Inca Trail to Machu Picchu terminus at the Sun Gate on Machu Picchu mountain. The two longer routes require an ascent to beyond above sea level, which can result in altitude sickness. Concern about overuse leading to erosion has led the Peruvian government to place a limit on the number of people who may hike this trail per season, and to sharply limit the companies that can provide guides. As a result, advance booking is mandatory. A maximum of 500 people are allowed on the trail each day, of which only 200 are trekkers, the rest being guides and porters. As a result, the high
Vilcabamba, Peru the site where Tupac Amaru fled after the Spanish captured Vitcos. Bingham speculated in his book Lost City of the Incas that Machu Picchu was the lost city of Vilcapampa the Old, in part because Bingham only saw a small portion of Espíritu Pampa. It remained for Gene Savoy to discover the full extent of the site in 1964, and later evidence did confirm the site was indeed the old Vilcabamba. In the 1960s, the explorations and discoveries of Antonio Santander Casselli and Gene Savoy finally associated the "Espíritu Pampa" site with the legendary Vilcabamba. Their 1970 book "Antisuyo" brought