First the history...
In reality Machu Pichu doesn´t hold a large amount of significance in Incan history. Cusco was the true capital of the Incan Empire and yes with Machu Pichu close vicinity to Cusco it did hold its share of wealth and religious sanctuaries. The reason why Machu Pichu is so significant today is because of its relativley undamaged ruins and also because of its relative easiness to access. In reality no one knows the actual towns name, when Hiram Bingham discovered the ruins in 1911 his local porters told him that the true name of the city had been lost but the mountain that the city is built on, along its slope, is called Machu Pichu. In reality Bingham was actually looking for another lost Incan city, Vitcos or Vilcabamba, which was the last stand evidently between the Incans and the Spaniards (the site was eventually found in the 1980s and is larger then Machu Pichu but requires a 2 day trek in and 2 day trek out to get (no roads go anywhere near the ruins). The site was built in the mid 1400s and was probably inhabited for just over a hundred years until the Spanish came through the region. In reality the time the Spaniards came and destroyed the Empire, it was almost on the verge of collapse from civil war. The the mid 15oos when the Emperor died he decided to split the power of Emperor to his two eldest sons. Basically neither of them liked this and for years had been battling each other and basically destroying the empire from within. The reason this site, especially its religious areas, are not destroyed is because it is believed the Spaniards never found Machu Pichu. The legend goes that all 7 entrances to the city were destroyed and the city was basically abandoned. This is why the site is basically in perfect condition, unlike sites we visited in the sacred valley or Cusco which was completely destroyed and rebuilt.
Now what we did...
We continued our early morning wake ups and because we are all cheap instead of paying for the $8 bus ride up to the entrance of Machu Pichu at 6am we decided to start hiking the 1,000+ stairs at 4:30am. When we finally got to the top our group was one of the first groups of people up (my entrance ticket to Machu Pichu said I was the 15th person to enter that day). After eating some muffins I purchased the night before in Aguas Calientes we finally entered the park around 6:30 (the reason we wanted to be there early was so we could get one of the 400 coveted spots to climb Huayna Picchu mountain (the famous mountain you normally see in the background of pictures of Machu Pichu). We headed to a great overlook near the top of the city to watch the sunrise. After the sunrise we went on a 2+ hour tour with our tour guide from the trek and he showed us many interestings sites and gave us a detailed history the Incas and Machu Pichu. One interesting thing we learned during this tour was the city even though it has gone through dozens of earthquakes is relativly protected well from earthquake damage and landslides from heavy rain because of the way the buildings are built angled and also the terraces throughout the site. After our tour we hiked up another I don´t even know how many stairs (well over 500 though) to the top of Huayna Picchu which gives you a great overlook from a different angle of Machu Pichu. We enjoyed our lunch on top of the mountain (which we purchased the night before in the town market). After heading back down and exploring the rest of the site we settled down on a grassy terrace area and just enjoyed the ruins. We also hiked out to this little area around the side of Machu Pichu mountain called the Inca Bridge. Which was one of the entrances to Machu Pichu, that had a large gapping hole that most researchers believed use to have large tree trunks laying across that could be removed in case of attacking armies. The missing bridge today leaves a huge fall of the side of the cliff. Around 5pm we headed back to Aguas Calientes and had about 4 hours to kill before our train left back to Cusco.
Sunrise at Machu Pichu
Early morning
The mountain in the background is Huayna Picchu
Group shot
Llama Love
The Llama doesn´t look amused that I´m trying to kiss him
Terraces
Temple to the Sun God...The windows are exactly lined for the winter and summer solices
Checkout that polished and fitted rocks
The main town square
Several Agricultural Terraces
Huayna Picchu
The Kiwis hiking up Huayna Picchu
View of Machu Pichu from the top of Huayna Picchu
Scary looking bunny/squirrel animal
Sun starting to go down
The Inca Bridge that use to be connected by large logs
View of the Valley we walked down the day before
The famous three windows temple
View from the top of Huayna Picchu down onto Machu Pichu
Main Temple of the complex (behind this is a Lunar Temple, which was partially damaged in the 1990s when a beer company was shooting a commericial and a crane fell)
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