As an anthropologist myself, I wish that I had had a copy of a guidebook even half as good as that authored by Ruth Wright and Alfredo Valencia Zegarra. Combining a clearly written text with intriguing photos and practical diagrams, The Machu Picchu Guidebook is the single best publication on this site that I have seen. While written primarily for the astute traveler, it will be of use to professionals as well.
My own work with indigenous water systems in places like Guyana and Indonesia led to my cursory examination in 1982 of the system at Machu Picchu. It proved fascinating, but I had little time for study. To their credit, Ruth Wright and her husband, Ken Wright (in conjunction with a number of their colleagues from the U.S. and Peru) instituted a remarkably thorough archaeological/engineering investigation of this Incan system in the 1990s. This same degree of care and attention to detail is seen in the guidebook, which had its genesis in their archaeological research.
In conclusion, it should be noted that Ruth Wright is a former chair of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of The Explorers Club. Her book brings an explorer's enthusiasm to Machu Picchu, while maintaining high standards of authorship.
Now you are ready for your self-guided tour. Just inside the entrance gate, climb to the Guardhouse. Pause to see how the water supply canal passes right by food storehouses. Cross the Inca trail coming in from Cusco and stand beside the Guardhouse. Below you stretches the whole of this incredible cradle of civilization-lovely green of the main plaza feeding llama and alpaca; Inca stones rising on either side to form the ceremonial and residential edifices; and the crop-growing terraces on the flanks of the cradle falling away to the Urubamba River.
Step-by-step, Ruth and Alfredo talk you by the printed page through these wonders. Plan on several days. You will have the joy of misty morning and sun-streaked afternoons. The day-traintrippers will be gone. Wind through the Rock Quarry. Pause in the quiet of the Unfinished Temple. You can take the time to side hike to the Sun Gate, Machu Picchu Mountain, the Inca Drawbridge, and Huayna Picchu Mountain. Talk with other visitors. The world is here for good reason.
Ruth and Alfredo immensely aid the visitor's Machu Picchu experience. They bring new information to old understandings:
"There are many different ways to experience Machu Picchu. We hope this guidebook will give you the tools to do it in your own way. In the last several decades, much has been learned about the Inca in general and Machu Picchu in particular. Since the Inca had no written language, scientists have had to `read' their artifacts, their stones, their temples, and their mummies to establish their place in history. Recent information and new analyses of earlier findings are shedding additional light on these truly remarkable people and their culture."
The Guidebook starts with an introduction to the history and topography of Machu Picchu. Chapters follow dedicated to the Guardhouse and The Terrace of the Ceremonial Rock; the Western Urban Sector; the Eastern Urban Sector; Various Sites on the Way Out; and Side Trips. Marvelous detail attends every page. The accompanying photographs are many and well shot. They draw your attention to the features described in the text.
Pay particular attention to the numerous huacas. These are the Inca sacred places, typically consisting of naturally situated or human placed rocks cut to the shape of surrounding peaks. These people loved their mountains.
Don't be afraid to make some wrong turns as you orient yourself. The structure of the Guidebook divides Machu Picchu into hemispheres. You start by going down from the Guardhouse to the Main Gate to the Temple of the Sun; then you turn laterally to the residence of the Inca and back through the Western Urban Sector up to the Rock Quarry, the Sacred Plaza, and the Intiwantana. Then you proceed clockwise past the Sacred Rock and Unfinished Temple into the Eastern Urban Sector, finishing at the Temple of the Condor.
Making the walk in this way takes you away from the staircase of the sixteen fountains early on. You encounter the staircase and the fountains again when you reach the Temple of the Condor much later. Sometime during your multi-day visit to Machu Picchu, you will want to follow the staircase in one continuous movement down from the Main Gate to see, feel, and hear the fountains flow sinuously.
