It has been 100 years since Machu Picchu was discovered. Today thousands of tourists visit the site each year, many of them on foot, after four days hiking in the Inca Trail.
The Inca’s had a huge transportation network throughout the Andes. Their kingdom stretched across what is today Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile, nearly the entire western coast of South America. As we traveled through the Andes, we saw ruins of the other kingdoms gobbled up by the Inca’s like the Chimu people in northern Peru (their ruins are incidentally where we saw our first Peruvian hairless dog!).
I love the colors in this photograph. We arrived into Machu Picchu at sunrise, flowing through the gates with 200 other people at 6am. It was well worth it to get there early, by 8am the place was wall to wall people. This picture, taken from within Machu Picchu gives you a good idea of what the surrounding mountainsides are like. You can see the outline of some buildings on the smaller peak to the left of the main peak. Many ruins dot the area around Machu Picchu, the buildings likely were used as security outposts, store houses and relay towers.
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IF YOU GO: June-August is the busiest time of year for Machu Picchu. To hike the Inca trail you need reservations months in advance, as the Peruvian cultural department limits the number of hikers and groups on the train for preservation reasons. Several agencies in Cusco and Lima offer alternative Inca trail treks, these can often be booked on site or only a few days in advance. We hiked the Salkantay Trail to Machu Picchu, got up at 3 am in Aguas Calientes and hiked up to Machu Picchu in the dark in order to get tickets to climb Wayna Picchu. We were exhausted! Most tourists come to Machu Picchu or do the Inca Trail, with a tour group. You should check prices and what’s included with the tour. Cusco is a 24 hour + bus ride from Lima, so you’re best off looking for discount.
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