Machu Picchu: the Incas' lost city. Travel in Cuzco, Peru

content:
photos:
Vote this travel review

What has not yet been written on the most famous and spectacular of the South American continent? The novels are wasted, the archaeological and historical studies there are, but Machu Picchu is a city unknown and secret. It is now ninety years since its discovery, but the famous "Lost City of the Incas" has not lost anything dell'alone of mystery that surrounds it.
After more than two centuries of fruitless searches, July 24 1911, the U.S. archaeologist Hiram Bingham, led by Melchor Arteaga, a farmer in the area, finally discovered, the city of Machu Picchu. In fact, the ruins found by Bingham were not those that he and his predecessors had tried in vain, for the town of Vilcabamba, and it was therefore an even more sensational discovery of an Inca city of which was unknown even to exist. In a short time the remains were passed down in history with the grandiose title, which still retain, of "Lost City of the Incas." Then Bingham could not immediately realize the size and state of conservation of the site because of the luxuriant vegetation which, in large part, had buildings. The chronicles of that glorious day mentioning his surprise when, on the site, he found a pair of threatened Indians who lived on the agricultural terraces of the ancient Inca city.
There are eight in the morning when the train depart from the railway station of San Pedro, to Cuzco, to Puente Ruinas and Aguas Calientes, which is the last stop train tour. The local train goes is up to Quillabamba. La Puente station is next to Aguas, which is, precisely, two kilometers. The train travels 112 km in about four hours. Ours is the last train of the day. We will be the last to arrive at the ruins, but also to leave them because the return is scheduled for six in the afternoon. The train leaves the city of Cuzco to zigzag up the incline of the mountain slopes. S'immette from time to time in binary deaths take the necessary for running up the next ramp. It proceeds in this curious way for at least thirty minutes, until the step called El Arco, north-west of the city. From this moment onwards, the railway continues in a long and continuous descent to the valley dell'Urubamba. Despite the slow train to proceed, the trip is interesting because of human contact you have with people. This is the reason that led us to prefer the local train. Unlike dell'autovagon reserved exclusively for tourists, local train sull'affollatissimo foreigners like us are few and predominantly indigenous people. Is' close, it is true, in the middle of a Bolgia of people going up and down continuously from the train and breathe foul air from the goods and animals they bring with them. In the corridor of our station wagon in a cage of chickens and even a goat. Add bags of spices, onions, the kilos of coca leaves, and anything contained in ahuayos, rectangles of cloth for women, and will not be difficult to imagine Babylon. Between continuous and repeated exchange of merchandise, among employed women to breastfeed their child, for men to talk warmly intent on some kind of arguments, eager and curious young people to exchange words with strangers arrive at their destination in Puente Ruinas, the stop of Machu Picchu, the literally through the middle of a market. A minibus waiting to take passengers to the ruins. Eight more kilometers on a dusty dirt road and that, bend after bend, climbs on one of the massive summits of rock is granite, which mark the landscape, the top of which stands the city of Machu Picchu.
On 26 August 2000 is for all of us a sort of 24 July 1911. The emotion is palpable. Only a few minutes separating us from a goal has always longed for. Here it is! Machu Picchu appears suddenly in its full size after yet another hairpin curve. Feelings, indescribable, I tried the same in other wonderful places such as the plain of Giza, Petra and the Taj Mahal. For some time it remains as lost, as if hypnotized, and breathless. Machu Picchu is just like the s'immagina. As such to documentaries and photo magazines and catalogs, it's amazing!
Are 12.30, for both cross the ruins to immediately head to the entrance kiosk getting all'Huayna Picchu, "young peak" in Quechua. From 13:00 onwards, it is no longer allowed to climb the mountain that rises behind the ruins. It is necessary to sign a register, a kind of self with which you lift the direction of the archaeological site from all liability in case of accidents. E 'a measure become necessary despite the most dangerous and exposed to be equipped with ropes and ladders drawn in the ground. The ascent is therefore challenging and requires about one hour. Once you reach the top, an unforgettable panorama abundantly repays the effort. The view over the valley dell'Urubamba is wonderful and the view from the top of Machu Picchu is superb. The wide horizon, a 360 °, makes the idea magnificently incredible surroundings and the breathtaking location of the city.
Return to start the visit of the ruins, from the Sacred Rock, the huge monolith, shaped like a cat, which comes immediately after the path dell'Huayna Picchu. Meanwhile most of the tourists is already allocated to Cuzco. We can enjoy the place in almost complete solitude. We cross the city for hours, passing its squares and temples, now for the long stairs, time for the doors and houses. All'Intihuatana arrived a few minutes we stop being the most important and famous of the ruins, which was used to indicate the time, but the period of the year. It is the only one left because the Spaniards have destroyed all considering blasphemous. The Cabin Keeper of the Rocky Funeraria is one of the few buildings restored with a thatched roof that was the cover of the original buildings. It 'one of the mysteries of the Incas: that because they were so good at treating the stone work and built the roofs of their homes with just straw? This is one of the first things that strikes visitors to Machu Picchu: the total absence of the roofs of the houses being clearly the straw perishable. Hence we admire, for the last time, the sublime view of the "Lost City of the Incas."
A Puente Ruinas sit on the bench, waiting for the train to Cuzco. Each of us is absorbed into the tray to collect their memories, to bring back all his life, the indelible images of one of the most beautiful in the world, for the wonderful blend of the natural environment and monumental architecture.
The news gathered around Machu Picchu are approximate. The assumptions are used. Why the Incas built a city so large, in a place so inhospitable? The only consideration is that it will remain difficult to write the story of Machu Picchu as the Incas did not know writing, so, even today, remains a secret. For us it is good that is and remains always this: inexplicable and obscure. After all, this is the wonder of Machu Picchu, the mystery that jealously keeps on himself