Machu Picchu - the temple of Tourism

 Another Wonder of the World

Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres above the sea level.
The Incas built the estate around 1450, but abandoned it as an official site for the Inca rulers a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham.
Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

 Ancient ruins

The site is built on and around mountains that hold high religious importance in the Inca culture and in the previous culture that occupied the land. At the highest point of the mountain in which Machu Picchu was named after, there are “artificial platforms and these had a religious function, as is clear from the Inca ritual offerings found buried under them.

View today:



View in 1911 before restoration:



Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary structures are the Intihuatana (Hitching post of the Sun), the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. 
The Temple of the Sun  is a curved and tapering tower. It appears to be used for astronomical purposes. 

Hiram Bingham theorized that the complex was the traditional birthplace of the Incan "Virgins of the Suns". the site was selected because of its position relative to sacred landscape features such as its mountains which are purported to be in alignment with key astronomical events important to the Incas.



The Intihuatana ("hitching post of the sun") is believed to have been designed as an astronomic clock or calendar by the Inca astronomers. They were able to predict  the solstices using the angles of the pillar.

The sculpture carved out from the rock bottom of the sun temple is interpreted as "Water mirrors for observing the sky"



As part of their road system, the Incas built a road to the Machu Picchu region. Today, tens of thousands of tourists walk the Inca Trail to visit Machu Picchu each year. They congregate at Cusco before starting on the two-, four- or five-day journey on foot from Kilometer 82 or Kilometer 104 (two-day trip) near the town of Ollantaytambo in the Urubamba valley, walking up through the Andes mountain range to the isolated city.

Sacred geography

  Machu Picchu is situated 80 kilometres northwest of Cusco, in the valley of the Urubamba River. Archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of Inca civilization.

The city sits in a saddle between the two mountains Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu, with a commanding view down two valleys and a nearly impassable mountain at its back. It has a water supply from springs that cannot be blocked easily, and enough land to grow food for about four times as many people as ever lived there.

The hillsides leading to it have been terraced, not only to provide more farmland to grow crops, but to steepen the slopes which invaders would have to ascend. The terraces reduced soil erosion and protected against landslides.Two high-altitude routes from Machu Picchu go across the mountains back to Cusco, one through the sun gate, and the other across the Inca bridge. Regardless of its original purpose, it is strategically located and readily defended.

residential section

Inca's architects accuracy - trapezoidal windows

Puzzle-style stonework:

Practical advices

 This trip isn't the cheapest, so you want to plan ahead to get your money's worth. So, to start off, this trip will cost you about $250 to $300 per person once you get to Cusco Peru. All of your ticket purchases and some others will ask for your passport or at least the number. Have it handy.

Next, you will need to buy three separate tickets: first from Cusco to Aguas Calientes by Peru Rail. Currently this part of the trip is in two parts, a bus from Cusco to Urumbamba, 1hr 45 min, where you get the train to Aguas Calientes 1hr 45 min. You can get all the information and purchase the tickets online by Peru Rail at perurail.com.  They speak English. When you buy the round trip tickets, don't skimp, this is a beautiful train ride. GET THE VISTADOME! :) Also ask for seats on the side of the train facing the river. A small meal/snack is served both ways on the train and you get a little show on the return trip.

Second ticket is the bus ticket from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu, 45 min ride zigzag up the side of the mountain. This ticket can only be purchased at the bus stop and is a round trip ticket. Last ticket that must be purchased IN ADVANCE, is the Machu Picchu park pass that can only be bought from the government of Peru on their website: machupiccu.gob.pe. they do limit the number of entries, so as soon as you know when you are going, buy the tickets.

The best way of doing the Machu Picchu itself in our opinion is to get a guide at the actual entrance to the park, or do some homework ahead of time and enter without a guide and just enjoy yourself without a schedule. If you would like a guide, get a private guide. There are plenty of them at the entrance to the park for 30 to 60 dollars. You can haggle with prices, there are several guides there, so they will be competing against each other for your $.

Our Guide in Machu Picchu

Sources: Lonely Planet, Trip Advisor, Wikipedia, our guides.