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Machu Picchu in Peru is one of the most popular tourist attractions in South America.
Found in the Cusco Region of Peru, Machu Picchu was built between 1450 and 1460.
The main attraction in Machu Picchu is the ruins of a citadel with over 150 different buildings.
Machu Picchu roughly translates to “old mountain” in the Quechua language.
The name is fitting, since the citadel sits on a ridge between the Huayna Picchu
and the Machu Picchu mountains.
With the expanse of hand-crafted dry stone, the Machu Picchu is one of the last remnants
of the elusive Incan civilization.
For a while after its completion, the citadel was abandoned for 3 to 4 centuries.
One of the biggest questions about this historic landmark is that no one has confirmed why
the Incas left the citadel.
Watch on to unravel the mysteries of the Incan Ruins.
Machu Picchu is 100% handmade.
You read that right: no tools, wheels, or animals were used for building the expanse
of the royal estate.
Instead, hundreds of men pushed up 50-ton rocks or scaled the mountain to form what
we now know as the Incan ruins.
Machu Picchu is the best remnant in modern times of Incan engineering methods.
Even the stairways - all 100 of them.
You might be thinking, “What’s so great about stairs?”
Well, these stairs were individually hand-carved large stone pieces.
Talk about commitment.
You can’t enter the Machu Picchu Citadel without a guide.
The local government does not allow entry for first-timers unless they have an official guide.
For those who have done the tour before, they must bring proof of their previous trip
as well as the identification of their former guide.
Altitude sickness is a potentially fatal tourist problem.
As you go higher altitudes, oxygen gets thinner, which makes it harder to breathe.
Standing at 7,970 ft above sea level, the Machu Picchu is a very high point.
There has been a case of an altitude-induced heart attack on the Machu Picchu.
Other altitude-related complications have also been recorded.
Because of this, tourists must consult their doctors for any health conditions before attempting
to travel there.
Around 60% of Machu Picchu construction was done underground.
The Machu Picchu was built with deep building processes such as foundations and drainages.
One section of a Machu Picchu wall would’ve taken months to complete.
The method used to build Machu Picchu by hand is called ashlar masonry.
The ashlar masonry method requires all the stones to be uniform in shape, size, and texture.
Since it was way before the industrial age, expert Inca masons had to cut and work these
building blocks from scratch.
Llamas and alpacas are everywhere.
Since it’s so high up in the mountains, the Incas only had llamas and alpacas to domesticate.
Llamas were so important to the Incan society that hunting them was forbidden.
Now, these wooly creatures are the only permanent residents of Machu Picchu.
The Machu Picchu is built on fault-lines.
Another extreme feat of the Incan ruins is that this citadel was built on, not one,
but two fault-lines.
Peru is prone to frequent earthquakes, but the precise ashlar construction makes this
citadel even more earthquake-resistant than modern buildings.
The fastest way to Machu Picchu is via train.
The road to Machu Picchu via train is a three-part ride.
First, you need to go to Cusco via plane (~1 hour) or bus (~23 hours).
From Cusco, you can take the Poroy Station (25 mins from Cusco via cab)
or the Ollantaytambo Station (2 hrs from Cusco via road) to reach Aguas Calientes.
The Poroy route takes 4 hours while the latter takes 2 hours.
Finally, ride a shuttle bus from Aguas Calientes to reach Machu Picchu.
It’s also walking distance - kind of.
You can also reach Machu Picchu through an intense 4-day trek on the Inca Trail.
Be warned – people have died there.
Cloud forests are a thing.
The Machu Picchu is surrounded by “cloud forests”.
Its vegetation is surrounded by fog and condensation year-round.
The Machu Picchu Museum offers free admission at noon.
The Museo Manuel Chávez Ballon is a 30-minute walk from Aguas Calientes.
It is recommended that tourists visit this museum before proceeding to the Inca ruins
or the mountains.
It is open on Mondays through Saturdays from 10 AM to 4 PM.
According to a local legend, spirits rise from the ground at night to take people away.
To prevent this, locals would place a mirror or shiny piece of metal underneath them
before they sleep.
Over 600 terraces support the citadel.
Because it is built along a cliffside, the Incas crafted more than 600 terraces to keep
the structure from sliding off.
Machu Picchu can’t be seen from below.
The Machu Picchu is one of the last remnants of the fallen Incan empire because the Spanish
conquistadors never found it - they couldn’t even see it in the first place.
It inspired Indiana Jones.
George Lucas based Indiana Jones on personal movie heroes and 20th-century archaeologists.
Among those archaeologists was Hiram Bingham.
If you ask me, Indiana Jones’ exploration of lost cities sounds a lot like Bingham’s
rediscovery of “The Lost City of the Incas.”
Machu Picchu artifacts caused a legal dispute with Yale University.
The Peruvian government had a longstanding legal dispute with Yale for the custody of
Incan artifacts recovered by Yale alum Hiram Bingham III.
The government of Peru only won the case in 2012.
The Incas were serious about their crops.
Over 300 terraces comprise the agricultural zone, which makes nearly 6 hectares of land
just for planting.
Inca tradition divides the citadel by class.
Functionally, the citadel has an urban sector and an agricultural sector.
However, the Incas divided it into the Hanan (Upper) and Urin (lower).
It has 3 main structures.
The three primary structures in the urban zone are the Intihuatana,
the Temple of the Sun,
and the Room of the Three Windows.
The Hanan zone is in the West.
The Hanan is made up of sacred, royal, and industrial structures.
Urin is in the East.
The Urin contains most of the residential structures as well as the graveyards.
No one knows for sure what the Intihuatana is for.
The Intihuatana is a giant rock on a pyramid found in the citadel.
It is inscribed with markings that indicate the 4 cardinal directions,
north, south, east, and west.
The rock also seems to be connected to summer and winter solstices.
It casts different shadows and lights during specific points of the solstice.
The Incas worshipped the sun.
The Temple of the Sun (also known as Templo Del Sol) is an Incan structure that commemorates
the sun.
They used it for offerings and tributes.
The Temple of the Three Windows is in Machu Picchu’s Sacred Plaza.
This rectangular building contains three windows aligned to the sunrise
overlooking the mountain range.
It is theorized to have been a ceremony site for the Incas.
Most of the former inhabitants of Machu Picchu were immigrants.
Scientists studied skeletons recovered from the area and discovered most of them originated
from coastal areas.
Their bone composition indicated a short term-diet consisting heavily of corn, which proves their
transfer to Machu Picchu.
Experts once theorized that Machu Picchu was for human sacrifices.
Gravesites within the vicinity made experts conclude that the citadel was for offering
the Virgins of the Sun as sacrifices.
However, it was later found to be graves for workers and builders.
The Huayna Picchu has been dubbed “The Stairs of Death.”
High humidity in Machu Picchu makes these stairs constantly slippery, especially during
the late rainy season and early morning.
Only 400 people are allowed to climb it per day.
Tourists who want to participate must pre-register and meet certain qualifications to be cleared
for the climb.
There are no handrails on Huayna Picchu - only 2 safety lines along the trail.
Huayna Picchu roughly translates to “young peak” in the Quechua language.
You might think you’ve never heard of it, but Huayna Picchu is the mountain in most
photos, not Machu Picchu.
It stands 260m higher than Machu Picchu.
The 2-hour hike is more dangerous since you’ll only get to hold onto 2 safety lines.
Tourists need to secure a permit and a guide to hike the Inca Trail.
Because of the perilous nature of this trail, the local government and tourism department
doesn’t allow just anyone to participate in the trek.
Machu Picchu is a no-fly zone.
Officially recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, the local government placed
this ban to protect its ecosystem.
There is a visitor limit of 2,500 per day.
The tour schedule is divided into two timeslots: morning (6 AM – 12 NN)
and afternoon (12 NN – 5:30 PM).
You can get banned from the Machu Picchu.
A total of 21 tourists have been kicked out of Machu Picchu – with one of them being
banned for life.
You can’t wear traditional clothing.
If you’re going to visit Machu Picchu, never wear your country’s traditional clothes.
It’s nothing personal - it’s only the locals’ way of preserving the sanctity of
the heritage site.
Loud noises are forbidden.
You can’t clap, shout, whistle, or sing in Machu Picchu.
The trip to Machu Picchu mountain is 4 hours.
The ascent and descent from the mountain take 4 strenuous hours.
From the summit, you must descend before 1 PM and leave the mountain at 3 PM.
You can only tour with 16 people.
The tour groups for Machu Picchu have a maximum of 16 people, all accompanied by official
guides (for first-timers).
Machu Picchu is CCTV secure.
High definition cameras in the site monitor tourist activity.
Baby strollers are prohibited.
If you want to bring your baby along, opt for a baby carrier instead.
There have been 4 recorded tourist violations at the Machu Picchu.
If you want to visit the Machu Picchu, make sure to read through all the rules first.
These violations range from indecent exposure to illegal entry.
There may be a lot of things we still don’t know about the Machu Picchu, but what we do
know for sure is the Inca civilization’s undeniable ingeniousness.
So, any of you wanna book a flight to Machu Picchu soon?
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