Adventure Trekking in Peru

Adventure Trekking to Machu Picchu are among of the best Adventure Trekking in Peru, offered by Nature Horizons! Book for Private tour to Machu Picchu and experience the best trekking in Cusco, Peru.

Machu Picchu is the most famous and popular Inca archaeological ruin in the world. Over 1.2 million people visit ever year, many of whom either trek the Inca Trail or one of the alternative trails to the ancient city.

It is situated inside the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu in the Cusco region of Peru and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Built in the 1450s during the reign of Inca emperor Pachucuti, Machu Picchu is thought to have been either a country estate for the emperor or an important place of worship. The exact purpose of the site is still unknown, though. The site is separated into an urban and agricultural sector, with clear structures that demarcate areas of important religious and royal purposes. Vast agricultural terraces surround much of the city. The terraces would have been used to produce food to support around 1,000 inhabitants. The terraces also played an important role in providing efficient drainage to mitigate the impact of landslides and earthquakes.

Most of the city is constructed using the classic dry-polished rock method of placing stone on stone without mortar, known as ashlar. To this day, we still do not exactly understand how the Inca managed to move and place such large stones with such precision. Contemplating this architectural ingenuity is at once humbling and mystifyingly beautiful. Other incredible structures within the Citadel include the Temple of the Sun, the Astronomical Observatory and the Intihuatana, which all point to an advanced understanding of the sun and its planetary influences.

Strategically placed between the saddle of two mountains-Machu Picchu to the south and Huayna Picchu to the north–the city provides unrivalled vistas into the valleys on both its sides, and would have been very difficult to attack due to its remote location and well-guarded access points of Inti Punka (the Sun Gate) and the Inca Drawbridge.

It was so well camouflaged that the Spanish Conquistadors thankfully never found Machu Picchu. Nonetheless the city was abandoned during the second half of the sixteenth century, most likely due to the outbreak of small pox. Not much is known about the city from this period up until its rediscovery by a Yale professor, Hiram Bingham, in 1911. It is however likely that local people occasionally visited the site and inhabited the area. Nineteenth century colonial documents mention the city and a 1874 map, prepared by a German engineer, uses the names “Machu Picchu” and “Huaina Picchu” to demarcate the ruin.