When one wishes to visit the legendary places of inkas, he can find the most scenic places to go and find out how these people created a civilization of the woods.

History

According to archaeologists, the Incas have inherited a lot from previous civilizations and from the neighboring nations. In the history there were a number of civilizations of the Incas are found in South America. These were

• The Moche: they were known for colored ceramics and irrigation systems.
• Wari: this Aymara speaking state was the model of the Inka Empire, with a different language.
• Chimu living in the city of Chan Chan, they were famous for pottery and architecture.
• Nazca : they were known for creation of Nazca lines, as well as its system of underground water pipes and pottery.
• Pukin: known for the civilization of Tiwanaku, they were located to the east of Lake Titicaca.
• Chachapoyas: they were also called “Machu Picchu of the North”. They have terrifying fortress called “Kuelap” and were known as the Warriors of the clouds.

Expansion of Inkas

After creating the territory of their country, they keep on expanding constantly. Inka Yauar Uakak had created regular army for the empire and Inka Pachacuti was flourished in his era. before him the Inkas were just one of many Indian tribes in the typical town Cuzco. Most of the land controlled by the Inkas, were conquered by Pachacuti and his son Tupac Inka Yupanqui. The rulers of Huascar and Atahualpa were sons of Huayna Capac. They began a war to conquer the rest of empire and with the help of the Spaniards, Atahualpa won the war.

The Inkas conquered their neighboring tribes by using its strong and numerous armies and by attracting the elite conquer regions. Before taking military action three of the proposed conquers the region voluntarily join the empire. All the conquered tribes were forced to learn the language Quechua, follow their customs and administered their own laws. For Inkas, local handicrafts and costumes were very important so they aimed to preserve the origin and social status of Tawantinsuyu.

Inka architecture

The Inkas has vast architectural back ground.  They mainly focused on precision and functionality in their architecture. Their basic work is with the use of stones. The stones are fitted with great precision that is not found in human history. They focus more on functionality in their architects then decoration. The combination of trapezoid shaped stones and their constructions gave itself a beautiful essence.

Construction Methods

The Inkas built work is all with the medium of stone. The rocks are limestone or granite which ever nearly available. The rocks were brought to the Ollantaytambo village from one side of the Urubamba Valley.  At Urubamba Valley big blocks were broken, trimmed, shaped and then brought to the complex across the Urubamba River. The trapezoid shapes are dominant in Inka architecture which is gracefully proportioned. They look beautifully decorated as well as functionally they serve well.

Stone Cutting

The rectangular block which has to be fitted has a bottom, top, and two ends. They must be in the shape so that they fit to their bedrock seat and the neighboring stones in the wall. Initially the top and bottom sides are cut and shaped for any particular fit. After that the seat and front in the basic stones must be craved to fit this block. For this purpose the block was hanged over the stone on which it is to be seated. If the stone is very heavy then it was a big problem. But this problem was managed by logs, supporting up by leaning in diagonally from the front and back sides. With the help of a scribing device, the hanged block is outlined according to stone below. To achieve accuracy the angular relationship between the upper stone and the lower stones must remain constant; this could be done through the use of a plumb bob strung through the triangular scribe.

The way, Inka cut stone without using any metal tools is still unknown. But this is sure that they cut and shaped the stones with the help of stone tools. The limited use of bronze or copper tools might be possible for cutting the hard rock. First the holes were made in the stone in the line from which was supposed to be broken. Those holes would probably be made through metal tool. It is an assumption that to split the rock the Inkas used the method of placing wooden wedges placed in cracks, then soaked in water, until the expanding wood split the rock. Mostly the stones were easily detached from the bedrock. After detached from the bedrock, stones could be trimmed by striking with stone hammer. At stonework of Inkas those marks are visible.

The method of drill holes in rock is also found in Inka architecture, from the walls in Machu Picchu. How they did that is not known. It is possible that the holes were drilled using some rod shaped stone.

Twelve-cornered stone

The stone cutting of Inkas into rectangular and trapezoid blocks, its drilling holes through hard rock and their fitting combination is no doubt nonparallel to any human work and the reason for its fame. The magnificence and brilliance of Inka stone cutting is demonstrated more by the presence of the famous “twelve-cornered stone”.  It showed the ability of Inkas stone cutting in to a unique shapes and strength of fitting stones together. Such an incredible work is also found in a wall of the palace of the Inka Roca.

Scribing and Coping Technique

Scribing and coping method was adopted by the Inkas to fix the stones.  Stones are cut into different shapes like wonderful jigsaw-puzzle or dove-tail. Such logs and their corners are carefully fitted together with little or no gap between the cut logs.

The scribing and coping might be the only technique which can be thought as a sensible explanation to the ambiguity of the Inka stone shaping technique. All the stone shaping processes require a lot of work and great work force. That is the reason where only the load-bearing surfaces and vertical joints which are visible are tightly fitted. Any leftover gap between the stone is being filled with residue.

Inka walls

The Inkas gave great importance to their very finest stonework found in their most important buildings, their temples. Inwards sloping is employed in the construction of temple walls. Finely cut ashlars were built in progressive pattern that get thinner upwards. Read the full story

When we think of traveling, we definitely look forward to be able to make our trip a memorable one. We think and search about places which are worth visiting and would prove to be a life time experience for us. There are some very beautiful historical travel destinations which would exactly serve this purpose.

1. The Great Wall of China

The first thing which comes to mind about the Great Wall of China is its enlistment in the seven wonder of world.  This wall was basically built to protect China from invasions. The work on this wall continued for centuries after its construction commenced in the Ming Dynasty. This wall was built in sections which would later be joint.

2. Taj Mahal

This is definitely one of the most beautiful structures in the world, with its marble and precious and semi-precious laid structure. This building was built as a monument of love by the Mogul Emperor to his late wife Mumtaz Mahal. It was built by twenty thousand workers and in the period between 1632—1653

3. Parthenon

This is a monument of the ancient Greece construction and grandeur, many of the sculptures which are also referred to as the marbles have been removed from the building. These were subsequently shifted to the British Museums and despite of constant efforts by the Greek Government to have them back and placed in the building are still in the museums.

4. Rome

The city of Rome has seen the various periods of evolution from Medieval to Renaissance. The city is regarded as one of the most beautiful and ancient cities of the world. The city hosts various sites like the arch of Constantine, the pantheon and the circus maximus.

5. Egypt

The things which come to mind as we speak of Egypt are the great pyramids of Egypt and the sphinx at Giza.

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Between Urubamba River and Sacred Valley is located the Inca Trail; Machu Picchu has been declared as a classic trek of world. The height of Machu Picchu is 13,000 ft from the river which passes beneath this city. City is containing many ruins of Inca; it is also called the silent city of stone. Hiking of the Inca Trail gives an exhilarating experience and thrilling favour to tourists. This hiking is far more than a great hike because these small portions of mountain ranges are hiding an incredible network of stone buildings.

Inca Empire was put together against the challenges of mountain ranges, Andean river and bleak deserts. Days when expansion of Inca Empire was at its peak, The Four Corners of empire had been extended up to the areas of today’s Southern Columbia and central Chile. If you imagine the sheer size of Inca Empire you will be amazed to know that the maximum distance between two corners of Inca Empire was around 5500km. It is not a small distance as it is around 3400 miles in length.

Communication And Transport System Of Inca Empire

Emperor of Machu Picchu was called Inca. As he had to rule a very wide area of land; he had established an extensive system of communication. This system was based upon a number of tunnels and bridges. These tunnels and bridges were built across Inca Empire in order to facilitate the transport, cargo, law implementation and defense like necessities of Empire. The network of tunnels and bridges was so perfect that people could easily travel across the vast Empire even in days of wet season. Those people who have a taste of tropical climate, they can understand the effectiveness of this communication and transport system because travel on foot in tropical lands is extremely difficult in wet season. Travel in dry season is relatively much easy because dry season does not brings the slippery mud in your path; so you can move freely.

Inca emperors built up their transport infrastructure from defense’s point of view. As they had to rule a vast area, they had to keep big armies. If you are keeping an army then it is of no use to you if you cannot deploy it quickly in case of an immediate threat. So the Inca rulers also facilitated their defense needs by building up an excellent transport structure. Their built system of transport is still working in some areas after hundreds of years.

Advantages What Inca Emperors Got From Their Built Communication And Transport System

Their built communication and transport system enabled them to quickly move their army to any area of empire in case of a threat. Therefore, they got an opportunity to conquer new areas to expand their empire. Their built roads had enough width that two soldiers could easily move side by side in one direction at once. Further, they appointed many runners at short distances along these roads. These runners moved very fast for exchange of messages between different parts of Empire. Special check posts were also built for these runners. Check posts built for runners were nothing less than rest houses. Many of them are still working today in 21st century. The exchange of information between different parts of Empire happened at the speed of runners. Therefore Inca Empire’s cities were very close to each other than cities of other empires of their time.

This system for exchange of information was very fast and reliable. In fact, it was equally effective to the postal services of present days. People of Inca regions are still maintaining these roads due to their usefulness. The highway network of old Inca Empire is considered as a great engineering piece of pre-industrialized world. Archaeologists consider it as a big treasure. Government has started big campaigns for protection of the natural beauty of this area. Tourists are always advised to take care of natural beauty; they should not throw garbage while passing through different parts of this region.

Where To Start Hiking Of Machu Picchu?

Old people considered Machu Picchu as a sacred city. Hikers can start their Machu Picchu hiking from Chilca village. This village is located at a distance of 88 km from Machu Picchu. A dirt road connects Chilca village to Ollantaytambo. Ollantaytambo is close to Machu Picchu. Hikers can also start Machu Picchu hiking by taking a train to Urubamba. This city is very close to Machu Picchu; hikers will only have to cross a road of 2200 meters on foot to enter Machu Picchu. Hikers will pay a cost of US$50 before entering this valley. When they will cross the bridge, they will see Llactapata ruins on their left side. If they can afford to walk up to a distance of 1km on their left side, they will be able to visit Q’ente ruins. This is a very famous area of Machu Picchu.

Start Hiking From Chilca Village Because You Will Get Excellent Campsites In This Path

But Hikers are largely advised to start their hiking from Chilca village because hiking from the side of Chilca gives you some excellent views of this region. Path from Chilca village goes on the left side of Urubamba stuff. The beautiful scenes of farmlands besides river give pleasure of life to your eyes. Where you will be watching beautiful farmlands across the bank of river, you will see beautiful snow-capped mountains above your head. It is a snow-capped range of mountains and many Inca ruins are spread in this region. The area which offers the best sceneries to hikers is located between Chilca and Llactapata.

If you are found of camping then you will find many beautiful camping sights in the ruins located near Chilca. Llactapata is also important due to its archaeological signs. In fact, Llactapata is the most major archaeological site in all North American countries. You will realize this fact just with in the first few hours of hiking. You will explore the agricultural terraces and ruined houses of Inca Empire in this area. However, none of the Chilca and Llactapata ruins are comparable to Machu Picchu.

Most Ruins Of Inca Empire Are Located Near Streams And Rivers

Rio Cusichacha and Rio Llullucha are two streams flowing in the areas around Llactapata and Urubamba. These two streams collide in the area near village Huayllabamba. People of Huayllabamba are inhabitants of the Inca Trail. After crossing this village, hikers get three excellent campsites at one side of Rio Llullucha. Two of the camping sides have been named as ‘Three White Stones’ and ‘Llulluchapampa’. The third camping sight has not been given a name up to now.

Campsite of ‘Three White Stones’ is at a walk distance of half an hour from Huayllabamba village. The next campsite in this area is Llulluchapampa. It is located at a significant height from ‘Three White Stones’. Its weather is clod due to its significant height. But its best advantage is that it has excellent toilet places for hikers.  The third campsite comes at 20 hours hiking up the trail. If you are planning your hiking tour from this side then you can use any of the three campsites for your rest. All these campsites will offer excellent resting places to you.

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The earth has an old history of civilization; many cities which formerly existed and thrived were lost either due to wars, invasions, natural calamity or abandoned by its inhabitants. Many of these cities have been discovered while many remain more of a myth as to the fact if they actually ever existed or not.

1. Troy

This city is most famous because of the Trojan War that took place over here as mentioned by Homer in his poems. The city might have been thought to be a legend had it not been excavated in 1870 by Heinrich Schliemann.

2. Pompeii

This Roman city was brought to an end by the volcano and a whole city was buried under it. It was excavated after 1,700 years of remaining buried and has since been the object of various excavations carried out to fully explore and unearth it.

3. Atlantis

This city was written about by Plato, it was said that this city was a very powerful and influential one and had brought a great part of Europe under its rule. It eventually sank into the city by a supposedly natural disaster.

4. City of Z

The discovery of this city is also famous because of the fact that the famous explorer Percy Fawcett went missing after he set off to discover this city. This city was thought to be located somewhere deep in the jungle of Brazil.

5. Petra

This city is located in Jordan in close proximity with the Dead Sea, its unique architecture distinguishes it and its remains are evident of the fact that the city was a very advanced one.

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The most attractive and beautiful element of Machu Picchu complex is its 16 fountains, with water moving from one fountain to the other. The Tambomachay is among one of the water channel at beautiful fountains of Inka architecture. It is also popularly called “The Bath of Inka”.

Basic structure of fountains

Conventionally, fountains are small roofless chamber of size 1 to 1.5 meters. Each fountain is surrounded by walls whose maximum height is kept up to 5 feet (chest height or waist). There is an opening on upper one side. Water comes into a fountain through a stone channel and goes down into nearby stone sink at the bottom. Water from each fountain falls into the other and the process continues in line to the next fountains.

The Use of Fountains

It seems that they are mainly associated with archeological sites of living areas; supplying them drinking water could be their main functionality. Secondly, the way they are enclosed by it, also looks like they are being used for bathing. Indeed some writers wrote them as “Liturgical Baths”.

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