The Inca Ruins

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Visited many ruins left from Inca empire around Cuzco and finally got to see the most renowned ruins, Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu, sometimes called the "Lost City of the Incas", is a well-preserved Inca ruin located on a high mountain ridge. It was forgotten for centuries by the outside world and was only rediscovered in 1911. Wanted to do the Inca Trail to reach the Macu Picchu, but due to high demand, we could not get ourselves the necessary permit to do the trail. We took the easy way, that is to take the tourist train from Cuzco to Machu Picchu.

Arrived at Machu Picchu at 6 plus in the morning. It´s the best to see the site at it´s most serene moment. It is amazing to imagine how the Incans could produce such fine achitecture with just stones and chisel. The buildings are put together by tightly fitted stones with no mortar at all. No wonder it took them 400 years to build the Machu Picchu. And the Incans are very good at astrology, with many of their altars and temples revolving much about how the sun ray falls onto where.

We managed to climb up to Huayna Picchu (a mountain top opposite the Machu Picchu) to get a bird´s eye view of Machu Picchu. Everyday, only 400 pax are allowed. The climb up was rather steep but I thought it was definitely worth it to view Machu Picchu from there. Felt like the pictures of Machu Picchu in books have suddenly came alive, esp when we went up to the terraces to catch the classic view of Machu Picchu. We are finally here! The much talked about Machu Picchu!

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Photos

Machu Picchu
From Huayna Picchu

Machu Picchu
The typical scene