A beautiful view of the ancient city

03/2002

Machu Picchu sites over 7,000 feet above sea level - 03/2002

A lot of the original vegetation still grows

03/2002

Me on top on Huanya Picchu after the tiring 1 hour climb

03/2002

Maccu Picchu

Maccu Picchu is the most exotic and beautiful of all the Inca Citadel ruins.  Discovered in 1911 by American Yale professor Hiram Bingham still in almost perfect condition.  The site has only had 10% of the architecture reconstructed.  Located high world renown for its enchanted location lying in a terraced plateau between two mountain peaks surrounded by forested mountains with the Urubamba River snaking far below. In the distance the glacial peaks of the Andes Mountains is visible in all directions. Machu Picchu is accessible only by train, helicopter or the famous Inca Trail with its breath taking vistas and high passes. Accommodations are at the foot of mountain at a village called Aguas Calientes, named after the hot spring pools at the edge of town.

   Machu Picchu was a complex of temples, palaces and observatories and was the home of the Inca ruling classes. From here, high priests made observations and calculations enabling them to chart the heavens - a knowledge which gave them both religious authority and temporal power.

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A beautiful side view of the citadel

03/2002