Some people call it the most beautiful place on earth. Others claim that it's the eighth wonder of the world and even more are just so stunned by the ethereal ruins of Machu Picchu that they find it hard to say anything at all. Meanwhile the keen folk who hoofed it here along the legendary Inca Trail from Cuzco some 88 km away are still trying to catch their breath and persuade the over-eager site guards to let them hang on to their backpacks.

Six hundred and ten metres above the slinky waters of the Urubamba River and 2,430 metres above sea level the air here is mild and damp. It has the feel of a tropical rainforest but without the greenery. Instead, the ruins of around 200 achingly uniform, white granite buildings fall away down the slope in bold terraces. The jungle has been hacked away to reveal one of the greatest mountain citadels in the world. The rainforest had kept its secret for hundreds of years before American professor Hiram Bingham, searching for Vilcapamap, the legendary last stronghold of the Incas, uncovered Machu Picchu in July 1911 and shaved back the blanket of foliage to reveal it to the world.