Like the Romans, the Inca of South America left behind enormous stoneworks and an extensive system of paved roads. The Inca Trail is the name given to one such route that partially follows the course of an old Inca roadway leading to the city of Machu Picchu. It is located in Peru not too far from the old Inca capital which is now the modern city of Cuzco. The trail ascends out of the steamy jungle of the Urubamba river valley into the high, windswept passes and mountainsides of the Andes. Along the way it passes near or even through many Inca ruins including the world famous Machu Picchu. The map to the left shows the last 25 mile portion of trail leading to Machu Picchu.
The Legendary "Lost City of Machu Picchu" is without a doubt the most important tourist attraction in Peru and one of the world's most impressive archaeological sites. Built by the Incas on the summit of "Machu Picchu" (Old Peak), overlooking the deep canyon of the Urubamba river in a semi-tropical area 120 Km. (75 miles) from the city of Cusco at 7,000 feet above sea leve on the Urubamba Canyon over from Huayno Picchu (Young Mountain). The whole archaeological complex covers approximately 5 square kms. As it is situated in the high jungle, its climate is semi-tropical, warm and humid.
Many years ago I heard of the existance of the ancient Inca roadways rediscovered or still in use. At the time I thought it might be nice to see them first hand but I never really gave it much thought until late in 2000. I read a news article about Machu Picchu and I recalled my former interest. After a small amount of online research, I decided to do it in the near future. Things worked out for me such that I was able to take two weeks to head down to Peru August 15 - 30. It turned out that I did not have the long trek that I wanted but the short 4 day trip was still awesome.
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