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Published: June 12th 2006
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Machu Picchu is likely the most famous archaeological site in South America if not the world. About 400.000 tourists visit the site per year (at least you’re never alone). It was founded ca. 1440 and was inhabited until the Spanish conquered the Inca Empire. The name Machu Picchu is not the original Inca name for the site as this one was forgotten over the centuries. The name is derived from the mountain the city is built on which simply means “Old Mountain”. The city was more a luxury retreat for the Inca nobility than a normal city and had only a max population of around 750 people. There is no evidence that the Spanish found the city, which explains why so many temples are in such a good shape. The Spaniards had the habit to destroy the temples and reuse them as churches. Locals were living in the ruins but the international rediscovery is attributed to Hiram Bingham in 1911. He was an archaeologist from the Yale University which up to today has many of the artefacts found in the ruins…
There are many ways to get to Machu Picchu. One of the most famous one is to take the “Inca
Me and Machu Picchu
Luckily you can’t see the rest of the tourists :)
In the background you see the mountain Huayna Picchu (the bigger one) which I had to climb to take the other picture
Trail” which is a four day trek which brings you on the last day right into Machu Picchu. Four hundred (yes 400) people start this trek every day, which is the maximum number the government allows but the trek was still fully booked out until July. In theory you could do three other treks which also bring you to Machu Picchu but I wasn’t in the mood to walk around between 2200 and 4000m and was running out of time in Peru.
I did what I call the clever option. First a sacred valley tour, which leaves from Cusco to visit yet another tourist market and the Inca sites of Pisac and Ollantaytambo. After that you get "dumped" at Ollantaytambo where you have to wait for you 8 pm train to Aguas calientes. Aguas calientes is the very touristy town that was built to accommodate the many tourists which visit the site. It is the only town around and is only accessible on foot or by train (This might explain why the train tickets are so expensive). The morning after I got up at 5 to catch a 6 o’clock bus up to the ruins. As usual the city wasn’t
Pisac ruins
Pisac was the administrative centre of the region
built on top of a mountain instead of a convenient location
After this comfortable trip I saw the ruins …. in clouds. Luckily the weather changed quickly and at 8 and from then on I had blue skies. After the compulsory guided tour (well you don’t have to but mine was included in the package) I was are free to roam the ruins alone.
As you might know I’m always a bit sceptic when it comes to major tourist attractions as I always expect a lot and then get disappointed when its not as great as I expected (see Rio). I was a bit reserved about Machu Picchu in the beginning but I’m converted now. The ruins might are not the most impressive I have seen but the combination of the ruins and the setting is very impressive. I spent about 8 hours in the site including climbing up the very steep Huayna Picchu (Young Mountain). The climb is worth it as the view is a classic postcard picture of Machu Picchu.
Not much more to say have a look at the pictures and videos.
There are two videos of Machu Picchu. One from within Machu Picchu
Overview of Machu Picchu
In the background you see the mountain Machu Picchu and one from Huayna Picchu, which gives you an overview of the surroundings. As usual check out here
How to play the videos on how to view it.
Next stop Lake Titicaca
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