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Machu Picchu is a complete Inca fortress city, set on a saddle
of a high mountain with terraced slopes falling away. Its altitude is
at 2,350m above sea level and the position stunning. The Urubamba
River can be seen down in the valley winding in hairpin bends below.
You
reach Machu Picchu by a 42 km rail trip from Ollantaytambo, or by a 112km
by rail from Cuzco, or by walking the historic Inca Trail. Bring insect
repellent and suntan lotion. Climate is more humid and hotter than Cuzco.
When
you leave the train at the station, you are brought up a windy 8km long
road by a bus. You can explore the ruins yourself or with a guide.
Machu
Picchu means "Old Peak", and the higher Huayna Picchu ("Young Peak"),
stands vigil over it. Machu Picchu´s remains are in a comparatively good
state of preservation because the Spaniards never found it. It
was buried in the jungle for centuries, until Hiram Bingham discovered
it in 1911. Even after Bingham's discovery, the city remained inaccessible
until the 1940s, when an archaeological expedition working at the site
discovered the Inca Trail cutting through the valley.
Theories
about what happened to the inhabitants range from epidemics to their occupants
being isolated at the time of the fall of the Inca Empire. Excavations
only added to the mystery to what happened to the city. They found 173
skeletons, of which
150 were women. At the tomb of the high priest skeletons of a women
and a dog were found. The women suffered from syphilis.
Machu
Picchu was home to priests, high functionaries, craftsmen and servants
and, most importantly, the mamacunas, or virgins chosen to dedicate
their lives to the sun god.
Nowadays
find altars, temples, terraces and staircases. The Temple of the Three
Windows allows sunlight to pass through its windows to the Sacred
Plaza. At the astronomical observatory there is the Intiwatana,
the curiously-shaped stone block believed to have been a solar clock or,
"the hitching post to the sun", where the sun rays cast shadows used for
the planning of seasonal activities and religious ceremonies. What amazes
architects today is the precision with which building stones were cut
and assembled.
A
steep and perilous path rises from the site to the top of Huayna Picchu.
From the Temple of the Moon, which is at the skirt of the mountain, and
from the summit you have an extraordinary view of the ruins and the Urubamba
Valley.
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