Machu Picchu reopens in April

By Charlie Mills

Finally, the Inca ruins site at Machu Picchu will reopen to international visitors as of April 1st. This reopening comes following a closure of two months caused by flooding. This is good news for this area, which makes a lot of money off the tourists that come from all over to visit these ruins.

Officials from PromPeru, the nation’s tourism body, did go on to confirm the reopening of the site. The reopening is made possible thanks to the repairs being successful to the rail links. These rail links had been damaged in the flood earlier this year.

The nearby Vilcanota River overran its banks back in January. It destroyed the rail and road links to the site. This had a severe impact on tourism to the area and even stranded many tourist at the site or many days. The tourists finally had to be airlifted out of the area by helicopter.

It took a long time for officials to airlift everyone out of the area for many reasons. First of all, bad weather continued to make it impossible to fly helicopters into the area. Second, many hikers, who had started on their joinery to the site many days before continued to show up at the site long after the flood waters had destroyed the link to the area. During this time, people had to deal with a very small supply of food and water.

Originally, repairs to the tracks were not expected to be done until mid-April. However, favorable weather conditions have allowed work to be completed way ahead of schedule. PeruRail will recommence its Vistabome train service to Agus Calientes on March 29th. However, Inca Citadel of Machu Picchu will not reopen to tourists until April 1st