As I stated in my last post about Mt. Putucusi, I have posted more photos below. I will try to post more photos later this week also.
It's almost embarrassing how long it has taken me to write this article, but regardless I have decided to finally get it over with. Last December while my family was in Peru on vacation we decided to travel to Cusco. The goal of the trip was to take my grandmother to Machu Picchu since it was more than likely that should would never return to Peru. Traveling in Cusco during the early months of the rainy season made the trip interesting, as the sun would shine most of the day with the random rain shower throughout the day.
Arriving in Aguas Calientes it was amazing to see just how much the small town had grown since the last time I had been there. We arrived in Aguas Calientes roughly around 11pm and we were up at Machu Picchu about an hour and a half later. The weather was awful that day and I had almost given up hope trying to take photos in the rain. Thankfully the sun god Inti must have heard my prayers as the dark clouds were abruptly pushed away and the mountain was bathed in golden light. It was the next day (our last day in Aguas Calientes) that my brother Dumenico and I decided to go on a hike in search of a waterfall that everyone had been taking about in town. About 10 minutes walking along the train tracks, heading roughly in the direction of Machu Picchu we came across a small sign and a clearing. Our curiosities peaked we decided to take the detour that would eventually take us to the TOP of Mt. Putucusi (Quechua for "Happy Mountain").
The initial part of the trail was rather easy and effortless until we reached what became the first of many vertical wooden ladders, with one as tall as 100 ft.! Looking up the first ladder that literally seemed to disappear into the vegetation and flora above, I could feel the intimidation begin to set in and thoughts of falling several feet to my death in the middle of the Sacred Valley began to play in mind. Lured by the Siren's Song of Mt Putucusi, we climbed the environmentally worn ladders one after another to the top until reaching a small rock wall that required the climber to use a secured cable to climb the approximately 15-20 ft. high wall. At this point we were veterans after having climbed some of the tallest ladders in my life and made the climb rather easily. It is after the rock wall that we reached the mid point of the mountain, roughly 30 minutes from when we had started. The vegetation opens up and we were presented with an almost 360 degree view of the valley (at this point the town of Aguas Calientes can be viewed in its entirety). The last hour consisted of a switchback trail made up of stone steps (moderate difficulty), which becomes rather steep towards the top. My brother at this point was exhausted and was having difficulty catching his breathe, which caused our pace to slow considerably. When we finally reached the top our dehydrated (did I mention neither one of us had brought water on this hike, smart I know right?) and overheated bodies were revived by initial drops of rain that would eventually lead to the monsoon amounts of rain we experienced on our way back down.
At the top the climber is rewarded with a truly amazing view of Machu Picchu and Wayna Picchu. The flag of Cusco along with a sign that reads "Mt. Putucusi" - 2,500 meters (8,500 ft.). While resting on the two large rocks atop the mountain it was evident from all the carvings just how many people had climbed to the top. We enjoyed the view of Machu Picchu and Wayna Picchu as we watched all the buses climb and descend along the switchback road that leads to Machu Picchu. When the rain began to pickup strength we decided to head back down, a trek which took us about 1 hour to accomplish. Back in Aguas Calientes we discovered from our conversations with many tourists that Mt. Putucusi was by far a favorite site in the Urubamba river valley. We even met up with a man who had decided to turn around and head back down the mountain when he was only about 20 minutes from the top, needless to say when we spoke with him his face was full of disappointment after receiving the news.
Mt. Putucusi is a site I would highly recommend to anyone who is deciding to travel to Aguas Calientes in the near future. For those who are thinking about climbing the mountain I would recommend that you condition for it a little in advance as it can be quite taxing on the body, especially for those who don't hike very often.
UPDATE: I WILL POST MORE PHOTOS OF MT. PUTUCUSI ASAP!
"Cornejo told Radio Programas Peru tourists will be able to bypass blockages between Cusco and Machu Picchu by traveling part of the distance by road and the rest by train. He said they will establish two temporary bridges to help bypass the 10 obstructions that are currently blocking access to the citadel." PeruvianTimes.com
Well as we all might have suspected the thousands of citizens of Cusco have truly suffered from the damage caused by the heavy rains and to make the situation even worse they have had to practically go it alone with almost no assistance whatsoever. The photos below are were taken from El Comercio and were originally photographed by Daniel Nakasone Santivañez and Maricarmen Valdivieso.
All over Cusco many citizens have been greatly affected by the unanticipated torrential rains which have struck the region. Many people have lost their homes as the humidity from all the rain has made many of their adobe (a structure or home made primarily from mud and clay) homes unstable to inhabit, those who have lost their homes are without shelter or personal belongings. There is an outcry by the public who fell that they have been left unnoticed by the state, as help has yet to reach towns like Urubamba, Yucay, and Pacarbamba.
It should be noted that humanitarian efforts by government run organizations have been sending aid to the affected citizens of Cusco. For example both PRONNA (National Program of Alimentary Assistance) as well as the National Institute of Civil Defense have both been providing aid to the affected in the form of food, blankets, tarps, etc. What is uncertain is how many citizens are actually receiving that aid.
Meanwhile, the local authorities have been hard at work trying to restore the rail system that has been either covered by rock and mud or has been totally destroyed in other parts. The local government is in the process of sending in a replacement bridge for the one that collapsed in Ollantaytambo which is scheduled to arrive sometime tomorrow. They also estimated that it would take approximately 30 days before the replacement bridge for Pisaq would arrive. At first glance it would appear that the government is working hard to restore the infrastructure in the Sacred Valley region, especially since the rains have been responsible for loss of several millions of dollars in money earned through tourism.
An estimated 25,000 citizens of Cusco have been left without homes and have lost literally everything to the horrible weather. What is disappointing is all the support that is being rallied for the tourists who have been isolated in the town of Aguas Calientes (located at the base of Machu Picchu), while the people of Cusco have received minimal support and coverage. It causes one to wonder just how long it will take the department of Cusco and the Peruvian government to step up their efforts in aiding those affected?
Well it would appear that the situation in Cusco and Apurímac is worse than what it has been shown by the media. Bloggers all over the internet have been posting articles about the situation in Machu Picchu and Cusco like wildfire! As the information continues to flood in (no pun intended) from actual victims and tourists currently in Cusco, updates on many blogs like this one are coming in literally around the minute.
The tremendous amounts of rain which caused various land and rock slides as well as flooding in several areas of Cusco and Apurímac remains a problem for many citizens and tourists. Many roads remained closed off, in Aguas Calientes the road leading to the hydroelectric plant has been blocked.
In the city of Aguas Calientes (the town located just at the foot of Machu Picchu) it is estimated that about 1,600 tourists remain stranded as they await extraction by helicopter from the area. Since the heavy raining let up earlier this week several helicopters from the Peruvian military, police, as well as private helicopters have been conducting flight evacuation runs in the Sacred Valley region. Many towns like Pisaq and Ollantaytambo have also had their roads blocked off and their bridges damaged. Electricity to the region has been severed as many towns in the Valley are without electricity. Such is the situation in Aguas Calientes where the remaining tourists have found themselves in a difficult situation, price gouging ($3.50 for a bottle of water, 5 times what it actually costs), low food rations, loss of electricity are but just a few of the problems they currently face.
Machu Picchu was closed this week by local government officials in response to several landslides that have occurred in the region. The landslides caused by the massive amounts of rain caused the damage of several bridges in and around the surrounding areas as well as making the roads unsafe for travel. The roads that lead up to Machu Picchu have also been affected by the torrential downpour as land and rock slides have left them damaged. It is estimated that it will take about 3 to 5 days to repair. The government and local authorities realizing the danger the weather posed to people and tourists in Aguas Calientes conducted emergency evacuations. In fact, the weather and rain has been so bad that the authorities in Cusco as well as Apurímac have declared a state of emergency in response which will be in effect for a total of 60 days. 
At the moment it is estimated that some 40% of the population in Cusco are without drinkable water. While it is certainly unfortuante for the thousands of tourists currently in Cusco, it is just as unfortunate if not more for the citizens and residents of both Cusco and Apurímac. 
I stumbled upon this website that boasts this pretty awesome photo of Machu Picchu that was taken by photographer Scott Howard. The cool thing about this photo is that it is interactive, you can zoom in or out anywhere on the photo.
Howard took this photo after completing the infamous Inca trail hike (took him about 4 days to complete). Here is the Link to his website where you can interact with the actual photo.
The Photo was taken with the following specs:
Total Resolution 1500 MegaPixels (approx 60,000 x 26,000 pixels)
Camera Used Canon 10D, Canon 100-400L lens
Total Photos Used 404 (95% at 400mm, 5% at 100mm)
Time to take Photos 65 minutes
Software Used to Create Image Autopano Pro using SmartBlend
Time to Render Image Approx 11 hours
Final Image Size 13.5 GB!
Web Viewer Software Zoomify, with 31,805 demand-loaded images
