(CNN) — Like many travelers around the world, Jesse Takayama found his dream trip thwarted by the spread of Covid-19.
He already had his entry ticket and permit to enter the UNESCO World Heritage site on March 16 in hand, but that was when the Peruvian government opted to close the site. Takayama was stranded.
Since then, the 26-year-old Takayama, a boxing instructor, has become a local in Aguas Calientes, where he has been renting a small room for the past seven months.
Although border closures have kept him from visiting other South American countries, he has made the best of his experience by exploring local attractions like Putucusi Mountain and the Calientes Waterfalls. He even taught boxing classes to some of the local kids and has made friends in his accidental new hometown.
Takayama tells CNN that his goal is to open his own boxing gym when he returns to Osaka, so he used his lockdown period to practice his moves.
“I go to run every morning and I could see Machu Picchu afar in distance,” Takayama told CNN. “I thought I would never make it to Machu Picchu as I was expecting it won’t open within this year. but I was OK with it because I had a great time here.”
The Incan citadel in more typical circumstances.
CRIS BOURONCLE/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
In a celebratory Instagram post, Takayama wrote, “I thought I never make it (to Machu Picchu) but everyone asked the government and the town and they game me super special permission.” He added: “Peruvians are soooo kind. Thank you soooo much!”
He tells CNN that he will leave Peru for Japan on October 16. As he prepares to head home, he is saying goodbye to the townspeople who have become his friends over the past months. Several local children have drawn Takayama pictures and created a doll for him out of toilet paper rolls.
“I will definitely cry,” he says about his farewell to Aguas Calientes. “These seven months have been very special to me. I have discovered a new part of me.”
“The Japanese citizen has entered together with our head of the park so that he can do this before returning to his country,” Peru’s Minister of Culture Alejandro Neyra confirmed to reporters.
Neyra added that there are plans to reopen Machu Picchu to visitors at 30% capacity, but did not specify an exact date.
CNN’s Yoko Wakatsuki contributed reporting.
