Machu Picchu

We go from the beautiful Inkaterra Orchid garden to Machu Picchu. I mentioned in my last post that I admired and envied the hikers on the trail alongside the train.

Hikers following the trail of Hiram Bingham 

The route they're hiking is the same trail taken by the first person to see Machu Picchu after about four hundred years. That was Hiram Bingham in 1911.

A little history review

The Spanish made Manco Inca their puppet leader in about 1533.  He rebelled and eventually fled into the forest, continuing his fight from Vilcabamba. Ultimately, the Spanish conquered the Inca and destroyed Vilcabamba. But they never found Machu Picchu.

  

It’s possible Quechua Indians spoke of Machu Picchu to some 19th century explorers, but for the most part, it was a site abandoned by the original Inca inhabitants and unknown to conquerors. Because it was basically uninhabited for almost 400 years, Machu Picchu did not endure changes, pillage, or destruction--an amazing piece of history remained intact. 

   

Fast forward to the early 20^th century when Hiram Bingham was a professor of Latin American history at Yale. In 1911, he went to Peru to look for Vilcabamba. He found Machu Picchu. Still amazing.

First View

Glacial Sculpting 

Bingham’s first view would have been what the hikers see. The entry point for non-hikers is a little different. And still stunning.

First View of Machu Picchu

First View  of Machu Picchu- zooming in

Bingham returned two more times between 1911 and 1915 (always believing he’d found Vilcabamba).*

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* In 1964, American explorer Gene Savoy, discovered Vilcabamba.