Machu Picchu

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Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu is the most visited tourist
attraction in Peru. It is 70 kms northwest of
Cusco. Machu Picchu was constructed around 1450,
at the height of the Inca empire, and was
abandoned less than 100 years later, as the
empire collapsed under Spanish conquest. The
presence of numerous temples and ritual
structures indicate that Machu Picchu held
spiritual significance for the Inca. Over the
centuries, the surrounding jungle grew
to enshroud the site, and few knew
of its existence. It wasnt until 1911 that
american historian and explorer Hiram Bingham
brought the lost city to the worlds attention.
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Machu Picchu stands in the middle of a tropical
mountain forest, in an extraordinarily beautiful
setting.
It was an amazing urban creation of Inca
Empire at its height its giant
walls, terraces and ramps seem as if
they have been cut
naturally in the continuous rock escarpments.
The natural setting, on the eastern slopes
of the Andes, encompasses the upper Amazon
basin
with its rich diversity of flora
and fauna.
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The space is composed of 140 constructions
including temples, sanctuaries, parks and
residences, houses with thatched roofs.
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Machu Picchu is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
It is Perus most visited tourist
attraction (400,000 in 2003) and major revenue
generator. A no-fly zone exists in the area.
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From the top, at the cliff of Machu Picchu, is a
vertical precipice of 600 meters ending at the
foot of the Urubamba River.
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Machu Picchu is located
about 2,350 meters above sea level. All visits to
Machu Picchu at some point leave from Cusco,
which can be reached via a domestic flight from
Lima, or international flight from La Paz, in
Bolivia.
Many tourists take morning train from Cusco (3.5
hours journey) explore the ruins for a few hours
and return to Cusco in the afternoon. From Puente
Ruinas station buses take tourists up the
mountain to Machu Picchu.
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Thousands of tourists hike the Inca Trail each
year, a two to four day journey on foot from the
Urubamba valley up through the Andes mountain
range. They require
travelers to be reasonably fit. The trip involves
sleeping in tents.
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Bingham and others hypothesized that the citadel
was the traditional birthplace of the Inca people
or the spiritual center of the virgins of the
sun, while curators of a recent exhibit have
speculated that Machu Picchu was a royal retreat.
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All of the construction in Machu Picchu uses the
classic Inca architectural style of polished
dry-stone walls of regular shape. The Incas were
masters of this technique, called ashlar, in
which blocks of stone are cut to fit together
tightly without mortar.
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How they moved and placed enormous blocks of
stones is a mystery, although the general belief
is that they used hundreds of men to push the
stones up inclined planes.
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There are more than one
hundred flights of stone steps
often completely carved
in a single block of granite.
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It is unknown if the Incas left behind any
documentation about building process because the
writing they employed, called khipus, has not
been translated.
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Llamas roam freely over the entire site.
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Llamas keep the grass tidy and are capable of
reaching many spots inaccessible by lawnmowers
or sheep.
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In 1913, the site received significant publicity
after the National Geographic Society
devoted their entire April issue to Machu
Picchu.
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The only hotel is the Machu Picchu Sanctuary
Lodge. You pay US715 (double), a hefty
premium because of the location, location, and
location. Guests of this hotel can enjoy the
magnificent isolation of the sanctuary.