Posts Tagged "cusco"

Reopening of Machu Picchu

Reopening of Machu Picchu

Repair work is under way and progressing well on the route to the famed citadel. When will Machu Picchu re-open to visitors? Find the April and June dates here.

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Cusco Floods: Return to devastated Lucre

Cusco Floods: Return to devastated Lucre

After heavy rains flooded the southern Andes of Peru washing away towns and making tens of thousands homeless, Andy Dare, a Brit in Cusco, went out to inspect the damage and help in aid efforts. 18 days after the severe floods washed away the town of Lucre, Andy went back for another visit and reports on what he found.

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Humanitarian disaster in Cusco, abandoned communities help themselves

Humanitarian disaster in Cusco, abandoned communities help themselves

Andy Dare in Cusco borrows a pickup, and with some friends goes to do what no government or aid agency has done – provide aid to the real victims of the worst natural disaster to hit the region in decades.

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Access to Machu Picchu completely destroyed

Access to Machu Picchu completely destroyed

Machu Picchu looks set to be out of service for quite some time as the single rail link taking tourists to the ancient Inca citadel has been completely wiped out. Peru’s over-sold main tourist attraction is an example of hyping a single site in a single small area of Peru to concentrate revenue that now looks to be backfiring.

See the amazing photos and videos of the destruction here.

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Thousands of tourists trapped at Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley cut off, Rescue plans need re-think

Thousands of tourists trapped at Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley cut off, Rescue plans need re-think

Somewhere between 2000 and 3000 tourists are trapped in Aguas Calientes, also known as Machu Picchu Pueblo, with plans to evacuate getting ever more complicated.

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Emergency declared in Cusco: Heavy rains flood the region

Emergency declared in Cusco: Heavy rains flood the region

UP TO THE MINUTE NEWS – State of Emergency in six provinces of Cusco and all of Apurímac. Weather service reports rain around 67% in excess of the norm. 66 people rescued from Aguas Calientes by helicopters, 3000 tourists and locals are trapped. 8 people dead, including two foreign tourists, and more than 7000 families left homeless.

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Torrential rains put more Incan sites at risk

Torrential rains put more Incan sites at risk

The heavy rains that caused damage to a wall at ancient Sacsayhuamán have not halted. Other sites are suffering damage too and tourists are facing restrictions and where they are allowed to go.

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Cafe Ayllu: A classic coffee shop in Cusco

Cafe Ayllu: A classic coffee shop in Cusco

Although it sadly no longer exists, it’s nice to be reminded of the once iconic Cafe Ayllu of Cusco, thanks to photographer Scott Vanthoff.

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Four ceremonial fountains discovered at Machu Picchu

Four ceremonial fountains discovered at Machu Picchu

The Incas possessed what was the culmination of all Andean hydraulic engineering knowledge developed over millennia by the civilisations that came before them. This knowledge is said by experts to have been far superior to that of the Spanish who conquered them and wiped it out for ever. As good a place as any to witness the evidence of their impressive skills is at Machu Picchu, and it is at this famous site that yet more discoveries have been made.

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Last descendant of Inca Pachacútec honoured in Cusco

Last descendant of Inca Pachacútec honoured in Cusco

Authorities in Cusco’s San Jerónimo district have bestowed the municipal medal on an 86-year-old woman who is the last descendant of Inca Pachacutec, the greatest ruler of the Inca Empire in ancient Peru. Isabel Atayupanqui Pachacútec received the medal from the hands of local mayor Adolfo Zúñiga in a special ceremony held Monday morning in the Andean city of Cusco.

Pachacutec, whose given name was Cusi Yupanqui, was the first Inca to expand beyond the valley of Cusco after his epic victory over the Chancas.

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Severed heads among discovery at Sacsayhuamán

Severed heads among discovery at Sacsayhuamán

Above the Inca capital of Cusco (Q’osco) sits the important ceremonial site and one of human-kinds most impressive constructions called Sacsayhuamán, which despite its global fame still offers up secrets to investigators. Yesterday the discovery was announced of three burials, one of which contained the severed heads of the Inca’s enemies.

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Train to Machu Picchu-Aguas Calientes, new operators, what you need to know

Train to Machu Picchu-Aguas Calientes, new operators, what you need to know

There were only two ways to get to Machu Picchu – hiking the tracks from Santa Teresa (cheap) or catching an overpriced train from Cusco or Ollantaytambo. Now that Perú Rail’s monopoly has come to an end, there are two further options to get to the Inca Citadel.

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