The Lost City of the Incas

I had pins and needles on the drive up the mountain that morning as we prepared to recalibrate our sense of wonderment.

Machu Picchu has an enchanting story from the little that we do know about it's history. For some reason, the city was somewhat forgotten and thus spared from the Spanish invaders (they seemed to deface or build right on top of all other sacred sites). On arrival the ancient citadel stands mightily intact without the usual ravages of conquistadors or tomb robbers. But most of all it was the audacity that struck me - how could the Incans ever dare to build a city all the way up here, almost balancing in the clouds between two prominent peaks, with the river Urubamba wrapping around the whole mountain so far below.

The most dramatic of Incan citadels lies suspended on elaborate terraces, saddled between Waynu Picchu and Machu Picchu.

It was 99 years ago when Hiram Bingham was clued-in by local villagers in the valley that there was a lost city up there, before making the discovery of a lifetime. In truth, he had set out looking for a completely different site and thought he found the Incan's final stronghold of Villacamba. However this has since been shown to be Espiritu Pampa in the jungle. Nevertheless this was a fantastic find. As the re-discovery story goes, a local boy guided Bingham up to the site where the Inca trail climaxed. Bingham was surprised to find some mountain farmers tending to small bits of crops and livestock in parts of the city ruins.

A mystery overgrown and untouched - Perhaps Machu Picchu was an abandoned city long before the Spanish conquerors arrived, or, simply a holiday retreat for the Incan nobility that was similarly left and forgotten at the time of invasion.

We felt so lucky to have dedicated 2 days of time and money (thanks to the 50% off from our ISIC cards). Some people may have paid big bucks for a private guide or a fancy hotel. For us, a second day up on Machu Picchu was the greatest luxury of all. It also meant there was less pressure to see it all in one go.

So the first day was pure exploration. Now I was worried that one of the greatest tourist attractions would be just a little overcrowded. Luckily there weren't to many people and much of the time we were alone enough to feel like we were actually exploring the site. To my surpise the city was larger than I had imagined, and I continued to be amazed at how much it was intact. It seemed that all that was missing was the that he'd roofs.

Geo-sacred site - The amazingly preserved citadel was both used as an important religous temple site and an agricultural (perhaps experimental) growing center.

Many legends and theories about the positioning of Machu Picchu exist. Most agree that it was built here due to the agricultural influences, astronomy and sacred geography. One of the first things that was impressed upon us were the terraces that line the steep hill on the front end of the city, round all the sides and right down to the valley if you look far enough. These farming terraces were probably carefully calibrated for different crops, since the incans may have experimented to find that at this altitude they strikingly vary in temperature from one to the next by several degrees! The city boasts agricultural warehouses and industrial sectors to help supply a decent amount of sacred coca and maize to the Incan nobles. The numerous temple precincts also clearly show that this was a spiritual centre. What is unmistakable is that the Incans followed religious beliefs that were tighty knit with their agriculturally advanced society. The praise to the sun and worship of mother earth was a faith very practical to their daily lives. This religion did not seem to discredit science but rather was based on short-term advancement in the daily lives of people who lived off the land.

Further we went through districts separated by a series of plazas. We passed working drains, fountains, and baths that were integrated into the streets and richer homes. As we got farther into the heart of the city we could see that stonework quality was becoming incredibly refined. This in all Incan sites is a sign of holy and high society neighborhoods. Windows were of the typical trapezoidal shape - an effective support against earthquakes.

Steph's Dad, Dave, made sure we would get to the bottom of how the Incans could harness and use wayer systems - a question I put to every guide at each Incan site we visited. We had seen streams that had been diverted and funneled into showers and baths elsewhere in the sacred valley. The answer was somewhere between water tanks, dams and the obvious use of gravity on these mountain inclines.

A diverted stream feeds a series of 16 connected baths that cascade along one stairway, after running through a noble home that had it's own running water tap.

We continued to explore. Steph tapped her foot on what sounded like secret hollow chambers. What could be hidden below in sucha large chamber? I found a great picnic spot for our packed lunch - trust me the cafe at the entrance was not in our budget!

The walk to the Inca bridge along the narrowest of pathways was a prequel to the impossibly vertical cliffs of tomorrow's climb. How on earth dis the incans even dare to make bridges, paths and stairs in mountain walls that seemed like to pushe even more than 90 degrees.

Late in the evening we nearly got lost in the vast network of industrial and residential neighborhoods. We got quite a shock to find the only other face to peer round a doorway was one of the llamas, who had strayed to the far end of the city and was now starring us right in the face.

I can't tell you how many of the people we talked to were spiritual visitors including an Irish shamen, American church doctors, and a Finish scientific healer / yoga instructor - all of whom were lovely to talk to and understand what made this the trip of a lifetime for them too. Many more of the people we saw were here to perform their own interpretation of sun worship and absorbtion of the apparently strong magnetism that is unique to Machu Picchu. As for us, I think that there were a combination of factors that made today a complete magical exploration. The first was the absolutely indescribable location. Then there was our ability to investigate with a total sense of adventure - not one stone was was roped off or distorted from the day it was abandoned. Finally the detailed construction of a city here at the end of the Inca Trail continued to feed our immagination.

What will be priceless is the return visit tomorrow to solidify this memory.