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LEN Virtual World Adventures - Machu Pichu


LEN went to Machu Pichu!

Virtual World Adventures

2360 m above sea level, 1000 m below the city of Cuzco in Peru, about 10,000 km from Brussels; there is Machu Pichu.

Machu Pichu was an Inca citadel, built in the fifteenth century.

It was abandoned an estimated 100 years after its construction, probably around the time the Spanish began their conquest of the mighty pre-Columbian civilization in the 1530s. However, there is no evidence that the conquistadors ever attacked or even reached the mountain top citadel.

For this reason, some have suggested that the residents’ desertion occurred because of a smallpox epidemic.

In 1911, archaelogist Hiram Bingham rediscovered Machu Pichu, the lost city and the last Inca city.

The site stretches over an impressive 5 mile distance, featuring more than 3,000 stones that link its many different levels.

It is said that probably no more than 200 or 300 people lived in the citadel, all of them were of high rank; the descendents of the founder of Tawantinsuvu.

Remains of buildings that covered with gold were found in the beginning of the rediscovery.

I am so intrigued by this citadel, so I tried to share my curiousness by taking the LEN group for a visit to Machu Pichu SIM in Second Life a week ago.

The first virtual living soul we came across when we arrived there was a llama; a domesticated South American camelid. We had Fernando amid us, so he could correct our Spanish pronunciation whenever needed. 

We started our adventure here by visiting the Hanan ( Hanan means upper) sector, where among others the housing area, the sacred places and the Intihuatana were situated.

Intihuatana, that means hitching post of the sun, is the highest place in Machu Pichu and it is believed to have been designed as an astronomic clock.

Then we arrived at the Royal Palace.

This was the finest, largest and best distributed of Machu Pichu.

I must tell you that Machu Pichu is so huge and it is like a labyrinth where you could get lost easily.

The first time I came here, I got lost; so I was well prepared to be able to find my way easily this time but I had to apologize because I was not able to find the Prison Quarter. 

Yes, even in that period a prison was needed.

This was a place where pumas and snakes were present, so that those who were punished were killed by one of those sacred animals and then devoured by birds of prey as the condor.

The other important place in this sector was the House of the Virgins, a building of high architectural quality, probably the place for chosen women, an elite Inca group.

The lower part of the site (the urin sector) was the industrial area where we could see the Temple of Condor and the Mortars Room.

From this urban sector we had a nice view to the Agricultural zone.

The Agricultural area was an area on the hill side with more than three hundred terraces.

With this view in mind we finished our adventure in Machu Pichu.

I know I will never see this wonderful place in real life and that's why I'm so glad with this virtual SIM in Second Life.

Thanks to the USMP, Universidad De San Martin De Porres in Peru, the creator of this SIM.

Note: After our visit, I read in the newspaper that there was a volcanic eruption in Peru.

Corrected Text:-

2,360 m above sea level, 1,000 m below the city of Cuzco in Peru, about 10,000 km from Brussels; lies Machu Pichu.

Machu Pichu was an Inca citadel, built in the fifteenth century. It was abandoned an estimated 100 years after its construction, probably around the time the Spanish began their conquest of the mighty pre-Columbian civilization in the 1530s. However, there is no evidence that the conquistadors ever attacked or even reached the mountain-top citadel.

For this reason, some have suggested that the residents’ desertion occurred because of a smallpox epidemic.

In 1911, archaelogist Hiram Bingham rediscovered Machu Pichu, the lost city and the last Inca city.The site stretches over an impressive 5-mile area, and more than 3,000 stones link the many different levels.

It is said that probably no more than 200 or 300 people lived in the citadel, all of them were high ranking descendents of the founder of Tawantinsuvu.

The remains of buildings covered with gold were found at the beginning of the rediscovery.

I am so intrigued by this citadel that, a week ago, I tried to share my curiousity by taking the LEN group for a visit to Machu Pichu SIM in Second Life.

The first virtual living soul we came across when we arrived was a llama; a domesticated South American camelid. We had Fernando with us, so he could correct our Spanish pronunciation whenever needed. 

We started our adventure by visiting the Hanan (Hanan means upper) sector, where among others the housing area, the sacred places and the Intihuatana were situated.

Intihuatana, that means hitching post of the sun, it is the highest place in Machu Pichu and it is believed to have been designed as a celestial calendar.

Then we arrived at the Royal Palace.

This was the finest, largest and best positioned part of Machu Pichu.

I must warn you though, Machu Pichu is huge and it is like a labyrinth where you could get lost easily.

The first time I came here, I got lost; so I was well prepared to be able to find my way easily this time but I had to apologize because I was not able to find the Prison Quarter. Yes, even during that period a prison was needed. This was a place where pumas and snakes were present, so that those who were punished were killed by one of those sacred animals to then be devoured by birds of prey, such as the condor.

The other important place in this sector was the House of the Virgins, a building of high architectural quality, probably the place for chosen women, an elite Inca group.

The lower part of the site (the urin sector) was the industrial area where we could see the Temple of Condor and the Mortars Room.

From this urban sector we had a nice view of the Agricultural zone.

The Agricultural area was an area on the hillside made up of more than three hundred terraces.With this view we finished our adventure in Machu Pichu.

I know I will never see this wonderful place in real life and that's why I'm so glad to have been able to visit this virtual SIM in Second Life.

Thanks to the USMP, Universidad De San Martin De Porres in Peru, the creator of this SIM.

Note: After our visit, I read in the newspaper that there had been a volcanic eruption in Peru.

Written by April Sis

Edited by Lynne Hand