Skip to content
Be a share millionaire! Tell the world!

Machu Picchu is probably one of the biggest, but most spectacular travel cliches in the world. It’s at the end of the other big South American cliche which is popular on the gringo trail – that is, the four day, thirty kilometre walk called the Inca Trail.

That is, if you can actually score a spot on it! It’s pretty hard to get a spot these days because the walk is often booked months in advance, so you just can’t turn up and start walking for the sake of it. You might be confined to the train instead!

However, whilst it can be a bit of a tourist trap,  it’s worth going there because there’s nothing like this place anywhere in the world. But it’s also the subject off some silly Spanish curse words and slang when you swap the words around – which I’ll get onto in a minute!

This place appears on a few bucket lists. Unfortunately, it cops a flogging by the thousands of tourists that visit each year who tread all over the place (try and avoid it at peak hour – it’s like visiting a packed European beach in summer).

I’m not sure how many more visitors it can take, but hopefully Machu Picchu will be managed well so that future generations can experience it, just like I did.

When I visited, I actually found Machu Picchu more spectacular than the enormous Giza pyramids. And it wasn’t because the altitude was making me hallucinate either!

Things To Do In Peru

Why did I find them spectacular?  It’s not that the ruins themselves that are extraordinary – but it’s their location. This place is situated smack bang in a small flat plateau in amongst steep valleys and mountains which makes you think ‘how the hell did they make that?’

Inca Trail Peru

I have no idea how this Inca civilisation managed to drag all of these rocks to build this city, without modern day construction or extraction technologies. Sounds like way too much hard work to me! Like a few hundred year long episode of Survivor!

Macchu Picchu

One of the funniest things I’ve seen regarding the ruins is when the guys from the great movie, The Motorcycle Diaries, stumble across an abandoned Machu Picchu and they have the entire place to themselves. They must have rocked up at a sparrow’s fart (at the crack of dawn) to film a few seconds of footage!

Peru Inca Ruins

 So why is the term ‘Machu Picchu’ sort of humourous?

Well, it’s when you reverse the words and say ‘picchu machu‘.

Still Bored At Work? Then Check Out:  Eating Guinea Pigs in Peru - Weird Cuisine!

Because when you say the words in that order, it means penis!

So you probably shouldn’t reverse those words when you get to Peru because you might receive something you didn’t ask for!

You don’t want to run down the street saying ‘I wanted the ruins! The ruins!’.

See more at:

If you’re planning a trip soon, check out my best travel insurance tips, and get a quote on some Backpacker Travel Insurance.


Be a share millionaire! Tell the world!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *