A 4:00 start, 1870 steps up and patiently waiting in line with hundreds of other tourists and I finally get to Machu Picchu. I've wanted to come here ever since I read 'The Incredible Incas' at the age of eight. I'm surpised to find out that I'm more impressed by the loction of the ruins than the ruins themselves - they look like a natual part of the landscape, as though they have grown out of the mountain. The ruins are also, of course, amazing.
Wedged between Machu Picchu (old mountain) and Wayna Picchu (young mountain), no one actually knows the original name of the ruins themselves, nor their purpose or function. Thought to have been abandoned when the Spanish invaded, local people kept the city's existence a secret until it was 'discovered' by American historian Hiram Bingham whilst looking for the 'last city of the Incas'. He thought he had found it when a local boy took him to the ruins, although it was later discoved that Vilcabama, in what is now Ecuador, was the Inca's last stronghold against the Spanish.
Some historians claim that the city was a holiday destination or an attempt to showcase and preserve Incan culture. Our guide Abi subscribes to the theory that it was a religious center - based on its location, the high quality of stone work and ornamentation and the number of temples within the city , particularly the Temple of the Condor.
In the Incan belief system Pacha Mamma, Mother Earth, is divided into three levels, each represented by an animal. The condor represents the sky, the upper level of the gods. The puma represents the middle level of humans and the snake represents the underworld. It is thought that the reason for Machu Picchu's spectacular, if precarious, location is in order to be as close to the sky as possible.
Abi dispels lots of myths surrounding Machu Picchu - for example when it was 'discovered' and by whom. She shows us a date and two names carved on a rock which were altered by Hiram Bingham when he realised that people had been there before him but after the Incas. Although revered by archaeologists and historians, Peruvians see Hiram Bingham as another invader of their land, history and treasures. Thousands of relics were taken from Machu Picchu to American museums as a 'loan' and have yet to be returned. The first Machu Picchu guide, the local boy who took Bigham to the site, was paid just one Soles.
Lots of other mistakes were made by the first people to study Machu Picchu, who had little knowledge of Incan history. The Sun Temple was mistaken for a royal tomb, despite the fact that no human remains were ever found there and the perfect alignment of the sun through its windows during the solstice. What was originally recorded as a sun dial is actually connected to the passing of the seasons, not a day.
After our tour with Abi we are free to explore the site ourselves. I had originally planned to climb to the Sun Gate, the main entrance to the city, with views over the whole of Machu Picchu. As soon as I set off mist comes rolling in from the valley and completely obscuring the ruins for minutes at a time, before blowing away again.
Not willing to trek for another hour to look at fog (I can do that in England) I walk to the Inca bridge. The narrow path hugs the sheer cliff face before arriving at an equally narrow wooden bridge. Although not made of the carefully cut stones as the rest of the city, the path is an equally incredible piece of engineering.
As the day wears on late comers fill the site, making exploring feel less and less like exploring so, having spent a good five hours there our group begins the climb down to Aguas Calientes in time for lunch and our train back to Cusco.
Wedged between Machu Picchu (old mountain) and Wayna Picchu (young mountain), no one actually knows the original name of the ruins themselves, nor their purpose or function. Thought to have been abandoned when the Spanish invaded, local people kept the city's existence a secret until it was 'discovered' by American historian Hiram Bingham whilst looking for the 'last city of the Incas'. He thought he had found it when a local boy took him to the ruins, although it was later discoved that Vilcabama, in what is now Ecuador, was the Inca's last stronghold against the Spanish.
Above: Wayna Picchu
Some historians claim that the city was a holiday destination or an attempt to showcase and preserve Incan culture. Our guide Abi subscribes to the theory that it was a religious center - based on its location, the high quality of stone work and ornamentation and the number of temples within the city , particularly the Temple of the Condor.
Above: Amazing stonework
In the Incan belief system Pacha Mamma, Mother Earth, is divided into three levels, each represented by an animal. The condor represents the sky, the upper level of the gods. The puma represents the middle level of humans and the snake represents the underworld. It is thought that the reason for Machu Picchu's spectacular, if precarious, location is in order to be as close to the sky as possible.
Above: Sacrifice table in the Temple of the Condor
Abi dispels lots of myths surrounding Machu Picchu - for example when it was 'discovered' and by whom. She shows us a date and two names carved on a rock which were altered by Hiram Bingham when he realised that people had been there before him but after the Incas. Although revered by archaeologists and historians, Peruvians see Hiram Bingham as another invader of their land, history and treasures. Thousands of relics were taken from Machu Picchu to American museums as a 'loan' and have yet to be returned. The first Machu Picchu guide, the local boy who took Bigham to the site, was paid just one Soles.
Lots of other mistakes were made by the first people to study Machu Picchu, who had little knowledge of Incan history. The Sun Temple was mistaken for a royal tomb, despite the fact that no human remains were ever found there and the perfect alignment of the sun through its windows during the solstice. What was originally recorded as a sun dial is actually connected to the passing of the seasons, not a day.
Above: 'Sundial'
After our tour with Abi we are free to explore the site ourselves. I had originally planned to climb to the Sun Gate, the main entrance to the city, with views over the whole of Machu Picchu. As soon as I set off mist comes rolling in from the valley and completely obscuring the ruins for minutes at a time, before blowing away again.
Not willing to trek for another hour to look at fog (I can do that in England) I walk to the Inca bridge. The narrow path hugs the sheer cliff face before arriving at an equally narrow wooden bridge. Although not made of the carefully cut stones as the rest of the city, the path is an equally incredible piece of engineering.
As the day wears on late comers fill the site, making exploring feel less and less like exploring so, having spent a good five hours there our group begins the climb down to Aguas Calientes in time for lunch and our train back to Cusco.
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