The Sun Gate and Machu Picchu

A little bit of history about Machu Picchu learned from our guide, Machu Picchu was discovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham who was walking the trail taken by Simon Bolivar through Latin America. When he found it, it was covered with trees, about 60% is original and 40% has been reconstructed by the government. The Spanish did not find Machu Picchu. It is believed that the Incans fled from Machu Picchu before it was finished, either because of illness or perhaps fear of the spanish finding it.

We visited Machu Picchu on Sunday morning early about 6:30 a.m. It was covered in mist, a beautiful sight, it is in a valley and gets lots of rain. It is believed that Machu Picchu served as a spiritual retreat, a site for astronomy and also for testing different crops and herbs. The Incans used the astrological calendar for deciding the best time to plant and harvest.

Our guide took us on a walk through Machu Picchu for two hours, it is a very big place, we visited lots of temples, it is believed that Machu Picchu functioned like a modern university as a place to learn new things and try out ideas and also a spiritual retreat.

I got a to spend a few hours by myself just walking and sitting to take in what I was experiencing, it is a place of great beauty and peace for me. Finally, I climbed the Huchupicchu, the baby mountain next to Machu Picchu and then it was time to leave and take the train back to Ollantaytambo and then home to Calca.