Day 7 – Machu Picchu. I can’t say enough good things about this amazing place! It was seriously one of the most beautiful and incredible historical sites I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. I was completely in shock and awe the whole day, and my pictures don’t even do this place justice. It is just one of those places you have to see for yourself. Its so absolutely incredible.
Because we’d had a long hiking day the day before, (9.5 miles) we decided to sleep in a bit and not get going until mid morning. Also because some of us could barely move from those crazy Inca stairs, we decided to split into two groups. Adam, Harry and Dawson opted to hike back up to Machu Picchu (which meant going up and down 3660 stairs) while Ady and Jamis and I opted to splurge and take the bus! I knew if I wanted to enjoy my day at Machu Picchu taking the bus was the way to go.
We met our awesome tour guide Adner at the bus station at around 10 am and then took the bus up from there. Adner was amazing and so knowledgeable and told us so many interesting things about the site. Here are some things that maybe you didn’t know about Machu Picchu.
1) Each stone was cut to fit so precisely together that no mortar needed to be used. This pattern has allowed the site to hold up beautifully despite Peru’s many earthquakes. In fact Machu Picchu sits on 2 different fault lines. The site is basically earthquake proof due to the ingenious way that the Inca’s built the city stone by stone to fit so perfectly together. Scholars have no idea how the Inca moved or cut the stones. It’s a historical mystery.
2) Machu Picchu sits at 7972 feet, so most tourists have to acclimate in order to reach it without getting altitude sickness. It wasn’t a problem for us coming from Utah though thankfully.
3) In 2007 Machu Picchu was voted one of the new 7 world wonders! The other 6 are the Taj Mahal in India, Great wall of China, the Pyramids of Giza, Chichen Itza Mexico, Petra in Jordan, Christ the Redeemer in Rio De Janeiro Brazil, and the Colosseum in Rome Italy. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.
4) The Inca Empire was one of the largest in pre-columbian history. It covered Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru and had over 20 million people.
5) Llamas roam the grounds and are nature’s lawn mower. Ady and Dawson loved this part!
6) Machu Picchu in Quechua language means “Old mountain” or “Old peak.” It was constructed in 1450-1460 AD.
7) Machu Picchu was used as an astronomical observatory. They had a stone called the Intihuatana stone that was used as an astronomy clock.
😎 There are more than 150 buildings in the complex and more than 80% of the site is original. 60% is under the surface.
9) On average 1.3 million people visit Machu Picchu yearly. That’s 25,000 people a month. Before the pandemic only 2500 were allowed in per day. Right now Machu Picchu is only at 40% capacity, in an effort to keep the spread of Covid down. Masks are mandatory the entire time. Tourists used to be allowed 4 hours to explore, but now it is closer to 2-2.5 hours. But that seemed to be about right for us.
10) Hiram Bingham who discovered Machu Picchu in 1911, excavated over 40,000 artifacts with his team and stored them at Yale University. In 2011 those artifacts were returned to Peru for the 100th anniversary of Hiram’s discovery.
11) Every year there is a marathon race to the top of Machu Picchu. The fastest time recorded was 3 hours 34 minutes. A normal person can expect to complete the 1 day inca trail in 6-8 hours (which is about what it took us).
Anyway, it was seriously one of the most fascinating, beautiful, and incredible tours of our lives. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience for our family. ❤