Machu Picchu: I Refuse to Enthuse

I've always been ambivalent about travel writing, and I have no interest in writing descriptive prose about places that have been written about to death. There are better descriptions out there than I could write, anyway, and they're easy to find. Attempts to convey my impressions of well-known tourist attractions would only join multitudes of other banalities. I don't need to tell you that Machu Picchu was awe-inspiring or breathtaking; I'm sure you can find those adjectives elsewhere, thousands of times over. And if anybody tries to tell you that it was a "spiritual experience," shoot them. I don't need to tell you the history of Machu Picchu or the story of how this "lost city of the Incas" was rediscovered by Hiram Bingham. You can look it up. Instead, I'll just show you some pictures.