Day 89: Machu Picchu - Friday February 4, 2011

The Hiram Bingham train is quite elegant and professional including the handling of the passengers, the musicians on board and the lunch service. We had to take a car for the first 1/3 of the trip due to a landslide. The coach up from the train station to Machu Picchu was on sheer switchbacks on a dirt road. One could easily suffer from acrophobia in a spectacular setting!

Machu Picchu is more stunning than advertised. What we could only imagine from the foundation left in Cusco, we saw complete here. Even though it was not the capital of the Inca empire, it showcased the height of imperial technology in architecture, spirituality and science. As a longtime aficionado of stonework, I was in heaven. I took 200 photos!

The Inca empire was short lived. It was primarily a trading empire encompassing the coast, mountain ranges and the jungle and it was somewhat socialist as a cooperative society. Trade from the all corners came to Cusco and back out. The Spanish destroyed the trade system so many of the thriving communities such as Machu Picchu could no longer sustain themselves independently and were abandoned. The Spanish went about destroying the cultural & spiritual identity of the indigenous people.

We have the entire day at the site tomorrow! I am not suffering as much from the elevation since we are at 8,500’ so I might try a 1,000’ climb to watch the sunset tomorrow.