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Published: June 10th 2008
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A short history lesson ; )
Machu Picchu means in Quechua "old mountian".
Our guide could tell us that the constructions started around 1450-60. When the Spanish conquistadores arrived, the Incas abandoned the place without finishing the buildings. This was around 1536. From then it was a secret until Hiram Bingham "discovered" it in 1911.
It's situated just 80 km from Cuscu, the Inca capital, but was never found and plundered by the Spanish. The jungel grew over Machu Picchu and the Incas destroyed part of the trails from Cusco.
When Bingham "found" the place some local people had already been living there for 10-15 years. It was these people who showed him the place.
Our guide also told us that Bingham payed 1 sole (0,40USD?) to the person who showed him the place. He also brought a lot of the treasures back to USA and Yale University. Time to give it back, maybe!!!?? (By the way; I think they might have found a solution on that now...)
Wayna Picchu (2600m)
We started the day with climbing up to Wayna Picchu. It's an restriction of only 400 people each day, so it was best to start
Or this??
Wayna Picchu in the background early.
It's a steep climb, but you get some great views over Machu Picchu from the top!
After taken loads of pictures, enjoyed the sun and the view, I took the trail on the backside leading down to the temple of the moon. It was another steep trail, but downhill this time. I just got more and more impressed the more I explored this place! And I still wonder about how they managed to build allt this!
Machu Picchu (2400m)
At 2400 meter and on a mountain ridge 600 meters above the Urubamba Valley, which we walked in the day before, it's just a stunning location!
And the stunning location is a perfect place to defend as well. With steep hillsides, an almost impassable mountain at its back, good food production oportunities and water supply.
The whole place is filled with symboles which was important for the Incas. Temple of the sun, temple of the moon, a "pumaface" on Wayna Picchu, a small "copy" of MP on a stone (see the picture) and more. This was one of the reasons that MP was built right here.
The Inca's itself wasn't the best architects or stone
builders, but they used the knowledge of the people they had conquered in the Inca empire. In this case the Tiwanacu's around Lake Titicaca. And after one day here I can easily say that they were masters of this kind of work!
All the details they made, all the houses, stairs, temples, water channels and so on...it's crazy!!
MP is parted in to two main areas; one agricultural and one urban sector.
Last year Machu Picchu was chosen to be among the "New Seven Wonders of the World"
Inca Bridge
The last place I visited was the Inca bridge a 15 minutes walk from MP. I followed a path which was both narrow and had hugh steeps on the side. The bridge is on a rock face with a 570 meter drop to the bottom. By moving the bridge, it would be almost impossible to entry MP from that side!
You have to go here and have a look yourself! It's much better than all the pictures you probably have seen!!
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