From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu #53

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

53.  Later research showed that the remains found at Machu Picchu were not all women, and the idea that it was a sanctuary of sorts for the Virgins of the Sun was discarded.

Hiram Bingham entered tombs at Machu Picchu and removed bones to Yale University.  The collection he took was recently returned to Peru.

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - #50

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor
50. Machu Picchu is hard to see from below. It is in a cloud forest (note to visitors: Mornings are often foggy) and has been overgrown.

The best time to visit Machu Picchu is from April to November when it is normally dry.  January, February and March tend to receive rain.

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - #38

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

38. Did the Spaniards know of Machu Picchu?  Hiram Bingham didn't think so.  "Yet so far as I have been able to discover, there is no reference in the Spanish chronicles to Machu Picchu.  It is possible that not even the conquistadors ever saw this wonderful place."

 Though today we have knowledge of others visiting Machu Picchu prior to Hiram Bingham there remains no evidence that the Spanish ever found the city.

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - #37

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor


37. Hiram Bingham continued,  "Surprise followed surprise until we came upon the realization that we were in the midst of as wonderful ruins as any ever found in Peru."

Yet it was not until after Bingham's death in 1956 that it was discovered that Machu Picchu was not the lost city of the Incas and much of what he thought about Machu Picchu was incorrect.

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - #36

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

36. And what, really, could be? Here's what Hiram Bingham wrote in Harper's Monthly in 1913 about coming upon Machu Picchu.  "...Suddenly we found ourselves in the midst of a jungle-covered maze of small and large walls, the ruins of buildings made of blocks of white granite, most carefully cut and beautifully fitted together without cement."

Bingham would go on to write several articles and the books Inca Lands and The Lost City of the Incas regarding his adventures in Peru.

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - #35

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

35. Hiram Bingham found Vicabamba, but he dismissed it because it wasn't as grand as Machu Picchu.

Due to its remote jungle location once the Inca empire fell to the Spanish, the location of Vilcabamba was quickly forgotten and much of the city would be encompassed by the surrounding forest.

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - #34

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

34. Today, historians think the real Vicabamba is close to Vitcos, an archaeological site, in the eastern Andes.  Another swashbuckling explorer, Gene Savoy, came upon it in 1964 at a place called Espiritu Pampa.

Like many Incan sites archaeologists have found that the city of Espititu Pampa was built on the site of a previous Huari city.  Just as many of the ruins near Cusco including Sacsayhuman were originally built by previous cultures and modified by the Incas.

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - #32

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

32. Christopher Columbus, of course, though he discovered Asia; Hiram Bingham thought he discovered the "Lost City of the Incas."  Both were wrong.

Though Bingham was looking for the city where the Incas took refuge from the Spanish, Vicabamba - Machu Picchu is now generally referred to as "The Lost City of the Incas"

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - #31

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

31. Here's something Hiram Bingham and Christopher Columbus have in common: Both thought they had discovered some other place.

Christopher Columbus discovery of the New World brought the Spanish to South America which would eventually lead to the conquest of Peru and the destruction of their empire including their capital city of Cusco.  It would not be until Hiram Bingham's discovery that the world began to appreciate the treasures of the Incas.

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - #30

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

#30 Like many explorers, Hiram Bingham didn't know exactly what he found.

"His strategy for analyzing the site was way ahead of his time," says Richard Burger of the Peabody Museum of Natural History and an expert on Peruvian anthropology and archeology. "Unfortunately, when it came to interpreting what he found, Bingham got most of it seriously wrong."

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - #29

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

29. Hiram Bingham said in his Harper's Monthly story, published in 1913, that a "local muleteer" may have been in Machu Picchu in 1902, based on scrawls he found on a wall.  It seemed clear that even if the Spanish didn't know it existed, others certainly did.

From Wikipedia...

A muleteer (in Spanish language arriero and in Catalan language traginer) is a person who works full or part-time transporting merchandise or luggage with the help of pack animals. In South America, arriero signifies people who, in the absence of good roads that could permit the use of wheeled vehicles, transported all sort of items, such as coffee, maize, cork or wheat, through the paisa region (Antioquia and the Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis) with their mules from the eighteenth century to the present time.

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - #28

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

#28 Hiram Bingham may not have not been the first European to find Machu Picchu.  Some say it was a German named Augusto Berrns who came upon it in 1867.

It is highly contested that Hiram Bingham "discovered" Machu Picchu the general consensus is that he is credited for bringing Machu Picchu to the attention of the world.

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Piccchu - #26

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

#26 Machu Picchu was, not surprisingly, declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983.

If you are visiting the Galapagos and Machu Picchu you will visit a number of World Heritage Sites including the city of Quito, The Galapagos Islands, the city of Cusco, the ruins of Sacsayhuman as well as Machu Picchu.

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - #25

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

#25.  When you enter Machu Picchu, you'll see why it's been designated one of the best preserved pre-Columbian ruins in the world.

 Machu Picchu is often compared in its archarchaeological importance to the pyramids of Egypt.

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - Fact #24

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

# 24 You can go to Machu Picchu and return to Cuzco in a day, but you'll have more of it to yourself if you plan to stay a night or two.  Day trippers usually leave by 2pm.

The majority of travelers coming from Cusco arrive at Machu Picchu around 10am and leave at 2pm.  The ruins are open between 6am and 6pm.  Arriving early in the morning 8am and leaving after 6pm allows you to make the most of your day at the ruins without having to add another day to your itinerary.

From 100 Facts for 100 years of Machu Picchu - #23

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

#23 Aguas Calientes, a town, has grown haphazardly as tourist crowds have grown, offers accommodations, some basic and others more luxurious and is the starting point for the ascent (by bus, if you wish) to the Incan citadel.

Machu Picchu Pueblo offers a number of hotels, stores, restaurants, laundry and spa services for travelers.  Its old name of Aquas Calientes refers to the hot springs located just outside of town.

From 100 Facts from 100 Years of Machu Picchu - Fact #22

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

#22 The train deposits you at Aquas Calientes, at the foot of Machu Picchu (which you'll see spelled as Machupijchu).

The town of Aquas Calientes has been renamed Machu Picchu Pueblo (Machu Picchu Town) it's approximately a 15 minute drive by bus through a series of switchbacks up the mountain from the train station to the ruins.

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - Fact #21

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

# 21 In March and April, however, train travelers have been taking a bus from the Wanchaq Station in the Cusco area to Ollantaytambo and then taking the train to Aquas Calientes because of maintenance projects with the line.

Planning your train trip from the Sacred Valley avoids these bus trips as well as enjoying the scenic countryside and lower elevation of the hotels in the area.

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - #20

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

#20  Depending on the level of luxury you desire, your train trip to Machu Picchu could cost as little as $96 from Cuzco (for the Expedition train).  It's $142 for the Vista Dome and $688 for Hiram Bingham.

The prices of the trains very slightly depending on demand.  Hours that are more popular for travel are slightly more expensive than off hours.

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - Fact #19

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

#19 You have three choices of train travel to Machu Picchu: the Expedition, or backpacker train (basic) the Vistadome train (which has lots of windows, but if it's warm outside, you may feel as though you are baking in a terrarium) and the Hiram Bingham, a luxury train operated by Orient Express.

The backpacker, expedition, vistadome, and Hiram Bingham are all cars - classes of service offered by Orient Express on the trains operating between either Cusco or the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu.  The Expedition train are the same cars as the vistadome but with more basic services offered.

Additionally InkaRail offers two classes of service from Ollantaytambo either Executive or First Class.