Hiking the Inca Trail up to Machu Picchu, with some of my closest friends, was an experience I’ll never forget.

Day 1:  What beautiful terrain! As we began our climb from the Valley of the Gods, we instantly began to feel how out of shape we were (or more honestly, I notice how out of shape I am). With thousands of feet to climb, we set off at an enthusiastic pace, and wind our way up the side of a green hill- backpacks filled with sleeping-bags, dry socks and baby wipes.

Day 2: Even though I was blessed with many creative birthday parties when I was a child, no birthday thus far has been quite like this one.  We woke at 4:30am to eat breakfast before we began our hike.  The cook, who was traveling with us, arose several hours earlier to bake me a cake.  He explained to us that he had creating a makeshift oven by lighting a fire in a hole he had dug, and then placing the pot snugly inside of it.  He even made icing from condense milk.  As I sat in the dark with friends eating birthday cake, painstakingly made by a stranger, I was struck again by the amazing kindness of fellowman.

Later that day, as I approached Dead Women’s Pass, all the hikers who had reached the summit sang happy birthday to me in their native language.  Turning 22 on the Inca trail with my best girl friends, and the amazing Andes Mountains all around me- made for a spectacular day.

Day 3: And It Rained. And Poured- and washing 7 Californians, and the Argentinians down the hill.

Day 4: It was 4:30am when we rose to begin the last stretch of our journey. It was another two hour hike before we would pass through the sun gate, and come to the point overlooking Machu Picchu, The Lost City of the Incas.

Machu Picchu is a pre-Columbian Inca site located 2,430 meters (8,000 ft) above sea level^[1]. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometers (50 mi) northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Often referred to as “The Lost City of the Incas”, Machu Picchu is one of the most familiar symbols of the Inca Empire.

The Incas started building it around AD 1430 but was abandoned as an official site for the Inca rulers a hundred years later at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Although known locally, it was largely unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American historian. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction.

Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. Since it was not plundered by the Spanish when they conquered the Incas, it is especially important as a cultural site and is considered a sacred place.

Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its primary buildings are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. These are located in what is known by archaeologists as the Sacred District of Machu Picchu. In September 2007, Peru and Yale University reached an agreement regarding the return of artifacts which Hiram Bingham had removed from Machu Picchu in the early twentieth century.