Machu Picchu is located in the Urubamba province, 80km from Cusco. To get to Machu Picchu we had to take a 2 hour bus ride from Cusco to the train station and then a 2 hour train ride to the town below Machu Picchu called Aguas Calientes. We then took a 20 minute bus ride up the mountain, 7970 feet above sea level. The road was really skinny and the cliff dropped off about half a metre beside you. Machu Picchu is actually the name of the mountain located behind the city, it means "Old Mountain". It is called old mountain because the mountain is leaning to one side. The Incas believed that young mountains grew straight up. 
The Incas began building Machu Picchu in the mid 1400's, construction was never completed because the Incas were continually adding new buildings. When the Spanish came to Peru the Inca's were worried that they were going to over throw the city so they fled Machu Picchu in 1572, taking everything with them (including their ancestral mummies). However, there was no record of the Spanish ever finding Machu Picchu. Our tour guide thinks that the most realistic explanation for this was that the Spanish were told that the Incas had deserted the city so there was no need for the Spanish to find and conquer Machu Picchu as there was no reward in it for them. The city was rediscovered in 1911 by archaeologist Hiram Bingham.
Machu Picchu was built to honour a sacred landscape, the mountains are almost completely surrounded by the Urubamba River which comes from the Andes and also flows into the Amazon. The Inca's called the river Vilcamayo meaning "sacred river". The rising and the setting of the sun aligns with the religiously significant surrounding mountains during solstices (the longest day and the shortest day of the the year) and during equinoxes (the two days of the year when day and night are exactly equal). The Southern Cross or "Chacana" was one of the most important constellations to the Incas as the stars in the constellation represented the spirits of the animals that lived on earth. When the Southern Cross at its highest point in the sky it is directly above the mountains of Machu Picchu. The stars were so sacred to the Incas that they wouldn't look at them directly, they would only look at the stars in reflecting pools that they carved out of stone and filled with water.
The sun was also precious to the Incas, when the sun set in the long winters they were worried that it would never return. When the sun was the furthest from the earth they would perform ceremonies and "tie" the sun to a sacred Intihutana (a hitching post made from stone) preventing the sun from going any further and ensuring its return. They would also tie a llama to the Intihutana and sacrifice it to Inti the sun god. Although human sacrifices occurred it was much more common to offer animal, liquid and dirt sacrifices to the gods. These offerings were made at the alter of the Condor and other sacrificial alters within Machu Picchu. Offerings are still made today at Machu Picchu by members of the New Age Andean religion.
Machu Picchu is made up of over 200 buildings as well as the many terraces scaling the mountains. Terraces were used to plant crops like corn, pumpkin, squash and potatoes. Incans had a gluten free diet because they grew no wheat, they had issues with their bones such as osteoporosis because they continually chewed coca leaves which stopped them absorbing calcium. Machu Picchu is roughly divided into an urban sector and an agricultural centre as well as an upper town and lower town. Only about 800 people lived in the city at a time. The temples are in the upper sector where the hierarchy lived and the warehouses are in the lower sector where the common people lived. There was also a huge tower built out of stone that is assumed to have been used as a look out tower for defence by Incan scouts that were able to see enemies from far away. Machu Picchu was built with drystone walls with no mortor. It has survived many earthquakes. They say it wasn't finished as the Incas kept building and adding new things to this wonderful city all the time just like we do today with our own cities today.
Machu Picchu was an awesome experience, it was a strange and mysterious feeling being above the clouds. Machu Picchu is a phenomenon of architecture and engineering that we would struggle to build today. Many of the resources used in the construction of Machu Picchu had to be brought in from other areas including all of the soil since the mountains are made of rock. They also transported pink granite and other special materials from different mountains, everything was done by hand. The Incas piped in their water supply by building stone channels to the city from the mountains above. They also built a drainage system throughout the city and the terraces to drain away excess water. The Incas were way ahead of their time to build something so sophisticated and breathtaking as Machu Picchu. Drew
P.S. thanks for coming with us Aunty Nic, you're awesome - and thanks Uncle Rus, Maddy and Reese for suprising her with a ticket - you guys rock!
The sun was also precious to the Incas, when the sun set in the long winters they were worried that it would never return. When the sun was the furthest from the earth they would perform ceremonies and "tie" the sun to a sacred Intihutana (a hitching post made from stone) preventing the sun from going any further and ensuring its return. They would also tie a llama to the Intihutana and sacrifice it to Inti the sun god. Although human sacrifices occurred it was much more common to offer animal, liquid and dirt sacrifices to the gods. These offerings were made at the alter of the Condor and other sacrificial alters within Machu Picchu. Offerings are still made today at Machu Picchu by members of the New Age Andean religion. Machu Picchu is made up of over 200 buildings as well as the many terraces scaling the mountains. Terraces were used to plant crops like corn, pumpkin, squash and potatoes. Incans had a gluten free diet because they grew no wheat, they had issues with their bones such as osteoporosis because they continually chewed coca leaves which stopped them absorbing calcium. Machu Picchu is roughly divided into an urban sector and an agricultural centre as well as an upper town and lower town. Only about 800 people lived in the city at a time. The temples are in the upper sector where the hierarchy lived and the warehouses are in the lower sector where the common people lived. There was also a huge tower built out of stone that is assumed to have been used as a look out tower for defence by Incan scouts that were able to see enemies from far away. Machu Picchu was built with drystone walls with no mortor. It has survived many earthquakes. They say it wasn't finished as the Incas kept building and adding new things to this wonderful city all the time just like we do today with our own cities today. Machu Picchu was an awesome experience, it was a strange and mysterious feeling being above the clouds. Machu Picchu is a phenomenon of architecture and engineering that we would struggle to build today. Many of the resources used in the construction of Machu Picchu had to be brought in from other areas including all of the soil since the mountains are made of rock. They also transported pink granite and other special materials from different mountains, everything was done by hand. The Incas piped in their water supply by building stone channels to the city from the mountains above. They also built a drainage system throughout the city and the terraces to drain away excess water. The Incas were way ahead of their time to build something so sophisticated and breathtaking as Machu Picchu. Drew P.S. thanks for coming with us Aunty Nic, you're awesome - and thanks Uncle Rus, Maddy and Reese for suprising her with a ticket - you guys rock!
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