Peru’s Machu Picchu — heralded as the “Lost City of the Incas” by American explorer Hiram Bingham, who rediscovered the largely forgotten site more than 100 years ago — has evolved into a tourist magnet.
Buses full of visitors regularly zigzag up and down the road that leads to this bucket-list destination built centuries ago, high in the Andes.
During the reign of the once-powerful Inca, the citadel was occupied by fewer than 1,000 people at any given time, according to historian Hugh Thomson, author of “The White Rock: An Exploration of the Inca Heartland.”
Last year, more than 5,000 people on average walked the paths of Machu Picchu daily during the busiest months of July and August.
In the past 106 years since Bingham introduced this ancient wonder to the world, Machu Picchu went from virtually no visitors to more than 1.4 million in 2016. It’s a number that some worry is too high and one that threatens to make Machu Picchu a victim of its own success.
“The tourist impact is very grave,” said Nelson Huaman Quispe, a guide with Machu Picchu Andes Tours. “As there are a large quantity of tourists, you can’t control them.
“Many tourists do things they shouldn’t do,” he added. “For example, some people climb the structures. Some take the stones. Some mark up the floor, do things they shouldn’t. … It’s chaos.”
New rules that take effect July 1 could mean even more visitors to the site.
The Peruvian government reportedly is increasing the number of daily maximum visitors to 5,940 people — far more than the 2,500 initially recommended by UNESCO, the United Nations cultural organization. But under the new system, people will be spread throughout the day by having timed visits either during the morning or afternoon. As it is now, people can stay all day. The new rules would allow 3,267 visitors in the morning (6 a.m. to noon) and 2,673 in the afternoon (noon to 5:30 p.m.).
Having fewer people at Machu Picchu at any one time would theoretically make it easier for security guards to monitor the site.
Archaeologist and explorer Gary Ziegler first visited Machu Picchu in 1965. He’s been back almost every year since.
“I think anybody who’s been there in the past and any professional who’s studied there is going to be very, very depressed about the whole situation,” Ziegler said about Machu Picchu’s rise in popularity in recent years.
During his first visit, Ziegler said, he was allowed to camp inside one of the buildings in Machu Picchu, which isn’t permitted today. The quietude, he said, allowed visitors to get a sense of what the Incas felt when they still occupied Machu Picchu in the 15th and 16th centuries.
“It’s just an incredible, magical place, and I don’t see how anybody can really capture the experience of that in tourist groups being rushed through anymore,” Ziegler said.
Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, Machu Picchu was voted in a 2007 online poll as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, prompting a steady uptick in visitors.
Last year, the travel website TripAdvisor named Machu Picchu the No. 1 landmark in the world for its sheer number of reviews — over 11,000 — and its overwhelmingly high ratings.
The tourist traffic has been a boon for the Peruvian economy, but Machu Picchu and the village of Aguas Calientes, the jumping-off point for the uphill ride to the ruins, are not equipped to handle that many people at once. There is only one main way in and out of Machu Picchu, leading to frequent bottlenecks and making a quick evacuation difficult.
Aguas Calientes (also known as Machu Picchu Pueblo), at the base of the mountain, is prone to flooding in the rainy season, October to April. In 2010, flooding and mudslides blocked the roads and rail lines between Aguas Calientes and the popular tourist town of Cusco, trapping visitors for days.
“My concern is about the inherent danger of having several thousand visitors trapped in the inaccessible confines of the Urubamba canyon during rainy season,” Ziegler said.
Plans have long been in the works to make another main entrance to Machu Picchu from the nearby town of Santa Teresa — also prone to flooding — to take some of the visitor burden off Aguas Calientes.
Despite the influx of travelers, Machu Picchu remains free of the gross commercialization plaguing Aguas Calientes. There’s no gift shop at the ruins, and the original landscape is largely intact, except for a few signs and roped-off areas.
“The thesis about Machu Picchu having been this wide open, very accessible, contemplative place … that is turning into Disney Picchu or something like that, I don’t agree with that,” said Rick Vecchio, a journalist from Brooklyn who now lives in Peru and runs a tour operation and travel agency — Fertur Peru Travel — with his wife. “I think the problem with Machu Picchu had been, until very recently, a question of a lack of proper infrastructure to deal with the crowds.”
Nearly every year since 2007, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has recommended that Machu Picchu be considered for inclusion on the List of World Heritage in Danger — a designation Machu Picchu has so far managed to avoid.
In response to UNESCO’s threats, the Peruvian government has put more crowd-control and safety measures in place.
Today, tourists will find certain attractions roped off, such as the Intihuatana stone (“hitching post of the sun”), which was used by the Incas as a kind of calendar for the winter solstice. The rope was put in place after Intihuatana was damaged in 2000 when a beer company was filming a commercial and a crane accidentally knocked into the stone. The Temple of the Three Windows, another favorite attraction at Machu Picchu, is roped off now too.
Another major change in the last few years is the addition of guards at several corners around the citadel. The uniformed guards with whistles around their necks watch for people crossing the ropes or touching damaged structures.
Future plans that have been discussed, according to Vecchio, include mandatory guides accompanying tourists, as well as the construction of a funicular to offer an alternative path up the mountain.
Despite the changes, tourists continue to trek to Machu Picchu in ever-increasing numbers, a testament to the original structure that has withstood civilization, conquest, abandonment and — so far — tourism.
“Every time I go, it has impact, which I think is something that’s shared,” said Vecchio, who’s visited more times than he can remember. “Most people, unless there’s something wrong with them, they feel something akin to what I feel when I go there and I look at it. … There’s just something so beautiful and perfect about it.”
For those who wish to experience something similar to Machu Picchu in the days before mass tourism, Ziegler recommends visiting a lesser known site about 30 miles away called Choquequirao.
It too was built by the Incas and modeled after Machu Picchu. About 20 or 30 people typically visit the site each day, and the only way to get there is by foot.
Twitter @ColleenMConn
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