Machu Picchu

Hiram Bingham Dept: Perched on a high, rugged Andean mountain ridge, the Inca site Machu Picchu took my breath away. I'm sure American Hiram Bingham would have felt the same when he "discovered" this engineering and archaeological marvel in 1911. Huge terraces line the mountainsides on the 30-hectare site; a veritable metropolis of residences and temples sits atop the mountain. I could sense in the whistling wind the spirits of those who once lived here, according to Vancouver Sun. Bingham was searching for Vilcabamba, the city where, in 1572, the Spanish finally vanquished the Inca. When locals told him told about a great city in the mountains, he thought he had found it. Instead, an 11-year-old local boy led him to Machu Picchu, unknown even to the Spanish conquistadors and the mysterious grandeur of Machu Picchu and timeless village life calls out to the adventurous. Pages E2-3 Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, in 2007 Machu Picchu was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Though many thousands of tourists visit the site each year, what Bingham called its "mysterious witchery" remains. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.