72 CITIES & BEYOND
machu
picchu
PERU
By rights, it shouldn’t be there: the mist-
shrouded heights of the Peruvian Andes
are no place to build. Machu Picchu is so
remote that it eluded even the Spanish con-
quistadores, coming to the attention of the
outside world only as recently as 1911. Yet
build the Inca did, taking an extraordinarily
beautiful setting and forging a man-made
masterpiece—the purpose of which remains
unknown—whose stone ramps and immense
terraces seem to be extensions of the land-
scape itself.
DON’T MISS
Arrive at Machu Picchu at dawn, having hiked the
two- or four-day Inca Trail, a high-mountain trek
through majestic scenery scattered with Inca ruins.
Permits and porters are obligatory, and altitude
acclimatization is highly recommended.
Machu Picchu—the “lost city of the Incas”—sits at
7,970 feet (2,430 m) in the remote Peruvian Andes.