Machu Picchu (overview) 19 May 2015

This "Lost City of the Incas" is the main reason why people come to Peru.  The citadel of Machu Picchu was built around the 1450s, only to be abandoned a hundred years later.  Spanish conquistadors never found it, and for centuries it stayed hidden.  But in 1911 it was rediscovered by an American historian, Hiram Bingham.

The citadel is built of rock at an altitude of 2350m, on the saddle of a mountain flanked by sheer drops to the Urubamba Valley below.  Experts speculate that it served as a place to worship, a sight for tracking stars, and the 9th Inca emperor, Pachacutec's country hacienda.

On contrary, it stood under the sunny sky, but described as "the mist-cloaked lost city" of the Incas.

I woke up at 4:00, had breakfast at 4:30 and hurried to the bus station in he dark for queuing for the first bus (started at 5:00)

When arrived, people stuck at the entrance.  Without second thought, I joined the crowd and rushed in.  They wanted to climb Machu Picchu before sun rise.

Huayna Picchu in the shade before sunrise from the mountain range
Caretaker's Hut

Then I needed to get out to have toilet visit and to meet my tour guide

Really nice to watch the sunbeam shoot out

Machu Picchu under the morning sunlight

This is Machu Picchu, the hill to be climbed without paying for another ticket

There were lots of beautiful birds.

 

History of Macchu Picchu

Cusco was attacked and ruined in 1533 buth the Spanish could not found this holy city.  In 1911, the city was re-discovered by Hiram Bingham, historian from Yale University.