Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
INSIDE THE COMPLEX
Unless you arrive via the Inca Trail, you'll officially enter the ruins through a ticket gate
on the south side of Machu Picchu. About 100m of footpath brings you to the mazelike
main entrance of Machu Picchu proper, where the ruins lie stretched out before you,
roughly divided into two areas separated by a series of plazas.
Note that the names of individual ruins speculate their use - in reality, much is un-
known. To get a visual fix of the whole site and snap the classic postcard photograph,
climb the zigzagging staircase on the left immediately after entering the complex, which
leads to the Hut of the Caretaker.
Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock
An excellent viewpoint to take in the whole site. It's one of a few buildings that has been
restored with a thatched roof, making it a good shelter in the case of rain. The Inca Trail
enters the city just below this hut. The carved rock behind the hut may have been used to
mummify the nobility, hence the hut's name.
RUIN
Ceremonial Baths
If you continue straight into the ruins instead of climbing to the hut, you pass through ex-
tensive terracing to a beautiful series of 16 connected ceremonial baths that cascade across
the ruins, accompanied by a flight of stairs.
RUIN
Temple of the Sun
Just above and to the left of the baths is Machu Picchu's only round building, a curved
and tapering tower of exceptional stonework.
RUIN
Royal Tomb
Below the Temple of the Sun, this almost hidden, natural rock cave was carefully carved
by Inca stonemasons. Its use is highly debated; though known as the Royal Tomb, no
mummies were actually ever found here.
RUIN
Sacred Plaza
Climbing the stairs above the ceremonial baths, there is a flat area of jumbled rocks, once
used as a quarry. Turn right at the top of the stairs and walk across the quarry on a short
path leading to the four-sided Sacred Plaza. The far side contains a small viewing plat-
form with a curved wall, which offers a view of the snowy Cordillera Vilcabamba in the
far distance and the Río Urubamba below.
PLAZA
