As you can see from some of the pictures in this set there was a small city here. The stone work is in excellent shape. A few buildings have reconstructed thatched roofs on them. There is also lots of terracing which was presumably used to grow food and to make some of the area traversable. There is an elaborate drainage system to help the water ( Read more... )

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To get to Machu Picchu from Cusco the standard way is to take the train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes. the town at the base of Machu Picchu. It;s a nice train and they serve a snack and there was entertainment (and sales) by some of the train staff - suitably costumed. We stayed in a nice hotel in Aquas Calientes for one night. We arrived ( Read more... )

This June rsc and I travelled to Peru. It was technically 3 consecutive Ken McFarland trips Cusco/Machu Picchu ( Read more... )

I just finished reading Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams. A delightful book (paperback is on the best sellers list) about Hiram Bingham, Machu Picchu and a lot of other information about the mystery of the Incas, and the controversy about Bingham's role. Adams is an author who decided to do some serious traveling to Peru; the book is a ( Read more... )

In the Dec 19 NewYorker there was an article by Alec Wilkinson about Ashrita Furman, the person who has the record for the most Guinness records. Furman, who is fifty-seven and the part owner of a health-food store in Queens, is the world’s leading practitioner of a pursuit that is known as Guinnessport-the undertaking of challenges designed to get ( Read more... )

This year we went to South America twice. In March we went to the Galapagos. And in November we went to Peru primarily to go to Machu Picchu and Easter Island. Originally the Machu Picchu visit was to be after the Galapagos trip but major rain storms in Peru in January washed out the railroad and the site was closed to visitors since there was no ( Read more... )

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The Incans had no form of writing so there is no written record but what is known is based upon oral tales passed on through generations and the work of arceologists and historians ( Read more... )

I saw some photographs of Machu Picchu about 45 years ago and knew that I wanted to go there. Finally we did and set off on the train from Cusco on the morning of Nov 4. We were supposed to go in March after our trip to the Galapagos but severe rain storms in January washed out the railroad and closed the resort ( Read more... )