Hiking the Inca Trail in Peru to Machu Picchu

posted on August 1st, 2008 in Andes Mountains, Incas, Machu Picchu, The Inca Trail

A hiker on the Inca Trail, Peru

(Note: the best advice I can offer readers for hiking the Inca trail is to book as early as possible–six months would be ideal–wear good shoes, be in good shape, and arrive in the Cuzco area as many days as possible to acclimatise yourself to the altitude. A week in the Andes before heading off is best and the better the shape you are in, the more you will enjoy the hike. By early March, 2008 the trail was booked through the entire summer–KM).

On the Inca Trail, Peru

Detroit Free Press

March 9, 2008

It can no longer be helped. The wetness creeps into my eyes like the condensation that shrouded our tent this morning…

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Evidence that Incas Fattened up their Children Before Sacrificing Them

posted on July 28th, 2008 in Andes Mountains, Archaeology, Incas, Peru, Peruvian Mummies, Recent Discoveries

(Above: Scientists examine a 15-year-old girl who lived in the Inca Empire, then was sacrificed and remained frozen for 500 years)

Incas fattened up their children before sacrifice on the volcano

The Times

October 2, 2007

Grim evidence of how the Incas “fattened up” children before sacrificing them to their gods has emerged from a new analysis of hair from two 500-year-old mummies preserved near the summit of a volcano…

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Inca Girl, Frozen for 500 Years, Now On Display

posted on July 25th, 2008 in Andes Mountains, Archaeology, Incas, Peru, Peruvian Mummies, Recent Discoveries

(Above: The 15-year-old “Llullaillaco Maiden” was sacrificed along with two other children on top of Mt. Llullaillco, in northern Argentina, at 22,000 feet)

In Argentina, A Museum Unveils A Long-Frozen Maiden

September 11, 2007

NYT

SALTA, Argentina — The maiden, the boy, the girl of lightning: they were three Inca children, entombed on a bleak and frigid mountaintop 500 years ago as a religious sacrifice…

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