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Authorities study cable-car access to Choquequirao ruins in Peru
The main plaza of Choqueqirao (Harley Calvert / Wikimedia Commons)
By Nick Rosen
June 5, 2012
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Choquequirao is one of the great Inca ruins of Peru, but due to the difficulty of Access, it has received relatively few visitors. That could change.
That’s because ProInversión and the government of Apurímac are planning to attract investors to build a cable car that would lead visitors to the site. According to an RPP report, an ecotourism consortium has won a contract to do the pre-investment study, which should be ready within four months.
The plan envisions a four-kilometer long cable car system running over the Apurímac River valley. The launching point would be the province of Huanipaca, and the other terminal would be located near the ruins. Under the current plan, the system would have a capacity of 3,000 visitors per day.
Currently, there is no road to Choquequirao, and visitors must hike for two days to reach the site. In the rainy season, bridge washouts and flooding make the site very difficult to reach.
The cable-car system would be part of a plan to greatly expand the tourism industry in the impoverished region of Apurímac. Other parts of the plan include the construction of an airport in Abancay and training in eco-tourism for community members.
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COMMENTS:
Total coments: 7
Commented By: Nelly Crispell
On: June 5, 2012. 4:35 pm
THAT SOUND GREAT, CAN'T WAIT TO GO THERE... EVEN THOU I'M AFRAID OF HIGHTS
Commented By: Lew
On: June 5, 2012. 5:14 pm
Fabulous! Tourist dollars are the least costly economic benefit that any country can have!!
Commented By: Tomasb
On: June 5, 2012. 7:35 pm
I know of a Guide who died taking some trekkers there late last year. He was directly in front of his group when he was hit by a boulder and perished. It is not a safe hike.
Commented By: canadagringa@me.com
On: June 5, 2012. 8:15 pm
I have done this TREK and it was the hardest thing I have ever done but the most amazing place I have ever been. This sounds like an amazing idea. I can not wait to hear more.
Commented By: AdrianG
On: June 6, 2012. 12:26 pm
What a shockingly terrible plan! The magic of Choquequirao is it's remote location, spectacular views and the fact that you have to "earn it" by walking there. All of these would be ruined by the a cable car. There are already of beautiful Inca sights that you can visit in comfort, with no effort. Why ruin one of the few that is different. Adventurous tourists have fewer and fewer things to do. The more Peru develops mass tourism, rather than quality 'smart' tourism the more it destroys what people come here to find in the first place. Hopefully, like the fabled cable car to Machu Picchu this plan will never get off the ground.
Commented By: adventurecallsme
On: August 23, 2012. 6:11 pm
Hopefully this will not happen. The solitude of being at this site with hardly anyone else is what makes it so special.
Commented By: drpetermorgan
On: December 8, 2012. 3:33 am
this is an appalling idea. the fact that it seems to be supported by something that calls itself an "ecotourism consortium" as well as being in itself an oxymoronic concept on several levels, says it all about Peru. With my wife, this year , we walked to choquequirao (we are both 66 and retired) then on over to Machu Picchu in an incredible 8 day hike. it was the hardest thing we have ever done but the most satisfying. There were only three other people at Choquequirao and the solitude and mysticism were beyond description. These sensations should not be denied to other travellers.
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