ANCIENT AMERICAS
Travelling through Latin America, one is constantly made aware of the fact that people have been here for a very long time, building cities and creating works of art still visible centuries (and in some cases millennia) after the cultures who made them disappeared.
Las Ventanillas De Otuzco
PERU
These “windows” were actually tombs for Cajamarca royalty.
(Click image to enlarge)
Sacsayhuaman
PERU
Contrasts of colour and culture. The rain comes down and the plastic ponchos come out on the giant wet stones of this Inca ruin.
(Click image to enlarge)
Cueva de las Manos
ARGENTINA
13,ooo-year-old stencils of left hands as well as other artwork adorn the walls of this cave in Argentine Patagonia.
(Click image to enlarge)
Ciudad Perdida
COLOMBIA
The “Lost City” is worth every blister and bug bite you’ll collect on the 6-day trek to see it.
(Click image to enlarge)
Chan Chan
PERU
An enormous adobe city on Peru’s coastal desert outside Trujillo.
(Click image to enlarge)
Mitla
MEXICO
The southern state of Oaxaca’s other major archaeological site (after Monte Albán).
(Click image to enlarge)
Kuélap
PERU
A very impressive walled city on a high ridge, built by the Chapapoyan culture.
(Click image to enlarge)
Yaxchilán
MEXICO
One of Latin America’s top ancient sites, Yaxchilán has many ornate lintels engraved into its doorways.
(Click image to enlarge)
Huaca de la Luna
PERU
“Temple of the Moon” is a painted pyramid in the desert, built and inhabited the Moche from the 3rd to the 8th century.
(Click image to enlarge)
Machu Picchu
PERU
Despite the hype, the millions of tourists, and all that flaky new age nonsense, Machu Picchu is an amazing sight to behold.
(Click image to enlarge)
All images © El Pedalero.
Read the article, The Road To Ruin: Biking The Ancient World In Latin America to find out which ruins made El Pedalero’s top three ancient sites.