Wow! Very interesting story. It is sad to hear about the person hiking the trail that died.
How much did the article say the "price gouged" bottled water is going for now? $3.50? lol... what does the same bottle of water cost at Disney?
The article mentioned that most people are stuck at a local village. They are probably referring to Aguas Calientes, a beautiful little remote town situated at the base of the peak that MP sits on. The (Urubomba? Ucayaly?) river runs around it, and it is just gorgeous. Anyway, this is an extremely remote place - there are no roads there. Ollantaytambo is the closest place reachable by car, as I recall. The tourists may be temporarily stuck there, but they are among a rugged, welcoming, hospitable people. Aside from the one death, this would not appear to me to be much more than a minor inconvenience/great story for the 2,000ish tourists. Now, for the farmers and others, that might be a bit different. However, as stated before, these are a strong, rugged people that have been through a lot worse before... You are in the heart of Inca territory, and plenty of pure-blooded descendants, with their knowledge and customs intact, populate the area.
A very interesting story!
