Machu Picchu

Forty kilometers (25 miles) west of Cuzco is Machu Picchu, the best-known and most spectacular historic site on the American continent. Despite the relentless stampede of tourists (especially during the dry season months, June to September), this 'Lost City of the Incas' still retains an air of grandeur and mystery.

We took the Peru Rail from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes, which is a village at the bottom of the Machu Picchu citadel. It was a comfortable 3 hour trip. The train zigzags up the mountains in Cuzco, and then straight on to Aguas Calientes. From there, it was another 30 minutes bus ride up into the mountains to the historic site. This route of access is a narrow road, with hairpin turns, which zigzags up the mountain. Our bus driver (like any other one there) was a maniac, but we arrived and returned all in one piece.      

History
The ruins of Machu Picchu, rediscovered in 1911, are one of the most beautiful and enigmatic ancient sites in the world. The Inca people lived on the Andean mountain top and erected many hundreds of stone structures. Legends and myths indicate that Machu Picchu (meaning 'Old Peak' in the Quechua language) was revered as a sacred place. The Inca turned the site into a small (5 square miles) but extraordinary city. Invisible from below and completely self-contained, surrounded by agricultural terraces sufficient to feed the population of 1,200 and watered by natural springs, Machu Picchu seems to have been utilized by the Inca as a secret ceremonial city.

Few people outside the Inca’s closest retainers were actually aware of Machu Picchu’s existence. Before the Spanish conquistadors arrived, the smallpox spread ahead of them. Fifty percent of the population had been killed by the disease by 1527. The government began to fail, part of the empire seceded and it fell into civil war. So by the time Pizarro, the Inca’s conquerer, arrived in Cuzco in 1532, Machu Picchu was already forgotten and was never discovered by the Spanish conquistadors.

The Incas planted crops such as potatoes and maize at Machu Picchu. To get the highest yield possible, they used advanced terracing and irrigation methods to reduce erosion and increase the area available for cultivation. However, it probably did not produce a large enough surplus to export agricultural products to Cuzco, the Incan capital.

The houses had steep thatched roofs and trapezoidal doors; windows were unusual. The houses, in groups of up to ten gathered around a communal courtyard, or aligned on narrow terraces, were connected by narrow alleys. At the center were large open squares; livestock enclosures and terraces for growing maize stretched around the edge of the city.

The buildings, carved from the gray granite of the mountain top are wonders of both architectural and aesthetic genius. Many of the building blocks weigh 50 tons or more yet are so precisely sculpted and fitted together with such exactitude that the mortarless joints will not permit the insertion of even a thin knife blade.

Aguas Calientes
The people in the village below, who are mostly from different areas of the Andean mountains, all live directly or indirectly from the influx of tourists who visit Machu Picchu each day. The different stands of street vendors offer a varied and colorful mixture of products, including fresh food products for the locals to other items which are more of interest to tourists.

Summing up of our Peru trip
Lima, was great, just like any Latin American city. Cuzco was a bit different because of the high altitude and the friendly Quencha Indian people. Hotels were clean and modern. Food was ridiculously cheap, especially in Cuzco. We never got sick.

Machu Picchu was the highlight of our trip. We had an excellent guide, who brought the stories to life.

We would recommend this trip to all. We booked our trip with analietours.com