In the morning, the entire group met up for our bus ride up to Machu Picchu. We took the earliest bus up there, so we could at least get some time to ourselves there before the hordes of tourists came through. You can get to Machu Picchu without doing the hike, which is what most tour groups do.

These following two excerpts about Machu Picchu are taken from The Lonely Planet Guide to Peru.

Machu Picchu is both the best and the least known of the Inca Ruins. It is not mentioned in any of the chronicles of the Spanish conquistadors and archaeologists today can do no more than speculate on its function. Although Machu Picchu was known to a handful of Quechua peasants who farmed the area, the outside world was unaware of its existence until the American historian Hiram Bingham stumbled on it almost by accident on July 24, 1911. Bingham's search was for the lost city of Vilcabamba, the last stronghold of the Incas, and at Machu Picchu he thought he had found it. We now know that the remote and inaccessible ruins at Espiritu Pampa, much deeper in the jungle, are the remains of Vilcabamba. Machu Picchu remains a mysterious site, never revealed to the conquering Spaniards and virtually forgotten until the early part of this century.

The site discovered in 1911 was very different than the one we see today. All the buildings were thickly overgrown with vegetation, and Bingham's team had to be content with roughly mapping the site. He returned in 1912 and 1915 to carry out the difficult task of clearing the thick forest from the ruins and he also discovered some of the ruins on the Inca Trail. Despite recent studies, knowlede of Machu Picchu remains sketchy. Over 50 burial sites were discovered containing over a hundred skeletal remains, about 80% female. An early theory tht it was a city of chosen women who catered to the Incas' needs has lost support, and it is now thought that Machu Picchu was already an uninhabited, forgotten city at the time of the conquest. This would explain why it wasn't mentioned to the Spaniards. It is obvious from the high quality of the stonework and the abundance of ornamental rather than practical sites that Machu Picchu must once have been an important ceremonial center.

Inside the city are a watchman's hut, a funerary stone, a moat, a quarry, a sacred plaza, sacred rocks, a cemetery, temples, jails, and baths, all of which we saw. The city was divided into distinct districts, and it was easy to tell where the wealthier people stayed, based on the quality of the walls that were created. Everything was generally well preserved, and absolutely fascinating to walk around and see.

We had a great lunch at the edge of the ruins, overlooking the valley below, and Niyati even spent some time meditating here. It was tiring to walk around the entire place, as there were many steps. In the afternoon, the crowds started coming in, and we decided to take the bus down and lounge around in the town, perhaps do some shopping for "treasures".

The rest of the group took the train back to Cuzco, but we stayed on another night in Aguas Calientes, did some more shopping the following afternoon, and took the train back that evening.

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