Visiting Machu Picchu, the famous archeological site of the Incas, was definitely one of the highlights of my recent to trip Peru and Ecuador. You can look at all the glossy pictures in the many travel brochures or online, but nothing can match the experience of the visiting this otherworldly site in person. Nestled on a mountain ridge, about 7800 feet high in the Andes, the setting is majestic and the ruins are absolutely incredible. Viewing the site from in its entirety from one of the many lookout points, I kept on shaking my head in disbelief - Machu Picchu did not look like something of this planet earth, but of an ancient city on another planet. Maybe extraterrestrials visited the Incas, whose empire in the South American highlands lasted a mere 100 years before being trashed by Spanish conquistadors. Who knows?

Accompanied by two young Peruvian guys that I befriended in the nearby town of Aguas Calientes, my hike to the top Wayna Picchu, the rugged mastiff that towers over the archaeological site, was the stuff of legends. Papa Mono rates this hike as his all-time high peak experience! I was the King of the World ! Stayed tuned…

This entry was posted on Friday, September 14th, 2007 at 10:09 am and is filed under Peru, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.