Inca

Visitors to Peru's iconic Machu Picchu site were met Thursday by protesters angry with the government for privatizing ticket sales at the Inca citadel.

Tour operators and residents closed shops in protest and blocked the tracks of a tourist train, compelling those on board to walk the remaining three kilometers (1.8 miles) to the entrance.

Peru is sharply boosting access to its top attraction Machu Picchu, officials said on Dec. 2, in an effort to revive tourism that has yet to rebound from the pandemic.

Access to the Inca citadel has been increased to 4,500 per day "and on very specific dates may be increased to 5,600" from January 1, a Culture Ministry statement said.

Peru on March 9 returned a collection of 73 Roman coins, some from the second and fourth centuries, to the Italian embassy in Lima, the Foreign Ministry said.

The coins were seized from a Peruvian woman in 2021 at the international airport in Cusco, a tourist hub and gateway to the world renown Machu Picchu Inca citadel.

Peru indefinitely shut the famed ancient ruins of Machu Picchu on Saturday in the latest sign that anti-government protests that began last month are increasingly engulfing the South American country.

The suspension of ticket sales to Machu Picchu sparked protests among angry tourists and merchants from the town closest to the Inca citadel.

23 people were killed and many were injured after a passenger bus fell into a 100-meter deep ravine in southern Peru, according to BGNES.

The tragedy occurred in the Quispicanchi Province, which is part of the Cusco region, famous for tourist sites such as the ancient city of Machu Picchu.

Peru was like my promised land. I never had a chance to visit the country, but Peruvian culture has always been close to my heart. Since my high school years, it was on my top destination list, maybe just because of a dreamy picture of Machu Picchu. When I was studying conservation in Rome, my course coordinator was from Peru and the best cook in our international group was a friend from Peru.

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