The most common route to Machu Picchu is by train that leaves Cuzco daily from the San Pedro Station next to the San Pedro market.

The train takes the tourist to Aguas Calientes is a very small town on the Urubamba River ( also called Vilcanota River) in Peru. Just about the only reason that tourists travel to Aguas Calientes is that it is a place where the tourist catches a bus to be transported to the ruins of Machu Picchu, which is 8 Km distant. As such, quite an industry has developed there which brings income to the local people in the area. Currently the government of Aguas Calientes prefers to call the town Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu Sanctuary is located 120 km northwest of Cuzco high above the Urubamba Valley (name given to the Vilcanota Valley in this area) in the Vilcabamba highlands, the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu is one of the world's most important archaeological sites and Peru's premier tourist attraction.

Machu Picchu archaeological complex sits strategically atop the saddle of Mount Machu Picchu (“Old Peak” in Quechua), from which the citadel and the marvelous natural geology derive their name. Towering above the citadel is the imposing Wayna Picchu, sometimes called Huayna Picchu ('Young Peak') and other archaeological ruins. Both peaks are flanked by the raging Urubamba River, which flows East through the canyon about 1300 feet below the citadel.

United States anthropologist and Yale University professor Hiram Bingham, was the first non native to discover Machu Picchu, on July 24, 1911. Hiram Bingham was taken to the ruins by the local peasant farmer, Melchor Arteaga, who actually had discovered the ruins.

First scientific thought was that Machu Picchu was mysteriously built during the time of the Spanish Conquest. However, recent studies purport that Machu Picchu, contrary to what was previously thought, was built decades before the Conquest at the height of the Inca Empire (between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries) as a ceremonial site related to the worship of the Inca's most important deities. Since its location, with an easterly and westerly view, allowed one to see both sunrise and sunset from the citadel, the site may have been used for rituals related to the worship of the sun and astrological observations. Access to the citadel is difficult, yet it went unknown during the Spanish Conquest, as the valley, known as the Tampu region, was controlled by Spanish plantation owners called encomenderos and corregidores. It is believed that Machu Picchu was gradually abandoned sometime between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and then later forgotten. Whether the citadel was a refuge for Inca rebels has not been proven.

Studies show that the citadel was built without interruption. The carved stone blocks used in the walls fit together so perfectly that a pin cannot enter into the crevices between them. Some of the outstanding features of Machu Picchu are the Royal Tombs (near the gateway to the citadel), the Temple of the Sun, the Intihuatana (“The Hitching Post Of The Sun” in Quechua), the Torreon or Tower (the only circular structure), the High Priests' Mansion, the Temple of the Three Windows, the Central Temple, the Sunken Square and the waterfalls and canals that make up the Inca Baths, sometimes called The Royal Baths..

Machu Picchu also is outstanding because of the beauty of its surrounding landscape. The beautiful cloud forest that climbs up the steep hill-sides is a haven for countless species of native flora, including bromeliads, bright orchids, and tree-borne ferns. The jungle is also home to the elusive spectacled bear (Tremarctus ornatus), the quetzal (Pharomacrus auriceps), the cock-of-the-rocks (Rupicola peruviana), and the huemal deer (Pudu mephistopheles). In 1981, the Peruvian Government created the Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary, covering an area of 35 5920 Ha, to conserve both the archaeological site and its natural surroundings.

We were at Machu Picchu the afternoon of April 16, 2006 and the morning of April 17, 2006.