We departed Ollantaytambo by
train, early in the morning, destined for Aquas Caliente which is the closest
neighbouring town to Machu Picchu and only accessible by train, there are no
cars.
We checked into our hotel, the
Inca Town, and by 9:30 am our guide had arrived and we were on our way up the
mountain via shuttle bus. The 30 minute
switch back ride took us to an elevation of 2,430 meters (above sea level) and
the entrance to the Machu Picchu site.
Quite interestingly, Machu
Picchu is not mentioned in any of the chronicles of the Spanish Conquistadors. Apart from a couple of German adventurers in
the 1860’s, who apparently looted the site with the Peruvian government’s
permission, nobody apart from local Quechua people know of Machu Picchu’s existence
until American historian Hiram Bingham was guided to it by locals in 1911.
You can read about Bingham’s
own account of his “discovery” in the classic book Inca Land: Explorations in
the Highlands of Peru, first published in 1922 and now available as a free
download from Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org)
FYI, I just opened up MSNBC
website and read of the 10 most sacred and endangered spots on Earth and there
was Machu Picchu... I copied a portion of the article for your reading pleasure
below,
“any moment now, we could lose Machu Picchu, Peru"
UNESCO called Machu Picchu's
problems "urgent," and rampant tourism is the biggest threat to
Peru's main attraction. Last year marked the centennial of Machu Picchu's
"discovery" by Yale history lecturer Hiram Bingham; 1 million
visitors descended on the site, up 30 percent from 2010. With more visitors
comes more construction in nearby towns like Aguas Calientes (already packed
with hotels and restaurants), straining the fragile land: riverbanks are
erosion-prone, and landslides and fires also threaten the site.
Ironically, Peru's economy
depends on visitors. About 90 percent of the country's tourist revenue comes
from this region and 175,000 local people make their living directly from Machu
Picchu tourism. When heavy rains and landslides forced the site to close for
two months in 2010, a $200 million loss ensued. Losing Machu Picchu is more
than economic. Built as an Andes Mountain retreat for Incan ruler Pachacuti in
1450, the stone city is packed with clues that shed light on ancient Incan
civilization. Archeological efforts are still ongoing, and new discoveries
include cemeteries, roads and a series of agricultural terraces.
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Machu Picchu, one of the Man-made Wonders of the World
The sun is shining on a Perfect Day!
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To try to sum up our visit to
Machu Picchu is very difficult. There is
just so much to see we were in Awe...it was almost like sensory overloading. The beauty of the surroundings, the majesty
of the site itself and the splendor of the overall stillness was akin to a
spiritual experience. We spent one full
day just viewing the ruins. If you want
to include any hiking you need more time.
This place offers a life experience and one not to be missed. Put it on your bucket list today!
From here we return to Ollantaytambo
for a nite before returning to Cusco for our flight to Puerto Maldonado our
gateway to the Amazon jungle.
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