Jaunted

Mobs Descend on Machu Picchu

10/02/2007 at 9:15 AM
Tags: Machu Picchu, Seven Wonders of the World, Tourist Traps (all tags)

We like to think that Machu Picchu really is a great destination, not to be detracted from just because it wound up on the biased and strange New 7 Wonders list. So it shouldn't come as any surprise to hear that tourist numbers to Peru's famous Inca ruins are rising rapidly.

Unfortunately we're not sure if this is a good thing. With tourist numbers constantly rising in the past decade--they'd already reached 400,000 a year in 2003, and 850,000 are predicted this year--they'll soon reach the one million a year mark. Disregarding peaks in tourist traffic, that means on average we'll have to share Machu Picchu with another 3,000 cameras and backpacks on the day we visit, and that makes a remote scenic ruin turn into something of a tourist trap.

Related Stories:
· 800,000 Tourists to Visit Machu Picchu [Living in Peru]
· Waterworld II: Machu Picchu Island [Jaunted]
· New 7 Wonders of the World Announced [Jaunted]

[Photo: Marc Schandro]

0 Comments - Add Yours by amandak

Waterworld II: Machu Picchu Island

6/07/2007 at 10:08 AM
Tags: Climate Travel, Travel Warnings, World Monuments, Machu Picchu (all tags)

The World Monuments Fund has joined the Gore battle cry. The non-profit introduced its 2008 list Wednesday of 100 famous natural and historic sites in danger of drowning. For the first time, the World Monuments Watch lists climate change as a threat, in addition to political conflict and unchecked development. Potential global warming victims include Machu Picchu, the historic neighborhoods of New Orleans (which have, arguably, already fallen prey to the crisis), and all of Shanghai. Yikes.

Is the report a legitimate warning or another ploy to elicit enough fear in lazy Americans to change consumption habits? We still plan on flushing twice and using that extra cardboard holder to keep our hands from burning on a hot cup of Starbucks. But just in case, we're recruiting Costner for our team.

0 Comments - Add Yours by ced138