‘Unforgettable’ Peru holiday for tourists evacuated from Machu Picchu

Stranded tourists had to walk part of the way along the railway track as the line was blocked by a huge boulder – Copyright AFP MARTIN BERNETTI

Patrick FORT

“Machu Picchu was great, but we will remember longer the days of stress that followed. Unforgettable,” laughs Alex Lim, a 41-year-old Canadian among 200 tourists evacuated on Saturday from the Inca citadel due to unrest in Peru.

Lim and his wife Kate were among 500 mostly foreign but also Peruvian tourists stranded on Tuesday at the foot of the World Heritage Site in the small town of Aguas Calientes after the train line was blocked by demonstrators protesting the ouster and imprisonment of former president Pedro Castillo.

As the railway is the only way in or out of Aguas Calientes, the tourists found themselves stuck for five days in the village’s hotel rooms without their belongings, as most had been staying in the Inca imperial city of Cusco, located 110 kilometers (70 miles) away.

“I feel better now,” said Lim “We were kind of worried. I didn’t have my medication for