Mysterious Machu Picchu
January 2, 2009We’re up for a 5:30am breakfast at the hotel before walking down to where the buses are constantly relaying people from town to Machu Picchu. Then we’re on the 20 minute trip up through the winding jungle roads of this spectacular mountain country.
6am and we round the corner from the entranceway to Machu Picchu. It’s still cool and early morning mist is shrouding much of the site. Being nearly 2400 metres above sea level, this is more often the case, yet the partly-revealed citadel is still an awesome sight. We’re given a 2 hour guided tour.
Machu Picchu was known of for centuries by local Quechua farmers, but it wasn’t until 24 July 1911, when an 11-year-old local boy led American historian Hiram Bingham to the site, and the rest of the world became aware of its existence. The site was originally covered in thick vegetation – Bingham and his team returned in 1912 and 1915 to clear the growth, and with subsequent restorations over the decades, we now have the Andean Inca city we know today.
Following our guided tour, during which time the mists all lift to reveal the immensity of the site, we’re left to spend the rest of the day taking enjoying it at our own pace.
One of the things I’m most pleasantly surprised about, is that no matter how busy Machu Picchu gets, and it gets very busy as you can imagine, the site is so large that you never feel crowded in, and there’s always a quiet spot to sit and take in the view.
I won’t try to put into words how impressive and atmospheric Machu Picchu is, it’s not possible – you’ll just have to see it for yourself!
We have a birthday dinner in town for one of the girls (Machu Picchu on your birthday – how great is that!), then take our train back to Ollantaytambo to connect with our 45 minute drive to our Cuzco hotel for the night.










































