Archaeological destinations: Machu Picchu, Peru – Part 1

Some say it’s a myth that the Incas never existed on the face of the earth. Others praise the Incas for their ingenious ways of engineering and town planning, and ponder on how this short lived civilization just picked up and disappeared. Were they aliens?

Well, not quite, and there are still limited resources on the Incas that no one can really draw a conclusion. However the evidences are there, that such civilization had once dominated a vast region in South America, and that their presence is still attracting thousands of tourists to visit the once prosper empire.

And such evidence, is the existing lost city of the Incas, the Machu Picchu. Located 2000m above the Sacred Valley surrounded by mountains of bluish haze, the city was never found and destroyed by the Spanish; it was accidentally tripped over by American historian Hiram Bingham and re-introduced the wonder to the world.

Built around 1450, the structures of Machu Picchu is typical Inca with dry stone walls, carved from the surrounding mountains where such large stone boulders exist. Archaeologists praise the quality of engineering of the empire, as each of the stone is carved just enough to fit in with the others in such a way that they support each other without the need for mortar. Their town planning was also beyond their time, with separate sectors well laid out for farming, spiritual temples, residency and stock keeping. Water ducts run throughout the entire complex providing for all the sectors and each are allocated in an area where it can receive the most benefits, whether it be the sun light for the farming, the shades for animal stock and the top of the peak for the spiritual beacon.

Standing among the ruins it is hard to take in just how large this complex, and how remarkable the entire structure is. It’s also hard to imagine how long this would have taken to build, and just how did an entire city, while having escaped Spanish conquerors, decided to just leave. The mystery is, where did they all go?

The Machu Picchu can be reached on a four-day camping trek along the just as famous Inca Trail, which is a road structure connecting every Inca community in the region to the Machu Picchu. A train system has also been built, departing from Cuzco, to cater for travelers who are unable to trek the whole way.

Although there is a limit on the number of people allowed on the Inca Trail, Machu Picchu can be extremely crowded since the opening of the train line allowing tourists to visit this world heritage site the easy way. My best advice is to get there as early as you can, to avoid the crowd that will arrive around 10am in the morning on the train.

Since July 2007, Machu Picchu is part of the New Seven Wonders of the World, also on the list of Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die. A visit is indeed, strongly recommended.