Graphic shows details of Choquequirao site.
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PERU

Peru to open up Machu Picchu’s “sacred sister”

By Mike Tyler

December 4, 2017 - Peru’s government is planning to open up the mountaintop citadel of Choquequirao – known as Machu Picchu’s “sacred sister” – with new roads and a cable car to take visitors to the remote Incan ruins.

Choquequirao – known as “cradle of gold” in the local Quechua language – was built by the Incas around the turn of the 16th century.

Currently only accessible to hikers willing to make a five-day round trip, Choquequirao sees about 5,800 visitors a year compared to Machu Picchu’s 1.2 million.

Once the proposed cable car service begins, the government expects Choquequirao to receive about 150,000 visitors in the first year, eventually increasing to half a million. A new road connecting the site to its more famous neighbour is also planned.

The $80m pledged by Peru’s president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to develop Choquequirao forms part of a government scheme to increase tourist arrivals to seven million by 2021.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 04/12/2017; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Other
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