Question: How many visitors are their to the Inca Trail?
About the article "Machu Picchu", section "Roads and transportation".

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The royal Inca road entered Chile from Bolivia through what is now the international border crossing of "Tambo Quemado" (Spanish for burnt station) on the Bolivian side and Chungara on the Chilean side, while a twin branch that runs parallel to it follows the coast from Peru and passes mostly through lower lying terrain.
However, due to the uneven and difficult terrain and its unsuitability for llama caravans heading southwards it is unlikely that this road continued past the Atacama region.
Numerous associated sites and branches in the north are found in the regions of Arica & Parinacota, Tarapacá, Antofagasta, Atacama, and Coquimbo.
The altitude of the Inca highway in Chile fluctuates from 4,000 meters above sea-level at the Bolivian border, to 2,000 meters at Copiapo, and approximately 500 meters just north of Santiago.
It passed through fertile valleys with plenty of lakes and mineral reserves, favourable factors which made it the principal route used by the Incas to the southern extremes of the empire.
Close to Santiago, the main sites of the Chilean Inca Trail include various branches of the Inca highway in the Valparaiso and Metropolitan.
Regions which have remained largely unchanged since Inca times, and archaeological ruins in the Metropolitan and O'Higgins Regions.
According to renowned local archaeologist Ruben Stehberg, who has spent a great many years studying the branches of the Inca highway in Chile, the Inca road that connected the fertile Maipo river valley to the final border at the Cachapoal River passed by the hill of Chada.
Between the Metropolitan and O'Higgins regions, the Chilean Inca Trail includes heritage sites such as Huaca de Chena, Chada, and the final frontier of the Incas, Pukara de la Compania, as well as parts of The Camino Real a La Frontera. 
The Fish River Canyon hiking trail is one of the more popular hiking trails in Southern Africa.
The immense scale and rugged terrain has drawn many visitors from all over the world to experience what hiking or trail running the canyon can offer.
Apart from the 2 kilometre descent west of Hobas and some optional short cuts, the trail generally follows 88 kilometres of the Fish River through to Ai Aisand is usually completed within 5 days.
Although there are a number of footpaths through the canyon, the trail is not fixed leaving the hiker to decide where and how long to hike.
There are no amenities on the trail and hikers have to carry all their needs with them.
Open fires are not allowed on the trail.
In times of inclement weather, some shelter in a run-down building can be found at the Causeway () but otherwise sleeping is outdoors.
The weather is usually mild and typical temperatures vary between 5°C and 30°C with little humidity.
Extreme weather, such as flash floods, stormy winds and rain occasionally play havoc during the hiking season. 
The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu (also known as "Camino Inca" or "Camino Inka") consists of three overlapping trails: "Mollepata", "Classic", and "One Day".
"Mollepata" is the longest of the three routes with the highest mountain pass and intersects with the Classic route before crossing Warmiwañusqa ("dead woman").
Located in the Andes mountain range, the trail passes through several types of Andean environments including cloud forest and alpine tundra.
Settlements, tunnels, and many Incan ruins are located along the trail before ending the terminus at the Sun Gate on Machu Picchu mountain.
The two longer routes require an ascent to beyond above sea level, which can result in altitude sickness.
Concern about overuse leading to erosion has led the Peruvian government to place a limit on the number of people who may hike this trail per season, and to sharply limit the companies that can provide guides.
As a result, advance booking is mandatory.
A maximum of 500 people are allowed on the trail each day, of which only 200 are trekkers, the rest being guides and porters.
As a result, the high season books out very quickly.
The trail is closed every February for cleaning.
This was originally done informally by organizations such as South American Explorers but is now managed officially. 
The Incas built the largest empire and dynasty of pre-Columbian America.
The Tahuantinsuyo—which is derived from Quechua for "The Four United Regions"—reached its greatest extension at the beginning of the 16th century.
It dominated a territory that included (from north to south): Ecuador, part of Colombia, the northern half of Chile, and the north-west part of Argentina; and from east to west, from Bolivia to the Amazonian forests and Peru.
The empire originated from a tribe based in Cuzco, which became the capital.
Pachacuti was the first ruler to considerably expand the boundaries of the Cuzco state.
His offspring later ruled an empire by both violent and peaceful conquest.
In Cuzco, the royal city was created to resemble a Cougar; the head, the main royal structure, formed what is now known as Sacsayhuaman.
The Empire's administrative, political, and military center was located in Cuzco.
The empire was divided into four quarters: Chinchasuyo, Antisuyo, Contisuyo, and Collasuyo.
The official language is Quechua - imposed on the citizens.
It was the language of a neighbouring tribe of the original tribe of the empire.
Conquered populations—tribes, kingdoms, states, and cities—were allowed to practice their own religions and lifestyles, but had to recognize Inca cultural practices as superior to their own.
Inti, the sun god, was to be worshipped as one of the most important gods of the empire.
His representation on earth was the Inca ("Emperor").
The Tahuantinsuyo was organized in dominions with a stratified society, in which the ruler was the Inca.
It was also supported by an economy based on the collective property of the land.
In fact, the Inca Empire was conceived like an ambitious and audacious civilizing project, based on a mythical thought, in which the harmony of the relationships between the human being, nature, and gods was truly essential.
Many interesting customs were observed, for example the extravagant feast of Inti Raymi which gave thanks to the God Sun, and the young women who were the Virgins of the Sun, sacrificial virgins devoted to the Inti.
The empire, being quite large, also had an impressive transportation system of roads to all points of the empire called the Inca Trail, and chasquis, message carriers who relayed information from anywhere in the empire to Cuzco.
Machu Picchu (Quechua: Old Peak; sometimes called the "Lost City of the Incas") is a well-preserved pre-Columbian Inca ruin located on a high mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley, about 70 km (44 mi) northwest of Cuzco.
Elevation measurements vary depending on whether the data refers to the ruin or the extremity of the mountain; Machu Picchu tourist information reports the elevation as 2,350 m (7,711 ft).
Forgotten for centuries by the outside world, although not by locals, it was brought back to international attention by Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham III, who rediscovered it in 1911 and wrote a best-selling work about it.
Peru is pursuing legal efforts to retrieve thousands of artifacts that Bingham removed from the site.
Although Machu Picchu is by far the most well-known internationally, Peru boasts many other sites where the modern visitor can see extensive and well-preserved ruins, remnants of the Inca-period and even older constructions.
Much of the Inca architecture and stonework found at these sites continues to confound archaeologists.
For example, at Sacsayhuaman, in Cuzco, the zig-zag-shaped walls are composed of massive boulders fitted very precisely to one another's irregular, angular shapes.
No mortar holds them together, but nonetheless they have remained absolutely solid through the centuries, surviving earthquakes that flattened many of Cuzco's colonial constructions.
Damage to the walls visible today was mainly inflicted during battles between the Spanish and the Inca, as well as later, in the colonial era.
As Cuzco grew, Sacsayhuaman's walls were partially dismantled, the site becoming a convenient source of construction materials for the city's newer inhabitants.
It is still not known how these stones were shaped and smoothed, lifted on top of one another (they really are "very" massive), or fitted together by the Incas; we also do not know how they transported the stones to the site in the first place.
The stone used is not native to the area and most likely came from mountains many kilometers away. 
Although the original Inca city was said to have been founded in the 11th century, more recently scholars have established that Inca did not occupy the area until after 1200 AD.
Before them the indigenous people of the Killke culture built the walled complex of Saksaywaman about 1100.
In November 2008, archeological researchers found that the Killke also built a major temple near Saksaywaman, as well as an aqueduct (Pukyus) and roadway connecting prehistoric structures.
Saksaywaman was expanded by the Inca.
The Spanish explorer Pizarro sacked much of the Inca city in 1535.
Remains of the palace of the Incas, Qurikancha (the Temple of the Sun), and the Temple of the Virgins of the Sun still stand.
In addition, Inca buildings and foundations in some cases have proved to be stronger than the foundations built in present-day Peru.
Among the most noteworthy Spanish colonial buildings of the city is the Cathedral of Santo Domingo, Cusco.
The major nearby Inca sites are Pachacuti's presumed winter home, Machu Picchu, which can be reached on foot by the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu or by train; and the "fortress" at Ullantaytampu.
Less-visited ruins include: Inka Wasi, the highest of all Inca sites at ; Willkapampa the capital of the Inca after the capture of Cusco; the sculpture garden at Ñusta Hisp'ana (aka Chuqip'allta, Yuraq Rumi); Tipón with working water channels in wide terraces; as well as Willkaraqay, Patallaqta, Chuqik'iraw, Moray, Vitcos, and many others.
The surrounding area, located in the Watanay Valley, is strong in gold mining and agriculture, including corn, barley, quinoa, tea, and coffee.
Cusco's main stadium Estadio Garcilaso de la Vega was the site of South America's continental soccer championship, the Copa América 2004 held in Peru.
The stadium is home to one of the country's most successful soccer clubs, "Cienciano".
The city is served by Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport.