Machu Picchu reopens with Inca ceremony
Limited visitors will have the site almost to themselves
After eight months of quiet due to the coronavirus pandemic, Peru’s most famous tourist attraction officially reopened to visitors on Monday. Machu Picchu, the 15th-century Inca citadel high in the Andes mountains, marked the occasion last Sunday with an ancient thanksgiving ritual, performances by local artists and a spectacular light show that saw the site’s stone walls washed in colour. Images, videos and words — such as #machupicchuisback — were also projected onto the walls.
Peru’s tourism minister, Rocio Barrios, said the site was opening “with responsibility and great prudence” as she presented it with the World Travel and Tourism Council’s “Safe Travels” seal. The seal certifies that the attraction and its surrounding hotels and restaurants meet the required safety standards for Covid-19. Capacity has been reduced to 30% for now, with only 675 people allowed to enter each day, in groups of eight.
In the months of its closure, only one tourist has officially visited the site. Last month, 26-year-old Jesse Katayama from Japan was granted special permission to go after his plans were thwarted by lockdown.
Katayama had a ticket to enter the site on March 16 and had arrived in the nearby town of Aguas Calientes a few days before. When a state of emergency was declared on March 15, Katayama felt taking an evacuation flight would be too complicated, and so he spent seven months in the village instead. After some media attention, locals campaigned to allow him to see Machu Picchu before he finally left for home on October 16. His Instagram now features rare shots of the site with not a soul in the background.