In the world, several sites are there on people’s must-visit list. And one such place which is unanimously popular amongst the travellers is Peru’s Machu Picchu. Known as the World Heritage Site, Machu Picchu was opened after months, but just for one visitor. Yep, you read that right! The government opened the tourist site for a Japanese man stranded in the country amid the pandemic.
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Jesse Katayam Becomes First Person On Earth To Visit Machu Picchu Since Lockdown
Jesse Katayama was too excited when he was given special permission to visit the site, and we could see that through his post on Instagram. He posted, “The first person on Earth who went to Machu Picchu since the lockdown is me.” Furthermore, he also thanked the local tourism authority in Cusco for letting him visit the site.
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Aged-26, Katayama who hails from Nara, Japan, has been stuck in Peru since March when he bought a ticket for the tourist site only days before the country declared a health emergency. As per the news from a local Peruvian Newspaper, the Japanese citizen had initially planned to spend three days in the area, but with flights cancelled and movement restricted, he had no option but to stay put in that area for months. And now after months, the local tourism authority understood his impasse and gave him special permission by reopening the site just for him.
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Thanking the government, Katayama said,
“I thought that I wouldn’t be able to go. But thanks to all of you who pleaded with the mayor and the government, I was given this super-special opportunity.”
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In terms of reopening for others, it was scheduled to reopen in July, but it has been pushed to November. And from November, only 675 tourists will be allowed in a day, so that social distancing can be followed thoroughly. Surprisingly, after opening in 1948, it has been shut only once before. It was in 2010 when a flood destroyed the railway tracks connecting it to Cusco.