Peru recently opened the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu for a single Japanese tourist who had waited almost seven months to visit the ancient site.
"The first person on Earth who went to Machu Picchu since the lockdown is me," the tourist, Jesse Katayama caption a series of pictures of him at Machu Picchu on Instagram as translated by an AFP report.
"This is truly amazing! Thank you," he said in a video posted by the local tourism authority on its Facebook page.
Katayama had arrived in Peru in March with an intent of spending a few days there and to visit Machu Picchu. However, he was stuck there for almost seven months owing to the Covid-19 induced lockdown, stranded in the town of Aguas Calientes, near Machu Picchu, BBC reported.
He was then allowed to visit the ruins upon a special request in March, but it closed because of coronavirus.
“He had come to Peru with the dream of being able to enter,” said Culture Minister Alejandro Neyra in a virtual press conference as quoted by the Guardian. “The Japanese citizen has entered together with our head of the park so that he can do this before returning to his country.”
Peru has reported over 33,000 Covid-19 cases, and has the highest per-capita mortality rate across the globe, as per the report. Limited International flights have resumed in the country. Machu Picchu is likely to be opened for visitors starting next month at limited capacity, as per reports.
According to the Guardian, 30 per cent of its standard capacity will be filled, allowing up to 675 people a day.