Tuesday, August 18, 2015

About 500 people walk the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu daily



About 500 people walk the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu daily

July 15, 2015
Hillary Ojeda
  The requires physical strength, special equipment and lots of extra hands.
About 500 people walk the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu daily
The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. (Photo: Andina/Difusión)

The Inca Trail is the biggest tourist attraction in South America, and its number of visitors continues to rise.
A total of approximately 500 people trek through the Inca Trail on a daily basis toward Machu Picchu, reports Andina news agency.
The National Service of Natural Protected Areas (Sernanp) calculates that about 200 foreign tourists make the trek and the remaining are baggage carriers.
“These people carry food, tents and relief supplies. They do not reach the citadel and therefore tourists have to continue on their own on the last day of the journey,” head of Sernanp, Pedro Gamboa, told Andina.
Gamboa added that there is a surprising range of age groups that decide to take on the arduous trail. It requires physical strength and endurance for 4 days through the Urubamba Valley.
“You have to pass through two defiles (narrow passages between mountains). It seems that the Incas were quite tall because steps are huge,” he pointed out.
To adjust to the rising number of tourists, Sernanp and Cusco’s Decentralized Administration of Culture (DDCC) are in collaboration to potentially open two additional visiting areas said Gamboa.
The entrance fee per person into the Inca Citadel is US$ 50.


No comments:

Post a Comment