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Updated information UPDATE FROM Maria Hawton-Mead – June 2007Page 140-1 – Cusco – tour agencies SAS Travel provide excellent guiding and service on the Inca trail. I highly recommend the guide we had called Saul Palma Herrera. The Inca trek is now booked up for the dry season and some people were doing the Salkantay which we heard is tough but brilliant…also offered by SAS travel. The Laris trek is a perfect compliment to the Inca trail. We started at the hot springs just outside Laris and camped in the villages of Waki Wasi and then Patacamcha and came over the Ipsag pass. It was an excellent opportunity to see locals in villages in woven costume and working the land. SAS do this trek too. Page 145-8 – Cusco – Where to stay Hostel Corihausi still lovely with its view of the square and very helpful English speaking staff!! Hostel Los Ninos is very pleasant mid range with courtyard surrounded by balcony, café, dedicated to help street children double room with en-suite $39, Calle Meloc 442, 084-231424 Page 149 – Cusco – Where to eat Cicciolinas restaurant excellent bodege, tapas bar delicious, breakfast, calle Triunfo 393, reservations 239510. Guinea pig off the bone and alpaca steaks. Bacos sister restaurant to Cicciolinas, more wine bar type, delicious food, pzza, meat , salads, Ruinas 465, 242808 Page 154 – Cusco – Other The Centre for Traditional Textiles for Cusco non profit organisation aiding the survival of incan taxtile traditions. Demonstration weavers on site and a good museum. Avenida Sol 603-A Museo Inka highly recommended Page 166 – Ollantaytambo Chaski Wasi Hostel budget double room 30 soles, clean and friendly with garden, Calle Del Medio El Albergue, Train station Hotel run by Wendy Weeks, very upmarket with lovely gardens, Double $62, single $48 Hearts Café on the square, mainly wholefood , run by Sonia Newhouse and all profits go Children’s projects in the sacred Valley www.heartscafe.org Arequipa …..I know not relevant for the book! Hospedage El Caminante Class, Santa Catalina Street 207, very friendly incredible clean, comfortable, next door to convent, balcony with views of city 203444 double with bathroom 50 soles (Maria Hawton-Mead) UPDATE – 30 AUG 2006 Changes to the Salkantay Trek The Instituto Nacional de Cultura (INC) has instituted new rules for the Salkantay trek. Now it is only possible to do this trek with an agency and additionally, they have implemented a new change of 120 soles ($36), therefore expect the price of the trek to increase accordingly. There have been other price changes. For entrance to Machu Picchu, the price is now 118.50 soles ($36). For a full list of the new prices for 2006, go to www.inc-cusco.gob.pe/DescInfo.php?IdIO=299&IdOp=299&cb=N and click on the pdf documents which contain the new prices. It is expected that in the next year, there will be similar changes to other alternative inca trails. UPDATE – 14 AUG 2006 This update is arranged to mirror the main parts of the book and you can make best use of it by using both page numbers and headings. In its preparation I was helped enormously by Joseph, Benedict, Eleanor, Alex Stewart (again!), Joy Durighello, Shawn McLaughlin and Rob Fenichel, Andean Trails (www.andeantrails.co.uk), the South American Explorers’ Club (www.saexplorers.org) and Lew Brown. And Bryn. And Melissa. To contact me with further updates, recommendations or comments write c/o Trailblazer (address on p2) or email me at richard.danbury@trailblazer-guides.com. A free copy of the next edition or imprint will be sent for the most useful letters. Page 11 – Possible new trail charges I’m getting reports that the Peruvian authorities are planning to charge people to walk to Vilcabamba, Choquequirao and Santa Teresa. It’d be sensible to check the current regime before you leave. The South American Explorers’ Club (www.saexplorers.org) is a good source of information. (One would hope such charges benefit the local community). Page 49 – García’s second term Toledo is no longer president. In a hard-fought election in 2006, Alan García beat Ollanta Humala. García was of course notorious for having damaged the country’s economy when he was president for the first time in the late 1980s, so people are holding their breath a little to see what happens this time round. He and his administration say they’ve learnt the lessons of defaulting on their international debt, and he inherits an economy in a better shape than the one he left. García’s a populist, and one of his first actions on taking office has been to try and change the constitution to bring back the death penalty – albeit for murders of children, but a move that leaves some disturbed as it’ll apparently entail withdrawing from the Inter American court of Human Rights. The most significant current issue in Peruvian politics is a free trade agreement which Toledo signed with the Americans. The campesinos hate it, and have gone on strike in protest (recently disrupting the train service to Machu Picchu). Fujimori ended up in Chile, and the Peruvians are seeking his extradition. The case is mired in the Chilean courts. The aftershocks of the Fujimori era are still being felt, and as recently as August 2006 a former America television broadcaster was found guilty of taking money from Fujimori’s henchman, Montesinos. Page 52 – The environment The Camisea pipeline was built. It was heralded as a responsible piece of economic development, showing due regard to local populations and the fragile ecosystems through which it’s built. However, in March 2006 a bit of it ruptured, and some NGOs remain suspicious about whether it poses a serious threat to indigenous communities. Peruvian glaciers continue to melt. In the last 30 years, the country’s lost 25% of its glaciers. Latest predictions suggest that all the glaciers will be gone by 2015. This depressing state of affairs is probably down to climate change. Page 92 – Inca roads More than one numerate reader has pointed out a mistake on page 92. I wrote that the Inca road network, 33,000km in length, was enough to circle the earth two and a half times. Actually, they’d only go round about two thirds of the earth. Mea culpa! Page 97 – The Incas and Easter Island A reader has pointed out to me (see the review for this book on Amazon.com) that my box on Easter Island and Thor Heyerdahl is inaccurate. Heyerdahl didn’t prove that you could float from the Peruvian coast to Easter Island – he avoided the most difficult bit by being towed out to sea past the Humboldt Current. And I’m asked to stress that Heyerdahl’s theories aren’t held to be credible. Nevertheless, I think it’s all intriguing stuff. Page 119 – Lima accommodation Casa Andina (www.casa-andina.com) have opened hotels in Lima and Cusco. They sound good, and I’d very much like to hear what people think of them. Page 124 – Miraflores (mid range) Paul Saroli, manager of Hotel San Antonio Abad, has been praised for his trip-planning abilities. Page 131-2 – Cusco: history Cusco remains a focus for occasional local discontent. In 2006 there was a brief siege at the Coricancha, where disgruntled coca farmers held tourists hostage. They were protesting against Government policies to eradicate coca-growing. No one was hurt. Page 139 – Cusco: banks and cambios Bank Weise charge 3.5% commission, so they’re no longer a great deal. Interbank on Avenida El Sol charges no commission for USD cheques changed into Soles. Page 140 – Cusco: tour agencies A reader writes in to warn that some tour companies have been less than straightforward. If you ask them for a porter to carry your main pack, they can charge you around US$60. Then when you turn up on the trail, there’s no porter for you. There’s a suspicion that the extra money is pocketed by the tour company but it could just be old fashioned inefficiency. A reader writes in to warn that if you want a porter to carry your kit, ask for the tour company to arrange it but say that you’ll pay the porter directly yourself. On a happier note, I’ve had a recommendation for a company that’s particularly knowledgeable about Choquequirao. Aracari Travel Consulting (tel 511 242 6673, www.aracari.com) is in Lima at Avenida Pardo 610 of 802, Miraflores. Page 144 – Cusco: equipment rental Soqllaq’asa, Calle Plateros 365 has shut. Page 144 – Cusco: hiking provisions The supermarket at Plateros 346 has closed. Page 145 – Cusco accommodation Casa Andina has opened. See Lima, above. Page 277 – Machu Picchu The area around Machu Picchu is beset by mud slides and fires both of which disrupt the train service to the ruins. There were slides in April 2004 and October 2005, and a fire in August 2006. They may be caused by climate change, but more likely it’s something that has been happening in this area for ages. It’s not helped by the number of tourists wandering around these hills. UNESCO were so disturbed by the way the Sanctuary was being managed that they threatened to put Machu Picchu on the list of endangered World Heritage Sites; they relented (July 2006) after the Peruvian authorities drew up a plan to protect it. Some NGOs find the plan suspect, partly because the cap on visitor numbers per day remains high: 2500 people a day will still be let into the park. There’s a growing movement in Peru to ask Yale to return the artefacts found at Machu Picchu by Hiram Bingham. One report suggests that the Peruvians are going to sue the university. It’s likely to become a cause célèbre, rather like the campaign to return the Elgin Marbles, currently held in the British Museum, to Greece. Page 304 – Bibliography Cochineal Red, Hugh Thomas, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 2006. Fascinating description of Llactapata, recently re-discovered ruins on the next hill down from Machu Picchu. |
The Inca Trail: Cusco & Machu Picchu