Inca Land: Explorations in the Highlands of Peru

“Machu Picchu was never completely lost. It’s true that it fell from public recognition, but people who lived in and around the site knew that there was an archaeological site in that area. That was not that unusual. The Inca left lots of archaeological sites in and around Cusco and the Andes. So while it had fallen into disuse, it was not a mystery to people and, in fact, Bingham arrived at the site precisely because he was going down the river valley anyway, and locals informed him that there was an Inca site up on the plateau – ‘Maybe you want to go check it out.’ When Bingham arrived, he discovered there were two families living there – according to his own accounts, they were herding sheep – and a little kid named Pablito Richarte showed him around the site. Young Pablito is Machu Picchu’s first tour guide.” Read more...

The best books on Machu Picchu

Mark Rice