NEW 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD SAGA 3:

MACHU PICCHU, PERU
(One of Four Wonders I've Seen.)

In May of 1988, Ed and I decided to go to Machu Picchu in Peru, one of The New Seven Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site!

It's such a storied and mysterious city. It is pre-Columbian, built in the 15th Century. It was unknown to the outside world until 1911, often referred to as "The Lost City of the Incas." It was confirmed that the Spanish did not see Machu Picchu by the fact that the Throne was not desecrated like all the others the Spanish discovered.

click to see: Machu Picchu

The scale from the pictures is deceiving.

Not until you are among the ruins do you really experience just how large it is.

When I first experienced it, it was the most mystical time of my life

  ---a revelation.

We climbed and climbed until exhausted—amazed and fascinated.

It's 8,000 feet in altitude! It was difficult to breathe. In fact, the Peruvian Government makes you stay down in Cusco (half-way up) 70 miles south, the night before.

You arrive via a narrow-rail, switch-back train to the valley below and are bussed to the top.

We were going to stay overnight at the small accommodations facility, but they couldn't find our reservations, even though we had pre-paid in the States months before. We wanted to see it at sunrise, but alas had to return the same day.