Intipata Ruins, the place of the Sun. This site is one of the less known of the whole Inca Trail, because you can’t see it at first sight, but if you are curious, you can see these beautiful platforms, and the way the sun sets over these structures is amazing, perfect for contemplate with your travel friends.
The Intipata Ruins is located at 2800 meters above the sea level, near to the Machu Picchu Sanctuary. When you walk along the Inca trail, you might miss that place, because you cannot see in his whole splendor, has a big size and impressive presence. It said that these constructions were connected with the Machu Picchu Sanctuary, maybe because these platforms were the place of the products that the Inca elite used all along the year, and also they were connected because this is one of the main Inca ideology, maintain the balance between the nature and the sacred places.
This can be confirmed due that many plants of this environment were poisoned, but the Incas and his ancestral and infinite wisdom could transform these plants into edibles, like the potato, one of the most important products in the Inca times, and still has a very good source of proteins and carbohydrates.
Since the place was a site of plants domestication and cultivation, you can see over 150 types of plants, edibles and aromatics, including the most beautiful of all: The Orchids, with more of 200 types, is the most famous plant in the Inca Trail.
¿How to get there?
The way to find Intipata is easy, close to the Wyñaywayna Ruins; you will found an electric post, the you must turn to the left, where is the shortest path, because the other path, to the right, leads you to Wiñaywayna. The whole trek is about 20 minutes long.