Machu Picchu, Peru

We arrived in Machu Picchu town on the evening of May 23rd full of excitement for the following morning when we would be visiting the famous Machu Picchu. The only way to get to Machu Picchu town is by train, and luggages are not allowed on the train, so we had to repack our belongings into a small duffel bag and leave our luggages in our hotel in Cusco.

Machu Picchu, otherwise known as the “Lost City of the Incas” is an Inca site built around 1450, and was then abandoned during the Spanish Conquest. The area is about 5 square kilometres and consists of over 200 houses, palaces, temples and many other areas. It was also built high in the mountains (at an altitude of 2,430 metres above sea level) in order to defend the city against attack. I wondered how they were able to get the stones so high up the mountain in order to build the city, but it was explained to me by our tour guide that the mountains provided the Incas with a sort of stone quarry, where they were able to use the huge rocks from the mountain to polish, shape and build their city.

Machu Picchu was unknown to the world until it was discovered by Hiram Bingham, a professor at Yale University in 1911, who traveled to Peru to find the lost city of the Incas. He found Machu Picchu covered in vegetation after being guided by a 12 year old local boy. I can’t even imagine how it must have felt to discover such an amazing place! I had always heard so much about Machu Picchu, and seen photos of how amazing it was, so I was really excited to finally see it for myself! I had been waiting my whole trip for this day!

We awoke the following morning at 4:30am to head to Machu Picchu nice and early! To get to the actual site of Machu Picchu you need to take a 30 minute bus ride up the mountain (or you can hike it). We arrived at the entrance to Machu Picchu to find a long line-up! The government has placed restrictions on the number of tourists entering the site, and now they only allow 2,500 tourists per day, and tickets must be purchased in advance. We were told by our tour manager that to protect the site there is a chance that they will place even more restrictions on the site, and maybe restrict the areas tourists can visit so that tourist will only be able to look upon Machu Picchu from afar and not be able to walk around through the ruins. Hopefully that will never happen, so that generations will still be able to enjoy this beautiful site.

When we finally crossed the entrance gates, and after a 10 minute hike we finally saw Machu Picchu, incredible the Lost City of the Incas! We had arrived so early in the morning that the site was still quite dark and covered in clouds, so we (along with hundreds of other tourists) waited as the sun came up and we watched the clouds clear into a beautifully sunny day.

Once we saw Machu Picchu from afar we climbed down and walked around the ruins of the city.

We were also able to see many of the terraces the Incas built in order to grow their crops.

We also saw some nice wildlife while there:

Around the whole area of Machu Picchu llamas run free, and are (sometimes) friendly.

Showing our excitement for being at Machu Picchu!!

It was an incredible and unforgettable day!