Copters lift tourists from Machu Picchu
Source: Agencies |
January 30, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BUOYED by the return of good weather, authorities were hoping yesterday to evacuate the last tourists stranded near Machu Picchu, the fabled Inca citadel that is likely to stay closed for weeks even if the region dries out.
Peruvian Tourism Minister Martin Perez said only about 800 tourists --mostly younger travelers -- were still in Machu Picchu Pueblo, the closest village to the ruins that stand on an Andean mountain ridge 2,400 meters up.
Clear skies on Thursday allowed helicopters to fly 1,402 people out of the town, and Perez said the rest could be evacuated in another day if the weather held.
"Right now it is raining heavily in Cuzco, but we believe the weather will be better tomorrow to continue evacuations," Perez told Lima's RPP radio late Thursday.
He said 2,542 tourists in all had been evacuated since Monday, a day after heavy rains caused mudslides that blocked the only land route in and out of the Machu Picchu area.
The hordes of outsiders caught in the town of 4,000 people strained food and water supplies and there weren't enough hotel rooms, testing tourists' patience.
Many were left to eat from communal pots and sleep outdoors.
"It's been an adventure, a bit more than we bargained for," Karel Schultz, 46, of New York, told The Associated Press as she waited to be flown out on Thursday.
Even with the end of the evacuation operation close, authorities said Machu Picchu will remain closed for weeks, until the government can repair highway and railroad tracks washed out by mudslides and the raging Urubamba River.
Authorities closed the Inca trail, a popular four-day trek that ends in Machu Picchu, after a mudslide killed two people on Tuesday.
Evacuations were conducted by age -- oldest and youngest first. Elderly travelers and children were among the 1,131 tourists who were taken out through Wednesday.
Dozens of ragged-looking, middle-aged tourists lined up outside the train station, where they waited to walk the few hundred yards to a makeshift helicopter clearing. Younger backpackers played soccer with locals and lent a hand stacking sandbags and clearing train tracks.
People had grown frustrated over chaotic relief efforts, price-gouging and scarce food, but the mood lightened as the weather cleared and helicopters descended from the skies.
Peruvian Tourism Minister Martin Perez said only about 800 tourists --mostly younger travelers -- were still in Machu Picchu Pueblo, the closest village to the ruins that stand on an Andean mountain ridge 2,400 meters up.
Clear skies on Thursday allowed helicopters to fly 1,402 people out of the town, and Perez said the rest could be evacuated in another day if the weather held.
"Right now it is raining heavily in Cuzco, but we believe the weather will be better tomorrow to continue evacuations," Perez told Lima's RPP radio late Thursday.
He said 2,542 tourists in all had been evacuated since Monday, a day after heavy rains caused mudslides that blocked the only land route in and out of the Machu Picchu area.
The hordes of outsiders caught in the town of 4,000 people strained food and water supplies and there weren't enough hotel rooms, testing tourists' patience.
Many were left to eat from communal pots and sleep outdoors.
"It's been an adventure, a bit more than we bargained for," Karel Schultz, 46, of New York, told The Associated Press as she waited to be flown out on Thursday.
Even with the end of the evacuation operation close, authorities said Machu Picchu will remain closed for weeks, until the government can repair highway and railroad tracks washed out by mudslides and the raging Urubamba River.
Authorities closed the Inca trail, a popular four-day trek that ends in Machu Picchu, after a mudslide killed two people on Tuesday.
Evacuations were conducted by age -- oldest and youngest first. Elderly travelers and children were among the 1,131 tourists who were taken out through Wednesday.
Dozens of ragged-looking, middle-aged tourists lined up outside the train station, where they waited to walk the few hundred yards to a makeshift helicopter clearing. Younger backpackers played soccer with locals and lent a hand stacking sandbags and clearing train tracks.
People had grown frustrated over chaotic relief efforts, price-gouging and scarce food, but the mood lightened as the weather cleared and helicopters descended from the skies.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
