Tourists help, harm Peru's Machu Picchu

[Township75]

I visited MP a few months ago, and was struck with what a magnificent site it is. When I left, I often felt I would go back if I were travelling with someone who absolutely had to go to Peru to see the site...not any more after reading this. I hope the Peruvian government can develop some plan to ensure its safety.

MACHU PICCHU, PERU - As the sun rises over the ruins of Machu Picchu, the "Lost City of the Incas," the first backpackers emerge from the dense brush, exhausted from their four-day trek.

"I saw it in a movie and said, 'I have to be here one day,' " says Sean Harrison from San Diego, Calif. "Walking in, I was blown away. Nothing could have prepared me."

Mr. Harrison is just one of what could be as many as 2,500 visitors today to these 500-year-old ruins nestled in Peru's snow-capped Andean mountains, high above the swirling rapids of the Urubamba River. Machu Picchu - 32,000 acres of houses, temples, staircases, and agricultural terraces built using the most advanced construction skills of the time - is the most visited archaeological site in South America. It generates $40 million each year for Peru's economy.

But like popular destinations from the Great Wall of China to the Taj Mahal in India, Machu Picchu's tourist influx is a two-edged sword. With the hordes of visitors come thousands of pounding feet eroding the pathways, seated bottoms weighing down the walls, and sweaty palms leaving eroding salt deposits on the stone structures. Buses bringing in holidaymakers spew exhaust into the air, polluting the ecosystem. Some travelers even use the ruins along the Inca Trail as bathrooms. The problems are so severe that the United Nations is threatening to place this World Heritage Site on its "at-risk" register this year.

full story here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/omachu

[Teaser]

1. Been there.

Climbed the mountain behind it (Huayna Pichu, IIRC). That is one scary climb.

[HuckleB]

2. That's a wonderful hike up Huayna Picchu.

Luckily we stayed in town a few days, so we could visit in the morning and late afternoons and avoid the 10-2 train day visitors, which makes the place seem like a visit to the Met on a busy Saturday.

We definitely witnessed our share of stupid American, British and German tourists there. Respect is clearly not an inherent human trait.

[Township75]

4. I hiked in from the Inca Trail...

and we got to have the place to ourselves for around 2 hours before more people came.

Respect is not a human trait. I witnessed my fair share of Europeans using inca sites as bathrooms...I didn't meet any other Americans on the trail.

I was also amused with the Europeans desire to chain smoke constantly, even at high elevations.

[Township75]

3. Me too!

I loved it up there...took most of my pics from there too. Kinda funny how everyone up there is very social, and at MP none of the tourists speak to each other.

[Ripley]

5. Sounds like the government is inept.

If it is a high volume tourist site, they should provide clearly defined paths and restrooms. I recently toured archaeological sites in Mexico and can't imagine anyone just taking a shit beside a pyramid. And you couldn't just wander into any buiding, many structures were off limits because they were being restored or had surviving murals that would be destroyed if people constantly touched them. I saw security remove some assholes who climbed over a rope and a big sign saying "Warning: Do Not Enter" to climb up a crumbling staircase.

I hope they can fix their problems and save the site, I'd like to go there.