Machu Picchu's Sacred Sister Emerges From Peru Cloud Forest

[Judi Lynn]

By John Quigley
November 13, 2017, 7:00 AM CST Updated on November 13, 2017, 9:11 AM CST

The iconic 15th century Inca citadel Machu Picchu attracts more than a million visitors a year to the cloud forests of southern Peru. Sixty kilometers away, another mountaintop refuge built by the Incas 50 years later has languished in obscurity, with barely a dozen visitors a day. The government wants that to change.

The South American nation plans to open up Choquequirao –- known as Machu Picchu’s Sacred Sister -- to the tourist mainstream with roads connecting the site to its world famous predecessor, and a cable car to elevate visitors to 3,000 meters (9,843 feet) above sea level, said Roger Valencia, deputy tourism minister. The excursion is currently a five-day, 60-kilometer round trip on foot, traversing a canyon and crossing the raging Apurimac River.

“The hike is exceptionally beautiful, but it’s tough,” said Valencia, a former tour operator and guide who’s made the trek more than 20 times. “We’ll put in the roads and the cable cars to make it accessible.”

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is promoting Choquequirao as part of his goal to double the number of tourist arrivals to 7 million by 2021 to ease the economy’s dependence on industries such as mining, which creates few jobs. Tourism accounts for 3.9 percent of Peru’s gross domestic product, the highest contribution among major Latin American economies after Mexico, and is expected to rise to 4.6 percent in the next decade, according to the London-based World Travel & Tourism Council.

More:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-13/machu-picchu-s-sacred-sister-emerging-from-peru-s-cloud-forest



Choquequirao





More images of Choqueguirao:

https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrTcXmq4xxaydIAYY.LuLkF;_ylc=X1MDOTYwNTc0ODMEX3IDMgRiY2sDZWFlcjdmOWNnbDI5ZyUyNmIlM0Q0JTI2ZCUzRGZFVE9PSzFyWUgzS3VfNWJGaWk4THF3a19jX3JYc19ya1E2azM1dGQ0N2NwM1EtLSUyNnMlM0RkayUyNmklM0Q2YjlEbFJub3NFY25ERDNpMDFuSgRmcgMEZ3ByaWQDNnlFUUxUZXVUZldyMGhLMU5DbDBJQQRtdGVzdGlkA251bGwEbl9zdWdnAzQEb3JpZ2luA2ltYWdlcy5zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tBHBvcwMwBHBxc3RyAwRwcXN0cmwDBHFzdHJsAzE3BHF1ZXJ5A0Nob3F1ZXF1aXJhbyBwZXJ1BHRfc3RtcAMxNTExODQyNzM4BHZ0ZXN0aWQDQjQyNjE-?gprid=6yEQLTeuTfWr0hK1NCl0IA&pvid=H731GzEwLjLlO2d6WQqJMARRMjYwMgAAAABQ4moa&fr2=sb-top-images.search.yahoo.com&p=Choquequirao+peru&ei=UTF-8&iscqry=&fr=sfp#id=112&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Finwanderlust.weebly.com%2Fuploads%2F3%2F7%2F8%2F6%2F37864935%2F308711841.jpg&action=close

[BigmanPigman]

1. Wow, I never heard of this. It must be a well

kept secret. I hope it stays pristine since I heard that MP is decomposing due to all the tourists.

[murielm99]

2. My daughter visited Machu Picchu

It was a pilgrimage for her. She has been fascinated with the place since she was about eight years old.

[Princess Turandot]

3. Right now, it looks like you would need..

...the cardiovascular system of Secretariat to get there.

Here it is in Google Maps with 3D on: https://goo.gl/maps/JKYYN2FyuHy

Hope they don't overexpose it.

[Judi Lynn]

4. OMG. That is amazing. Unbelievable. Seems impossible.

Seeing the Google map makes it all that much more mysterious.

So much more exposed as out of our reach intellectually, I would think. Dying of curiosity!

Thank you for providing this view. It adds so much more.