Villacamba was where the last Inca Emperor and his escorts holed up before they were overtaken by the Spaniards and the Inca Empire came to an end. It was this city that Prof Hiram Bingham was searching for in the Sacred Valley in 1911. But instead of finding what he was looking for, he fell through a bush in a small enclosure and noticed some stones that were separated by straight lines. He immediately knew that he found something man-made and proceeded to clear the bush away with his machete. He was astonished to find he had discovered another lost city that the Spaniards never knew about!

Indiana Jones eat your heart out! Roy Chapman Andrews was 20 years too late and Prof Hiram Bingham's name will be forever associated, in Western academic circles at least, as having discovered the lost city of Machu Picchu. From there he, and subsequent expeditions, backtracked down the Sacred Valley and made many more substantial discoveries. Check out Project Gutenberg www.gutenberg.org and you can read about the discovery of what is considered one of the wonders of the world.

Why was it built? Nobody knows. Although there have been some educated guesses since its discovery and restoration. Since the Incas never wrote anything down, everything that is known about the Incas, and other civilisations in Peru, come from the chronicles of the Spanish. They were the ones that recorded what they could; and it is from there that the broader world was introduced to the Inca Empire.

The fact that the Spanish never knew of this place is maybe a good thing. There are too many horrific stories of outrageous greed and destruction at the hands of the Spanish. The outright destruction of religious images that do not correspond to your own belief's smacks of fundamentalism that never bodes well for long term peace and prosperity.

What is surprising is how sophisticated the Incas were, yet they never used the wheel or had a written tradition of any kind. Perhaps the paradox is that although they had an oral tradition, their means of communicating and transmitting important information over vast distances and time did not need any written component at all? When you are number one, why try harder?

They had a very advanced scientific knowledge that permeated down to how they interacted with their environment. They constructed agricultural laboratories to experiment with crops, they built giant salt processing works on the side of the valley and practically every slope that could yield a crop was terraced. You only need look at the hills everywhere where the Inca Empire extended to see the sheer number of terraces.

They had a system of runners that extended all over the Empire. Apparently it was so good, that one could be eating seafood from the coast the day after it was caught. In those days that was considered almost instantaneous!

One of the reasons experts suppose that MP was constructed was so that the royalty and noble families could be closer to the gods that ruled their world. The Incas revered the natural elements; sun, moon, starts, mountains, rivers, rain, plants and many more. On the high mountain top with sheer sides to the jungles and river below, you cannot help but feel that you are right in amongst the elements that the Incas so revered.

We left at 0430 after a "hearty" breakfast of Oreo cookies and yoghurt into the dark night (this time is more night than day, in my opinion!) and began the walk to the top of the mountain. After crossing the very swollen and raging Rio Urubamba river, we began our hot and sweaty climb to the top through sodden and humid jungle slopes along the old Inca path. Us take the bus? Not when there is a harder way, thank you very much! But as the cloud laden sky lightens in the east, we head higher and higher up the flank of this mountain. As we climb the trail, it twists and turns out of the jungle and eventually emerges above the city that spreads out below. The incredibly dramatic backdrop of mountains in every direction that are covered and, then uncovered again, as the clouds swirl over and around us; and not to be outdone, the rain sweeps in and out again adding to the already considerable mystique of this place.

Since we are here early, the hordes have not arrived and we seem to have it all to ourselves. Those already here scuttle under whatever cover there is as the rain comes and the clouds disappear and our wet weather gear allows us to enjoy getting closer to the elements. And it is exhilarating; and liberating!

The ruin is incredibly impressive and the ever-changing scenery just adds to it. You can breathe the ethereal nature of this place as you glaze down the cliffs to the river below. Or when you stand in amongst the ruins and absorb the views that fill your vision. It seems that the ghosts that made this place home, have just slipped around the next corner and beckon you onward to new treasures to discover. In other places where the terraces drop and become narrower and narrower, you can almost hear the sounds of labourers starting another working the fields and crops.

What just adds to the whole atmosphere of MP is that you are free to let your imagination roam absolutely wild. Nobody knows what really happened here or why and so there are so many different views amongst experts, that you can enjoy whatever you can conjure up!

Even the resident llamas, happily dodging the ever-increasing hordes, just add to the charm of this place! And as we descend we are treated to the curtains of clouds and rain dissipating and the hidden mountains step forward into view.

Truly this place is a wonder of the world! Come as soon as you can.