Category Archives: Machu Picchu, Peru

Machu Picchu train line reopens after protesters strike deal to readmit tourists

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Access to Incan site in Peruvian Andes restored after dispute over new electronic rail ticketing system

Peruvian authorities have reopened the train route to Machu Picchu, after an agreement was struck to end more than a week of protests that had blocked access to the famed Incan site and stranded tourists.

PeruRail said in a statement a partial service had restarted on Wednesday and that a regular service would return on Thursday from the city of Cusco to Aguas Calientes, a town near the archaeological site.

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Machu Picchu tourists stranded as protesters block trains to site

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Train services suspended due to safety concerns as people demonstrate against Peru’s consolidation of ticket sales

Protesters in Peru are blocking access to Machu Picchu, leaving some tourists stranded amid local anger over a new ticketing system halting rail transport to one of South America’s most popular heritage sites.

Train services to the ancient ruins high up in the Andes have been suspended since Saturday due to safety concerns over demonstrators blocking the railway line. Travel links were still not reopened on Monday, two tour operators told Reuters.

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Police violently raid Lima university and shut Machu Picchu amid Peru unrest

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Students say they were beaten and thrown out of dormitories as authorities crack down on protests against president

Scores of police raided a Lima university on Saturday, smashing down the gates with an armoured vehicle, firing teargas and detaining more than 200 people who had come to the Peruvian capital to take part in anti-government protests.

Images showed dozens of people lying face down on the ground at San Marcos University after the surprise police operation. Students said they were pushed, kicked and hit with truncheons as they were forced out of their dormitories.

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Tourists trapped at Machu Picchu by Peru protests evacuated by helicopter

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Supporters of ousted president Pedro Castillo had blocked train tracks near Inca citadel with rocks

Tourists visiting Peru’s Inca citadel of Machu Picchu have been evacuated by helicopter to the nearby city of Cusco where flights to the capital, Lima, are operating normally, the country’s tourism ministry said on Monday.

Scores had been trapped in and around the Inca ruin after protesters had used rocks to block trains that run to Cusco since Tuesday, forcing some tourists to hike to the nearest town of Ollantaytambo.

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Peruvian firefighters contain blaze near Machu Picchu after three days

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Forest fire broke out on Tuesday and destroyed around 100 acres of land – the equivalent of about 50 football pitches

Peruvian authorities say firefighters have managed to control a forest fire near the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu after three days battling the flames.

The blaze near one of the world’s most famous archaeological sites broke out on Tuesday, destroying around 100 acres of land – the equivalent of about 50 football pitches.

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Peru wildfire threatens Machu Picchu as remote location hampers efforts to control blaze

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Twenty hectares near Inca ruins affected in blaze started by farmers burning grass before sowing crops

Peruvian firefighters were fighting to contain a forest fire near the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu as the blaze threatened to close in on the ancient city in the Andean mountains on Thursday.

The fire, which had engulfed an area about half the size of Vatican City, was started on Tuesday by farmers burning grass and debris to prepare to sow crops.

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Machu Picchu: Inca site ‘has gone by wrong name for over 100 years’

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Peruvian historian and US archaeologist say the pre-Columbian town was called Huayna Picchu by the Inca people

Machu Picchu is one of the world’s best-known archaeological sites, a wonder of pre-Columbian architecture that has been closely studied for decades and a tourist attraction that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

But a new academic paper argues that since its rediscovery more than a century ago, the site has been known by the wrong name.

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‘It would destroy it’: new international airport for Machu Picchu sparks outrage

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Peruvian archaeologists decry new airport that would carry tourists directly to already fragile Inca citadel

Among the Inca archeological sites that abound in Peru, none draw nearly as many tourists as the famed citadel of Machu Picchu. There were more than 1.5 million visitors in 2017, almost double the limit recommended by Unesco, putting a huge strain on the fragile ruins and local ecology.

Now, in a move that has drawn a mixture of horror and outrage from archaeologists, historians and locals, work has begun on clearing ground for a multibillion-dollar international airport, intended to jet tourists much closer to Machu Picchu .

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