The Jewel of Peru

We finally made it to Southern Peru in late November and early December to see the gem of the Incan world - Machu Picchu. This ruin is the most famous of dozens of Incan ruins scattered within a few hours of Cuzco, Peru, the old imperial capital of the Incan Empire. For weeks, travelers heading north told us how wonderful Machu Picchu was and how it changed their life.

If you want Machu Picchu to change your life, don´t go Rome. Really steer clear of Italy altogether. Okay, just stay out of the entire Roman world. I think that means you can still visit Iceland, Canada, and part of Botswana.

Don´t get wrong, Machu Picchu is impressive. Its big, and there are a lot of rocks that slaves had to carry up a ridiculously large mountain. There are more steps at Machu Picchu than any other single place I have ever seen. It´s like living in a giant cardio workout. (If you hike up to the Temple of the Moon you literally spend hours climbing up sets of uneven stairs until you reach the peak next to Machu Pichu. Drew and I did this and spend over a half a day just climbing up and down. Drew still isn´t talking to me.) Here are some pictures of the ruins.

Even with all of Machu Picchu´s glory, I was still a little disappointed. Machu Picchu is a Pre-Colombian ruin, meaning it was built before Columbus discovered the new world. This is a nice linguistic device to suggest that Machu Picchu is old. The complex was built around 1460, so it beat Columbus by 32 years. That means that when Machu Pîcchu was in its height, Roman ruins were between 1000 and 1800 years old. That point goes to Rome.

The Incans were known as expert stone masons. There is a 12-sided Incan stone in Cuzco that the Peruvians are very proud of and hold up as an example of Incan skill. (see picture at right) I am sort of old school. If you need 12 sides to make a stone fit securely, then that just screams of shoddy construction. If you have ever seen the ruins of a 14th or 15th century European castle or church you have seen what Incan builds sort of look like. However, the Romans used architectural designs and construction feats that we still cannot duplicate. So, point Rome.

Gold. I am not going to really go into this one too far. The Incans had it in spades and pretty much dominate this category. This point belongs to the Incas.

It is well known that the Incans didn´t have the wheel. Actually, this isn´t true. They did have the wheel, but it was just a kids game. Incan children had the wheel, but there parents didn´t quite make the leap from kids toy to simple machine that makes your life loads easier. So this point goes to everyone other than the Incans.

So really, if you want to be impressed with Incan ruins make sure you visit it before you see Europe. Or Asia. Or the Middle East. Or Northern Africa. Or the Christmas village at the Tysons Corner Mall. Also, be prepared. Machu Picchu is the largest tourist trap in South American and its only rival in the entire world is Disney World. Disney is still slightly more expense, but only slightly.