Machu Picchu

Well this visit to Machu Picchu (MP) over 3 days deserves its own posting - as it was a truly amazing place and one that Ian has wanted to visit for many, many years. We caught the Velodrome train to MP town from Ollytaytambo, which took 90 mins along the edge of theriver/valley with enormous peaked mountains around us, with our guide Hose. We dropped our bags at the fabulous Inka Terra hotel in MP town and went to queue for the bus. The bus took you to the top of MP and took 25 mins of windy roads to the top!!

When you get there the climb to the very top is very tiring due to the altitude but when we got to the top the view was incredible. The actual MP Inca town was built between 2 huge mountains called New and Old Mountain (MP means old mountain). There is a small flat piece between the 2 mountains and that is where they built MP with vertial drops on both sides. They say that at its most MP probably housed 1500 people at most so it is not huge huge. But how the Incas built it you will never know. It is built into the mountain, with the mountain rock in places and perfectly fitted stone - smoothed to stick together (like glass) as they did not have cement. You have to see it to believe it.

MP was linked in with the Inca trails and so there were 2 ways to get to the main gate - the only entrance to the main MP town. It is estimated that MP took around 100 yrs to build and was not finished when the Spanish invaded the Inca territories (but never found MP itself!). It was not known why or when the Incas left MP for the last time but there were still unfinished stonework and areas where houses are not finished - so it is assumed they left in a hurry - probably to make sure the Spanish never found it.

MP was found in 1911 by Hiram Bingham - an American professor. He found it whilst looking for the real last Inca town - Vilcabamba. He came across some locals who said 2 families lived up there and it was very overgrown with jungle when he found it. A boy showed him round MP from one of the families.

No-one really knows what it is. The historians and clever people cannot really agree. It has a very religious feel to it with altars and temples to the Moon, the Sun to every mountain around so it feels like it was a religious centre. The guide books will tell you it was a summer palace for the Emperor and his court - others tell you it was a city to protect and attack the Amazon people (whom the Incas never liked) using MP as a base. Many guides have their own versions - it could also have been never inhabited because it was not really finished. This mystery makes MP all the more interesting.

Ian went round 4 times in total and actually you can convince yourself that each of the stories is true in its own right - but it is amazing that no-one knows - the Incas did not write things down and so the knowledge of the Incas was lost when the Spanish killed all of the "court" of the Incas.

What is not under negotiation is the amazing feat of the skilled building work. I am sure our builders at home in London will do as well with our building work as the Incas did with theirs - but the Incas did not use wheels and had only manpower and no tools. So to create this MP town in a mountain is truly incredible. No wonder it took so long - but still amazing that there could have been 35 or so other towns like MP around the inca empire - it is amazing they had time to conquer as well as build. (Some quarrys were on top of mountains 13 miles away from the towns built!! One archaeologist tested moving a 4 ton stone from this quarry to the position it was situated in a town 13 miles away - it took 400 men 6 weeks to do one stone!!!)

MP really does have to be seen to be believed - it is spooky too to think the Inca Emperors could have lived there - with human sacrifices happening on their altars! The scenery around with the mountains, the air, the way the sun falls on the city and the fact it is between two huge mountains in the middle of taller mountains in the Andes just make this an incredible place to visit.

We all enjoyed the visit - although Ian was terrified with Megan and the rather large drops! So Sheena, sam & toby climbed up to the Sun Gate - the main gate entrance 90 mins walk uphill away from MP - which they enjoyed without their Dad moaning about the heights. You can also climb up Huachu Picchu (New Mountain) which also has ruins on top of it! but you need ropes and to hang on to step ladders - so probably another time for the boys on that one!!

MP new town is a bit of a mess although has character. We stayed at the Inka Terra Hotel - which we voted one of the nicest hotels we had stayed in to date. Partly cos we were upgraded and had a small swimming pool in each suite!!! but also because the hotel had a real Inca history feel to it and the staff were very helpful and friendly.

We left MP felt we had really all done it well - we would highly recommend staying at the Inka Terra hotel in town rather than the smaller Sanctuary hotel at the top of MP. But definitely a must-do visit. Maybe next time we will do the Inca trail 4-day walk to it - Megan not up to it this year!!