One of the biggest regrets of my Peru trip was my lost pictures of Machu Picchu, ironically known as "The Lost City of the Incas". The Inca tribe evolved from the Cuzco region of Peru. "Cuzco" in Quechua (Inca language) means "center" and was the center, or rather the capital of the Inca empire that began in 12th century A.D. The Inca empire had 14 reigning kings, but the most powerful and most influential was King Pachacutec, who expanded Incan land to be the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. Modern-day South American countries that were part of this vast empire was Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, and Columbia. The invasion of the Spanish Conquest in 1533 saw the downfall of the Inca empire as they brought European diseases (small pox, measles, influenza), guns, and political dissension amongst territorial regimes that wanted increased status by currying Spanish favor. Ironically, the Spanish Conquistadors never discovered Machu Picchu, which was located 7970 ft high up in the Andes mountains and on the cusp of the Amazon jungle. It was abandoned during the height of the Spanish Conquest, and remained undisturbed until it was brought to international attention by Hiram Bingham in 1911, a Yale University professor and real-life Indiana Jones, who explored Machu Picchu and published his famous book, "The Lost City of the Incas." Today, Machu Picchu is a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and new Seven Wonders of the World. It was an amazing site, and I wish deeply that I didn't lose my pictures. The images of Machu Picchu are indelibly marked in the recesses of my memories, and now a marked chapter in the travels of my life.
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| Pic from Google images. |
One of the biggest regrets of my Peru trip was my lost pictures of Machu Picchu, ironically known as "The Lost City of the Incas". The Inca tribe evolved from the Cuzco region of Peru. "Cuzco" in Quechua (Inca language) means "center" and was the center, or rather the capital of the Inca empire that began in 12th century A.D. The Inca empire had 14 reigning kings, but the most powerful and most influential was King Pachacutec, who expanded Incan land to be the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. Modern-day South American countries that were part of this vast empire was Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, and Columbia. The invasion of the Spanish Conquest in 1533 saw the downfall of the Inca empire as they brought European diseases (small pox, measles, influenza), guns, and political dissension amongst territorial regimes that wanted increased status by currying Spanish favor. Ironically, the Spanish Conquistadors never discovered Machu Picchu, which was located 7970 ft high up in the Andes mountains and on the cusp of the Amazon jungle. It was abandoned during the height of the Spanish Conquest, and remained undisturbed until it was brought to international attention by Hiram Bingham in 1911, a Yale University professor and real-life Indiana Jones, who explored Machu Picchu and published his famous book, "The Lost City of the Incas." Today, Machu Picchu is a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and new Seven Wonders of the World. It was an amazing site, and I wish deeply that I didn't lose my pictures. The images of Machu Picchu are indelibly marked in the recesses of my memories, and now a marked chapter in the travels of my life.
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| Standing in the Andes Mountains near the Sacred Valley in Cusco. |
