The LA Times also brings the sad report today that the fabulous Peruvian archeological site, Machu Picchu, is showing signs of wear from the thousands of tourists who come to visit it each year. Visits are up since the end of the Sendero Luminoso rebellion. There’s not much you can do to prevent this unless you come up with a scheme to reduce visitation.
The most extreme example of this that I can think of is the cave of Lascaux in France, filled with beautiful Paleolithic art. When it became apparent that allowing visitors in the cave was destroying the art, the French government closed it down and built a replica cave so that tourists could at least get the feel of what viewing the art was like. Access to the real Lascaux is tightly controlled.
I attended a lecture recently by David Lewis-Williams, an expert on Paleolithic rock art and author of The Mind in the Cave. He told the story of a researcher (unnamed) who had been granted a 20-minute visit inside Lascaux by the French authorities. When the lights went on and the fellow saw the beautiful paintings he was so overcome by emotion that he spent 10 minutes blubbering tears before he could pull himself together and start the work he needed to do. But, as Lewis-Williams said, “the French being the French,” he still only got 20 minutes!
We visited Machu Picchu last year and were able to walk around for a morning with Darwin Camancho, quoted in this story. He was a wealth of information and had some great ideas on how to really restore and protect the ruins. Unfortunately, the very high park fees are not going back into MP.
One of Camancho’s suggestions was to return the terraces to farming of the diverse varieties of Peruvian crops, which would have been consistent with Inka use. I think that is a worthwhile goal.
I know it is a popular place, but it is still spectacular. Most people make a day trip there from Cuzco, so if you stay for more than a day, the tourists vanish at about 1 pm and it becomes much more peaceful and you can enjoy the scenery and stonework without sharing it with crowds.
The story was double discouraging for me because MP has always been high on my list of places to visit.