Tourists back at Machu Picchu after 2 month closure

Tourists back at Machu Picchu

MACHU PICCHU, Peru — Tourists are back at Machu Picchu, which reopened after a two-month closure due to floods that washed out the rail link to the mountaintop ruins.

But officials say the entire route is not expected to reopen until June. Until then, tourists can travel by bus from Cuzco to Piscachuco and from there by train to Machu Picchu Pueblo at the base of the ruins.

Peru’s No. 1 tourist site had been shut down since late January, when heavy rains disrupted the rail link from the city of Cuzco and trapped some 4,000 tourists, many of whom had to be rescued with helicopters.

Workers have now finished rehabilitating the last 17 miles of the tracks, though service has not been restored all the way to Cuzco.

The train is the only form of transportation to the fortress, though hardier tourists can also hike there along the steep Inca Trail.

Machu Picchu, nestled atop a verdant mountain in the Andes, averages 1,500 to 2,000 visitors a day.