Skies have cleared over the fabled Machu Picchu citadel,, speeding the evacuation of stranded tourists, many of whom were left to eat from communal pots and sleep outdoors after weekend flooding and mudslides cut access to the area.
By nightfall, helicopters ferried 975 more people out of this remote village, the closest to the Inca ruins 8000 feet up in the Andes mountains. Chief Cabinet Minister Javier Velasquez told Lima's RPP radio that only 600 tourists remained in town.
More than 2000 travelers were trapped for days, straining supplies and testing travelers' patience.
"It's been an adventure, a bit more than we bargained for," Karel Schultz, 46, of Niagara Falls, said as she waited to be flown out.
Authorities hoped the good weather would hold so they could get the rest of the tourists out.
But the Machu Picchu site will remain closed for weeks, until the government can repair highway and railroad tracks washed out by mudslides and the raging Urubamba River.
Dozens of ragged-looking, middle-aged tourists lined up outside the train station, where they waited to make the walk of a few hundred yards to a makeshift helicopter clearing.
Younger backpackers played football with locals and lent a hand stacking sandbags and clearing train tracks to pass the time.
The evacuation was being carried out by age, oldest first. The elderly and children were among the 1131 tourists who were evacuated through Wednesday.
People had grown frustrated over chaotic relief efforts, price-gouging and scarce food, but the mood lightened as the weather cleared, helicopters descended from the skies and soldiers brought order to the evacuation.
When the mudslides destroyed the railway, the only land transporation into Machu Picchu Pueblo, many hotels and restaurants raised prices exorbitantly - separating wealthier tourists who could afford to pay extra from those who spent days sleeping in train cars and waiting for delayed food shipments.
Dina Sofamontanez, who runs Hostal El Inka, said she dropped prices when tourists ran out of money, while some hotels on the main avenue raised theirs fivefold up to $US50 ($NZ70.23) a night.
"The people here are abusive. It's all about money," she said.
Many backpackers who ran out of money when ATMs ran dry slept in the central plaza.
"We had to eat what the locals gave us, out of communal pots. There are young people who are having a real rough time because they don't have money. The last few days I've shared beds with other people," Argentine tourist Sandra Marcheiani, 34, said.
Some 400 Americans were said to be among those stranded when train service stopped.
Schultz said most Americans paid for beds and bought their own food, while those that slept in the streets were typically Argentines and other South American backpackers.
"Young backpackers from our (South American) countries have taken it all in stride ... we've had a melting pot out here where we share everything, and that's what we will take away from it," said Marcheiani.
Wedged between a sheer, verdant mountainside and the raging Urubamba River, difficult terrain and bad weather have slowed rescue efforts.
Rain prevented helicopters from landing in the town until after midday both Tuesday and Wednesday, but clear skies allowed operations Thursday to begin at 8am.
"They are going like clockwork now," said Schultz.
Evacuation efforts were complicated by the arrival of hundreds more tourists who were walking on the Inca trail hiking path, a popular four-day trek that ends in Machu Picchu.
