easy!!

On the way in we bumped into Pilar and Virginia again - they were on their way out of the place as they were complaining that there was no information given and so they were going to get a guide. When we walked in we saw what they meant - all you got was a crappy map of the ruins, and a half page of the history of the place which started in the 1800’s!! Now I don’t consider myself to be an expert in history, Peruvian or otherwise, but I’m definitely sure that the history of Machu Picchu goes back longer than a hundred and fifty years!!

We were advised that as soon as we got in we should climb up the steep trail to the left as that was where the best first view was. We duly climbed up in cloud which limited visibility to around ten feet and got to a small grassy flat bit which we reckoned must be the viewpoint. Sure enough as we

stood there the cloud slowly started to clear, revealing first the tops of the surrounding mountains, then the building close by to us, and then ever so slowly the entire ruins laid out in front of us. This was a truly breathtaking sight by any standards. It was one of those moments when the timing was just absolutely perfect!! And as usual in a place like this, none of the photos which we’d seen could prepare us for just how incredible this place was. We stood there for a good while just soaking up the view before the first Inca trail tour groups started to arrive and we had a quick look around the immediate area before heading into the place away from the massing herd!!

Now again, I’m no expert, but what I had learned was that the official tourist version of this place was that some American professor called Harim Bingham “discovered” this place sometime in the 1800’s. This is in