machupicchu travel tours tourist information
   

Edition 2007----

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
     
       
USEFUL INFORMATION
       

1.- How to get There
2.- How to visit
3.- General Services
4.- Public Services
5.- Aguas Calientes Town
6.- Handicrafts Market
7.- Visiting rules
8.- Special Information

 

 

HOW TO GET THERE
Traveling to Machu Picchu is one of most gratifying and sought after trips. There is a certain sense of serenity and enlightenment one feels when walking through the once inhabited stonewalls of the 500-year-old Incan city. It is awe inspiring to think of the effort put forth to build such an expansive city in such a harsh, unforgiving environment The best way to get there is to fly to Lima and take the earliest available departure to Cusco.

Stay the first night in Cusco city, then taking the train from Cusco is an easy trip, but more adventurous souls may want to sign up for the 4day trek up the Inca trail and discover Machu Picchu revealing itselft at sunrise. Whichever way you decide to take, give yourself a day or two to get used to the altitude.

ONCE IN MACHUPICCHU:
You have to take a 25 minutes bus from the Aguas Calientes Town to the Archaeological site the bus comes and goes with no schedule, the fee is
US$12 per person round trip

ENTRANCE TO THE ARCHEAOLOGICAL SITE:
The entrance is US$36 per person and is open from 6:30 am to 5:00pm

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HOW TO VISIT
The sanctuary of Machu Picchu is divided into two large sectors - one the agricultural sector and the other the urban or the citadel - of which the first surrounds the second. We could consider the peak Wayna Picchu as a third sector.

The principal road to approach Machu Picchu, which comes from Cuzco through the south (Qosqoñan), crosses the crest of the mountain and goes to the entrance to the sanctuary after passing through areas with isolated constructions - such as what is now called the watchtower - posts for lookouts or guards, qolqa or granaries and abundant agricultural terraces.
There were also other roads, such as that which made the river accessible from the sanctuary on the northeast. At present a road has been constructed for tourist visits, a road which did not exist before and now runs parallel to the Qosqoñan.
The sanctuary properly speaking is a citadel made up of palaces and temples, dwellings and storehouses, but above all for buildings which clearly fulfill ceremonial religious functions, the more luxurious and spectacular components of which are the mausoleums carved in the rock.

The buildings as well as the plazas and the platforms that constitute the urban sector are connected among themselves by a system of narrow lanes or paths, mostly in the form of flights of steps, which cross the terraces which follow a flat longitudinal axis. The main platform of the urban sector is an extensive plaza - the main plaza - which in turn divides the buildings into hanan ("above" or "upper") and urin ("below" or "lower"). The urban sector was surrounded by impediments to gaining access to the sanctuary such as a defense wall and the deep and wide ditch, or dry moat, which surrounded the whole complex, not as part of a military fortification rather as a form of restricted ceremonial isolation.

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GENERAL SERVICES
The Aguas Calientes offers standard services for making your stay confortable, is a small town where you can easily walk from one place to another, there are not even taxis, the only transportation you will see are the trains that arrives from Cusco and the buses that comes and goes from there to the Archeaological site. There are facilities such as running water, electric power, fixed and mobile phones, radio and TV, internet and exchange offices.
 

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PUBLIC SERVICES
Health
There are two drugstores and two medical centers, both for emergencies only, .

National Police in Peru
There is only one police station in town with personnel trained in rescue, civil safety, and emergency matters.

Tourist Protection Bureau in Machu Picchu There are special services to strengthen civil safety and protect tourists offered by the town councils,

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AGUAS CALIENTES TOWN
At a distance of 800m East of the town of Aguas Calientes, there are underground hot sulfur springs which bubble up from the rocky ground at varying temperatures. The especially-built pools at this resort are the basis of its use as hot mineral baths. The average temperature of the water runs from 38ºc to 46ºc. There are also changing rooms, bathrooms and a small snack bar.

RAIL TRANSPORT
Tourist Train, It only operates in the high season, leaving Cusco in the morning, stopping at the most important stations (Ollantaytambo, Km.88 or Ooriwayrachina) until it arrives at the station of Puente Ruinas. The trip takes four hours and returns in the evening. Autovagon, This tourist service leaves Cusco in the morning and takes three hours. The trip from The Sacred Valley of the Incas (Urubamba to Ollantaytambo) takes 1,1/2 hours. It returns in the evening. It is recommended to check all timetables in train stations and travel agencies, as they are modified according to the season.

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HANDICRAFT MARKET
Peru all handmade all designes are about the incas culture items such as Rugs, tapestries, blankets, alpaca bedspreads, blankets, gourds all of these with the traditional process of making our items, The Peruvian Handicrafts are well known around the world and are really appreciated.
The production areas are located here in Machu Picchu or in its agricultural communities There are also craftsmen from Cusco, Pisaq, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero and other areas displaying their wares, the best appreciated in the following :

· Antiques
· Carvings and cuttings
· Inca pottery
· Textile and carpets
· Silverware and jewelry
· Plaster casts
· Repoussé leather items
· Paintings and canvases from the Cusco school · Straw basketwork · Woolen vicuña and alpaca fabrics

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VISITING RULES FOR THE HISTORICAL SANCTUARY OF MACHU PICCHU
Park authorities may occasionally designate different campsites than those indicate The Inca Trail is part of the Machu Picchu Sanctuary, a protected area of 32,592 hectares, managed by the National Institute of Natural Resources, INRENA. Every visitor must obey park regulations prohibiting littering, cutting or damaging trees, removing or damaging stones of ruins and the Trail, removing plants, killing animals, lighting open fires or camping in the archeological sites (Only authorized campsites can be used).

Inca Trail Rules
The Inca Trail has recently imposed new regulations, designed to minimize the damage to the ruins and terrain, to conserve this historical resource. You must have a permit and a guide. Permits are limited to 500 people per day (including porters). For the most popular months of July and August, book well in advance. Disposable plastic water bottles are not allowed. You may take the Nalgene type water bottles or your water hydration system. Hiking poles are permitted, but you must use rubber tips, to minimize the impact on the terrain (rocks and earth).

The Porters Association has succeeded in getting a limit to the weight they can carry. Since they carry your main pack, this translates to an eight-kilogram limit for your personal backpack/duffel. You may carry what you wish in your day pack - water, jacket, raingear, camera, sunscreen...
For much of the trail, burros, horses and llamas are not allowed. Local people, of course, have them If you are inspired to go to Peru for trekking, here are the good months - May through October. November through March is wet (their summer season). They close the Inca Trail in February for trail clean up. April is iffy, we had both sun and rain days. July and August are the best, as they are the driest, but they are also the coldest (their winter season)

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