Rockslide at Machu Picchu road!

[ppiew]

posted at a cruise site . Oh Oh we take this excursion next week and a huge rockslide of granite 15 M high blocked road to the ruins. "Tourists will have to ascend the hiker’s trail to reach the ruins. The municipality said to help visitors, additional support staff and medical tents would be set up along the foot route, which normally takes 1¾ to 2½ hours to walk." Hope it is cleared by nxt wk! can't find much stuff in the US news.

[whogo]

It is a ten minute hike.

 

"Flow of visitors to Machu Picchu getting back to normal"

 

http://www.peruviantimes.com/16/flow-of-visitors-to-machu-picchu-getting-back-to-normal/21229/

[ppiew]

I guess the road is somewhat open now, you just have to walk around the rock slide and busses will pick you up on the other side. Not much room to turn a bus around though!!

[Duane T]

I guess the road is somewhat open now, you just have to walk around the rock slide and busses will pick you up on the other side. Not much room to turn a bus around though!![/quote

 

I've seen these steps that traverse up to the top. They're steep but "hikers" use it all the time. I agree there's not much room for buses to turn. Hopefully the buses will have enough gas and no breakdowns until the road is cleared...otherwise it will be a strenouse "hike" to Machu Picchu from Aguas Calientes..

[ppiew]

I am no "hiker" I am a 75 yr old with a bad ankle and a cane! Hope things get better by next week. This is a 'bucket list' item for me so fingers and toes are crossed that I can make it!!!! I was looking at a photo of the slide and it crossed 3 switchbacks! that is NOT small by any means. They have their work cut out to clear that mess. Lucky no bus was hit!

[Duane T]

I am no "hiker" I am a 75 yr old with a bad ankle and a cane! Hope things get better by next week. This is a 'bucket list' item for me so fingers and toes are crossed that I can make it!!!! I was looking at a photo of the slide and it crossed 3 switchbacks! that is NOT small by any means. They have their work cut out to clear that mess. Lucky no bus was hit!

 

I hope the road is cleared by the time you visit. We were there last month. They had a regular tour guide at the entrance to Machu Picchu but they also had a tour guide for those that couldn't go up 100 steps as part of the regular guided tour.

[Dushi]

We are looking forward to our visit of Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley in May.

 

What's a couple of rocks when it comes to finally seeing one of the most awesome historical sites in the world?

[ppiew]

trust me, i will 'crawl' if i have to! i see where we now have to disembark the buses to walk around the rocks and reboard on the other side. don't know how many times we have to do this. saw a pix of the rockslide and it was quite extensive!

[catergirl]

i would appreciate it anyone that goes there the next while would post and let us know how things are progressing!! we are booked in for feb 18th:eek: guess we all know things can happen, but when u pay so much to get there, if sure can be a major disappointment!! thanks in advance..

 

also someone mentioned tour gudes at the entrance??? i was under the assumption that u booked your own guide or did it on your own?

 

martha:)

[ppiew]

we booked an expedition thru SS and they have hired Abercrombie to be the tour guides. My info from SS states that we will have a guided tour of the ruins.

[Floridiana]

For the people who haven't prebooked guides, there are tour guides waiting to be hired at the entrance. I don't know how many of them speak good English.

 

As far as I could decipher a Spanish article, people do not walk around the landslide but walk up the trail to the next part of the road. By now, the clearing of the road should be well under way. However, it continues raining and the river is high. If it rises more, the rail service to the base of Machu Pichu will be interrupted.

http://www.peruviantimes.com/23/authorities-say-heavy-rains-could-affect-machu-picchu-visits/21334/

Edited January 23, 2014 by Floridiana

[Duane T]

i would appreciate it anyone that goes there the next while would post and let us know how things are progressing!! we are booked in for feb 18th:eek: guess we all know things can happen, but when u pay so much to get there, if sure can be a major disappointment!! thanks in advance..

 

also someone mentioned tour gudes at the entrance??? i was under the assumption that u booked your own guide or did it on your own?

 

martha:)

 

When we were there last month, there was a tour guide that spoke English and took 4 people from our tour group that had trouble walking up steps. They did not do the whole Machu Picchu guided tour but were able to go into a section that did not entail walking up 100 steps or down 100 steps. We had one guy who was 93 (a WWII vet) who was determined to make it in and another couple (husband that was afraid of heights and was a little lite-headed from the altitude) who took the "easy" tour and said it was just right for them.

[Seahorse Lover]

Does anyone have recent news on how they are coming with clearing the rock slide? It's one month until our visit :)

[ppiew]

we were on it 2 weeks ago and the rocks were not cleared at that time. however progress was being made and there was a stairway we climbed to bypass the rockslide and then another van was waiting to take us up the rest of the way. no problem at all. good luck!

[Seahorse Lover]

Thank you for your reply. Just over 2 weeks and counting......

[as19111]

There was a rockslide on January 10. We were there on January 15. The Peruvian military were there helping everyone climb the steep steps to reach the three buses that were on the other side of the slide. The buses below the slide must make a U-turn on the narrow road (read keep your eyes closed) to return down the mountain.

 

On our exit, there was a torrential downpour. Getting down was worse than getting up. The military was gone and in their place were 4 small framed women trying to assist everyone coming down. It was slippery, but everyone made it down safely.

 

It was just another adventure of many we had in SA!

[stag]

i would appreciate it anyone that goes there the next while would post and let us know how things are progressing!! we are booked in for feb 18th:eek: guess we all know things can happen, but when u pay so much to get there, if sure can be a major disappointment!! thanks in advance..

 

also someone mentioned tour gudes at the entrance??? i was under the assumption that u booked your own guide or did it on your own?

 

martha:)

 

I was there last month. I posted couple pictures here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1999417

 

The detour may not be suitable for people with severe hip problems or ankle problems. I saw a couple decided not to proceed. I don't see heavy machinery on the rock slides. Here is the hiking trail (green route)

 

[Dushi]

We were there during the 3rd week in May, no problems. The buses were able to ascend easily from Aguas Calientes to the top of MP.