Inca Trail? Not this summer.

by Jeremy Kressmann on

World travelers just can’t get enough of Peru’s famous Inca Trail. But has the Inca Trail had enough of them? It may come as surprise to anyone still planning summer travel to Peru, but the world-famous path to Machu Picchu is completely sold out for the 2008 summer travel season, with the next available opening in September 2008.

As veteran Peru trekkers might know, the Peruvian government began imposing restrictions in 2005 on the number of hikers who could take the path each day to no more than 500. Couple this with the insane popularity of Machu Picchu on globetrotter “must-see” lists and increasingly affordable airfare deals and you have a serious supply and demand problem on your hands. While this quota is helping to preserve the impact of human visitors on this priceless cultural artifact, it’s certainly frustrating news for anyone planning their trip to Peru around a stopover at the site.

If it turns out the big, bad Peruvian government has thwarted your travel plans this summer, don’t despair just yet. As this article article points out, there are a few alternative routes to the famed Inca Trail including the Salkantay Trail, which also climaxes at Machu Picchu, along with the scenic Lares Valley and the spectacular Colca Canyon.

And if you’re still dead set on that Inca Trail trek? Give it another try in the off-season. You might even have that million-dollar view at the top all to yourself.

Murder on the Inca Trail

by Martha Edwards on

A divorced British banker died after a blow to the head on the Inca Trail and was found in a nearby river–and it’s raising more than a few eyebrows across the pond. Colin Murphy, 44, disappeared on News Year’s day during a Christmas holiday to Peru from the town of Aguas Calientes in the Andes, not far from the Machu Picchu.

The last hours of his life were spent with 14 other holidayers, who left their campsite on New Year’s Eve to grab a drink at the nearest watering hole. The next day, Mr. Murphy was not in his tent. It’s believed the last person to see him alive was fellow tourist Harvey Layton, a construction worker he had befriend on the trip.

Called “the life and soul of any gathering.”, Mr. Murphy’s body has since been flown back to England, and while investigators are looking into his suspicious death, they’re hesitant to speculate on what happened.

I guess I can stop complaining about how awful my New Year’s Eve was …

Train to Machu Picchu reopens

by Iva Skoch on

Peruvians ended two days of protests against new laws allowing more development near historic sites. Rail service to the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu reopened and the nearest regional airport at Cuzco also reopened. The airport had been closed since Thursday when protestors stormed the facility and piled rocks and trees onto roads, according to AP.

Local leaders protested two laws, originally approved late last year, that permit the construction of new hotels and restaurants near historic sites. Last week, lawmakers ratified the disputed laws, and then modified them three days later to let regional governments decide whether to apply them.

I can’t believe they want to develop the area more. I hope developers are not planning to replace the old train with some sort of highly efficient high-speed train. Hmmm. what would the Incas do?

Eye-opening ruins (but in Detroit?)

by Jerry Guo on

There’s a trove of clubs that go out and explore urban ruins. And if you really think about it, there’s no better place to do that than in Detroit, a city that has been in constant decay for decades (yeah yeah they always seem to have some sort of revitalization project going on).

Two especially interesting, abandoned structures in Detroit happens to be the Michigan Central Station and the Detroit Public Schools Book Depository. These pictures, by the way, all come from a local photographer in Detroit. You can check out more of his shots here.

I just came back from Machu Picchu, the abandoned Incan citadel in the Andes that was rediscovered about a hundred years ago. It’s interesting to think about the parallels and differences between an Incan ruin and a Detroit ruin. In 500 years, will tourists flock to the Michigan Central Station and gawk at it like a work of art? Probably not. To be honest, I don’t think the Empire State Building or Grand Central will even get the star-treatment Machu Picchu gets. Maybe we could learn a thing or two from the Incans.

The less-traveled Machu Picchu

by Jerry Guo on

So I’m in the midst of planning a backpacking trip through Peru. As I was flipping through some reading material, I couldn’t help but be bombarded by endless mentions of Machu Picchu. Yet there’s a little known alternative to one of the seven modern wonders of the world.

It’s Choquequirao, another lost Inca city, modeled after Machu Picchu in fact. And it’s only 100 miles away. I’m still considering whether I can make it to both in a week. To hike the Inca trail to Machu Picchu takes 3-4 days. To hike to Choquequirao (after that 100 mile cab ride from Cusco) takes a little less.

Apparently Choquequirao gets only 1% of the tourists that Machu Picchu has to endure. It’s just as big, but more sprawled out so things don’t look as photogenic. If you’re looking for a true lost city experience, though, I think Choquequirao might just be your best bet.