high.
I had the priveledge of visiting Machu Picchu in 1999. I have yet to see a picture that truly conveys how spectacular the site is. The river makes a horseshoe shape around the site, but the rock walls probably extend up 3-4000' from the river to the top at an *extremely* steep angle. Riding the train up the valley, sitting next to the window, pressing my head against the window, I could not see the top of the canyon nor any blue sky ... it is that steep and it is that steep for 3000' up. Just about any place there, you feel like if you take 1/2 step off the trail, the first thing you hit will be the river below. In the US, if you stub your toe on a rock, you can sue for a couple 100 million $$$. The lawsuit culture isn't quite the same in Peru so you have much more freedom to climb around. If Machu Picchu was located in the US, it would be baracaded by safety fences and glass so you *couldn't* hurt yourself. You'd probably get to walk a little trail that runs through the corner of the site. But here, you can scamper all over the place. You can even climb the Mt. in the background of the picture you posted. The trail runs up the left face. It's not physically all that difficult, but the whole way up and back down my life was flashing before my eyes. If any one has a lingering repressed slight fear of heights, it is likely to manifest itself on this trail. :-) At the bottom of the trail they had a spanish sign that said something like "Sigue con cuidado" (follow with care.) The posted english translation was "Continue". :-) Curt. -- Curtis Olson IVLab / HumanFIRST Program FlightGear Project Twin Cities [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota http://www.menet.umn.edu/~curt http://www.flightgear.org _______________________________________________ Flightgear-devel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.flightgear.org/mailman/listinfo/flightgear-devel
