Peru -- Primarily Machu Picchu (Dec 2010)

The peak at the right is Huayna Picchu (actually it's probably what they seemed to call Big Huayna Picchu -- at least of the smaller ones in this view -- to the left of the big peak, in this photo-- is Little Huayna Oicchu).

Later in the day, I hiked up Big Huayna Picchu. If you look closely, in this photo, you can see sort of a rim or dropoff between the edge of the city and Big Huayna Picchu. That really exists, the first (perhaps) 1/4-mile of the hike "up" Big Huayna Picchu is a steep DOWNhill into a gorge between the city and Big Huayna Picchu. And every step down into that gorge, I was thinking about how that was one more step I was going to have to go up to get to the peak.