MPC Chapter 1 - Introduction

If I'm honest (and I do so love being honest), I knew very little about Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail before I came to Peru and read up about it on Wikipedia and in the Lonely Planet Guide Book. Another shining example of that American education system...don't get me wrong, I know all there is to know about American History and even Texas History, but World History is a topic that I have studied in my adult life. Shameful I know, but at least I had the sense to know that Machu Picchu was a "must-do" in Peru. What I didn't know was how moved and changed I would feel after it was all said and done.
A tiny bit of history will help paint a picutre and provide a solid foundation for my Chronicles, as I feel one cannot truly understand or internalize something as grand as this 'lost city of the Incas' without knowing where it all came from. Unfortuantely, other than the published research of an American explorer named Hiram Bingham, there is little documented history or information about Machu Picchu and the Incas, as their reign was short lived, less than 100 years. Machu Pichu was built in 1450 on a mountiantop 2,430m above sea level. Bingham believed that "Machu Picchu was the Inca birthplace of the Virgins of the Suns," while others belive that it is a sacred religious site. Most popularly, Machu Picchu is believed to have been built as a royal estate for an Incan emperor,Pachacuti, and then abandoned years later when Spanish Conquistadors brought disease and death to the Incas. Incidently, this plus a brutal civial war within the Inca empire led to its' demise and susequent abandonment of Machu Pichu. It wasn't until 1911, when a young Peruvian boy led Hiram Bingham to this most amazing site and it became a popular tourist attraction.
Our tour was called the four-day Inca Jungle Trail and it is described as "a heart-stopping trek that starts with a dizzying mountain-bike ride from the Abra de Malaga pass (4319m) down to Santa Maria. From Santa Maria, you walk through Amazonian jungle to Santa Teresa and then from Santa Teresa you trek alongside an active train track to Aguas Calientes. The final day you rise at 4:00am to climb 2700 uneven stairs to the Machu Picchu entrance where you begin your day of hiking Huayana Picchu and Machu Picchu returning to Cusco via train and bus at 11:00pm."