Posted on 01/28/2010 9:09:19 PM PST by Beowulf9
About 1,400 tourists have been airlifted from near the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru following floods that destroyed road and rail links.
A break in the weather allowed the government to send in helicopters, but about 800 tourists are still stranded.
Tourists' patience has been stretched, with prices for some goods soaring.
The Machu Picchu site, which attracts more than 400,000 visitors a year, will be closed for several weeks after the heaviest rainfall for 15 years.
'An adventure'
Tourists were stranded in the town of Aguas Calientes, at the foot of the ruins, after rainfall severed road and rail links.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
The flooding has heavily damaged parts of Aguas Calientes The BBC's Dan Collyns in Cusco says the rescue is now hitting its stride and the tourists should be out by the weekend, although the misery will continue for the thousands of Peruvians who have lost their homes and farmland to the floods.
More than 2,500 tourists have been rescued since Monday, officials said.
The evacuation has been done by age, with the elderly and children taken first.
American Karel Schultz, 46, told Associated Press news agency: "It's been an adventure, a bit more than we bargained for."
Some tourists had to rely on locals for food after cash machines dried up.
A number of hotels were reported to have increased prices considerably.
The train to the city of Cuzco is the only means of transport on the last leg of the trip to the Machu Picchu ruins, and has been suspended since Saturday when it was blocked by one of 40 landslides in the area.
Five people are reported to have died, including two residents killed when their home was destroyed, and a trekker crushed while sleeping in a tent.
2012 came early this year?
Well, the tourists certainly got their adventure, didn’t they?
Especially when the cash machines dried up and the hotels raised their prices.
I’ll bet that trail was a mess.
Look at the elevation and lay of the trail. Its a ****buster on a good day.
Well, the El Nino is dumping all sorts of rain in the north pacific so I’m not surprised it’s dumping all sorts of rain in the southern pacific, too.
LOL
I found myself irked reading about the whiney touristas.
All around them people losing their homes, their livelihoods, the troops working as fast as they can evacuating them in a triage fashion, and all they can do is b!tch.
I ‘did’ Macchu Picchu back in the 70’s and can assure you the terrain IS terrifying .. every step of the way. The flight into Cuzco is like a corkscrew, flying sideways in continuing spirals within a limited radius among the Andes moutains. Watching a take off puts your heart in your mouth. The railroad (however charming) between Cuzco and Macchu Picchu at points seems about to go over a cliff, and the final journey from the train station to the ruins is a back and forth, zig zag, cut into the mountain road just wide enough for the shuttles to get you there. There is no room for error anywhere along the line.
Fascinating as it was, I can guarantee it felt good to get back to Lima and terra firma.
Yes, the coca tea was pretty necessary .. even with that I had my standard high-altitude blackout. Some Americanos thought it would be cool to take some of those coca leaves home, which is(or was) highly illegal. One couple on our tour was detained at the Lima airport as we were leaving .. wonder what ever became of them.
The world is so full of wonderful places and things to see .. if only there were enough $ and time to do it all! (starting in the USA, of course!)
You were there in the 70?.....30 years ago?. I was there in early 70 too then again two times in early 1990 and in early the 2000. Things change from the 70 to the 90 to the 2000 for the better. I would go back as soon as I can afforted. Never go there on the raining season. The locals say that there is only two seasons in Cuzco, the raining seasons and non raining seasons.
Much as I’d love to go to Machu Picchu I don’t think I could do that plane flight, let alone the train and climb. I am white knuckling it on a straight flight from Arizona to New York on a sunny windless day. In other words, I’m a chicken.
But what a beautiful, mysterious exotic trip you must’ve had and I can well imagine the view from the top with those gorgeous misty clouds on the mountains around you and all the green.
How those ancient peoples ever got up there, built the place and LIVED through the rainy seasons I’ll never know.
This is on my to do list before I die and wanted to go this year..but looks like I may have to put it off a year due to this flood. Was the washed out train track at the end of the video that one that goes to Cuzco?
yes, there is only ONE train between Cuzco and the ruins at Macchu Picchu .. and a rather sparse track at that (at least 30 years ago). It’s such a long ago memory but part of me is saying there is not only one train but only one track, i.e., one track up and the same one back, at least at some point(s). Wish I could remember better.
The train itself was rather exotic, yellow with red trim .. NOT Amtrak! And to add to the exotica, there was a native who’d play El Condor Pasa on a flute. Music seemed to be everywhere down there, from the hotels, to the streets, to the trains. I have to admit, it was magical.
When you go, be prepared for that altitude, and accept the coca tea when you arrive in Cuzco. If you can, spend a couple days there before heading up to the ruins, so you get some equilibrium back. Again, as I recall, the altitude of Cuzco is higher than Macchu Picchu, but you want to feel really good to walk around the ruins.
I have to admire Lily .. like Beouwulf9, the flight into Cuzco is beyond my willingness to undertake ever again. To do it 3 more times is a testament to Lily’s faith.
Fortunately, back in the 70’s, I was young and far more adventurous. Today I wouldn’t go on that skywalk at the Grand Canyon. I had NO CLUE about that Cuzco flight, till all of a sudden the plane turned sideways and started its corkscrew landing that went on for at least a half hour, downward spiraling over and over again. Talk about white knuckles! Ignorance is pure bliss.
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