SILVER LINING

Lone Tourist Allowed to Visit Machu Picchu After Being Stranded in Peru for Seven Months

Jesse Takayama, a Japanese national, was allowed to enter the 570-year-old citadel after getting stuck in Peru in March amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A single Japanese tourist was allowed to enter the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru over the weekend, the first person to be able to do so since the coronavirus forced the country to close its borders to tourism in March. Jesse Takayama, a Japanese national, has been stranded in the nearby town of Aguas Calientes since spring and submitted a special request to see the UNESCO World Heritage site that dates back to 1450, according to carbon dating. Takayama originally only planned to spend a few days in Peru. Minister of Culture Alejandro Neyra said the site will reopen in November for approximately 200 people a day, 30 percent of the ruins’ original capacity. “[Takayama] had come to Peru with the dream of being able to enter,” Neyra said at a press conference. “The Japanese citizen has entered together with our head of the park so that he can do this before returning to his country.”