From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - #54

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor
54. Machu Picchu, it's postulated today, probably was a vacation spot for royalty.

This theory also matches with the legal papers filed by Pachacuti descendants in the 1500's.

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 - #49

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor
49. If the Spaniards failed to find Machu Picchu, perhaps it's because they were distracted by their desire for the spoils of war, which is partly what led to disagreements between Diego de Almargo and Francisco and Hernando Pizarro.

Researchers have found the name Machupicchu written all as one word referenced in books in the Cusco Monastaries dating back to the 1500's.  There were also legal papers filled in which the descendants of Pachacuti sought the return of family lands including a retreat called Picchu.  Yet it is unknown if anyone visited the city or just knew of its exsistance.

100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - #48

The Capture of Diego de Almagro

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor
48. Francisco Pizaro was killed by the son and supporters of his partner, Diego de Almagro, who had been executed by Pizarro's brother, Hernando.

The execution of Almagro there was much infighting within the Spanish Court.  Hernando returned to Spain to gain aid for the Pizzaro side.  He was imprisoned for 20 years for his part of the tretchery in the new world.  Upon his release he married Francisca Pizarro Yupanqui the daughter of Francisco Pizarro and his Inca mistress Ines Yupanqui.

From 100 Facts for 100 Years of Machu Picchu - #47

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor
47. Francisco Pizaro earily took over the city of Cuzco. Two years later, he founded Lima, where he died in 1541.

After killing Atahuallpa, Pizzaro took two of his sisters as mistresses Inés Yupanqui with whom he had Francisca Pizarro Yupanqui and Gonzalo Pizarro and Cuxirimay Ocllo Yupanqui with who he had two sons Francisco and Juan.

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 - #33

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

33. Hiram Bingham thought he had found Vicabamba, the true  "Lost City of the  Incas"" which was said to be where the Incas took refuge from the Spaniards.

After Cusco fell to the Spanish, Manco Inca Yupanqui was named king of the Incas.  He cooperated with the Spanish for a while.  Then while the Spanish began feuding between each other he took advantage by recapturing Cusco in 1536.   The Spanish regained control of the city and Manco Inca retreated to Vilcabamba where he and his successors ruled for another 36 years leading revolts against the Spanish.

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 Picchu - #27

By Catharine Hamm | Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

#27 Hiram Bingham didn't really discover Machu Picchu, the residents knew it was there, a local Quechua-speaking guide, Melchor Artega, is said to have led him there.

In addition to Machu Picchu, Hiram Bingham is credited for the discovery of vitcos and Espiritu Pampa.

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 - #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.