2006-09-09 10:45:10 · 6 answers · asked by a00772461 1 in Travel ➔ Latin America ➔ Peru
Machu Picchu (Quechua: Old Mountain; sometimes called the "Lost City of the Incas") is a well-preserved pre-Columbian Inca ruin located on a high mountain ridge, at an elevation of about 2,350 m (7,710 ft). Machu Picchu is located above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, about 70 km (44 mi) northwest of Cusco. Forgotten for centuries by the outside world, although not by locals, it was brought back to international attention by Yale archeologist Hiram Bingham who rediscovered it in 1911, and wrote a best-selling work about it. Peru is pursuing legal efforts to get back thousands of artifacts that Bingham removed from the site.
It is thought that the city was built by the Sapa Inca Pachacuti, starting in about 1440, and was inhabited until the Spanish conquest of Peru in 1532. Archeological evidence (together with recent work on early colonial documents) shows that Machu Picchu was not a conventional city, but a country retreat town for Inca nobility (similar to the Roman villas). The site has a large palace and temples to Inca deities around a courtyard, with other buildings for support staff. It is estimated that a maximum of only about 750 people resided in Machu Picchu at any one time, and probably only a small fraction of that number lived in the town during the rainy season and when none of the nobility were visiting.
2006-09-09 13:01:09 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Best months to visit Peru are from June to December! Try to avoid January to March as it rains there, but never expect heavy rains, only drizzling. Try to stay one to two nights in Cusco city first and focus on staying more time in Aguas Calientes (little town below Machu Picchu/20 minutes trip to Machu Picchu) in a hotel called "El Pueblo", is run and owned by a company/tour operator called InkaTerra (www.inkaterra.com) they are excellent. Do not stay at hotel "Santuario' (called as the best one with an amazing view of the ruins = NOT TRUE) which is located in Machu Picchu because you will get stuck there as the busses stop going back and forth at 8pm and there is NOTHING is that hotel/quite ugly. I went there many times and the best way to enjoy it is going with the tour operator mentioned above, many others does not do a good job. If you need a english speaker tour guide, mention that it need to have a good english. Some of them are quite bad. I am a Peruvian living abroad for many years.
2006-09-10 12:29:20 · answer #2 · answered by KATHERINE T 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
August. Definitely August.
2006-09-13 17:02:09 · answer #3 · answered by Annie D 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
May
2006-09-11 16:13:31 · answer #4 · answered by sisoyme 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should go from April to November, I don't recommend the rain season (December-March)
2006-09-12 15:51:30 · answer #5 · answered by susy_im 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would say in December or January when it is summer there.
2006-09-09 18:09:41 · answer #6 · answered by kepjr100 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋