please rub in all your sunscreen before being ignorant

so, marissa, anna and i have just returned to stgo from an incredible trip to peru and bolivia. more specifically, cusco,peru then aguas calientes, peru, machu picchu, puno,peru and copacabana, bolivia which are both on lake titicaca, and lastly la paz, bolivia´s de facto capital (it has two). while perhaps not profoundly changing me, the trip did a great deal to open my eyes as well as re-whet my appetite for travel. while there are scarcely words for the things that i have seen and done (and probably not even enough pictures), i can manage to summon up a few phrases about one of the inevitable evils of travel: tourists.

throughout the duration of my semester in chile i have perferred to designate myself as a traveler and not a tourist. perhaps i am flattering myself. it is altogether possible that the distinction exists solely in my head and allows me to think i am better than others. if this is the case so be it. it does not change my opinions on the subject.

on our trip we undoubtedly did touristy things. one can not go to machu picchu and not be a tourist, and one can not go to peru without stopping at machu picchu. i think theres a law. or there should be. we also paid tour groups to take us to other ruins, most notably sacshayhunan (pronounced something like ´sexy woman´, which made marissa giggle more than saying lake titicaca). while at these sites i resented the presence of other tourists in my photographs and blocking my views, i was just as guilty as they. there is a reason that descendants of the incans knew of but did not disclose the whereabouts of the sacred machu picchu site. it took an american, hiram bingham to ´discover´ the ruins, with the help of a very young boy he bribed into taking him there. the people knew exactly what would happen, and, surprise, surprise, it did. now the children and grandchildren of those who kept its location a secret are serving as guides for the masses of foriengers that flock to oogle its unquestionably amazing presence. perhaps he took a liking to us because we were at least struggling through the tour with our spanish, but our guide was honest with us. he told us about how his grandfather was hurt by the treatment of the sacred site. he also claimed that there is another ruined city as yet ´undiscovered´ that puts machu picchu to shame, but that the people who know are trying much harder to protect it. while my curiosity peaked, i let go of the thought that perhaps we could go there. a driver in cusco had similar sentiments. he spoke of how his children do not know a cusco without tourists, how their entire lives they will likely be serving the tourist culture, either through a tour group or a specially geared business or restaurant.

these mild stirrings of disgust came to a head when we visited the floating islands of the uros people in lake titicaca from puno. the uros people fled to the water to escape extinction at the hands of the ayamami (im sure thats spelled wrong) people. they built rafts out of the reeds that grew in the lake, which eventually expanded into entire dwellings. there exist houses on these islands built of reeds that people still live in. but why? the fear of the ayamami has long since disappeared, indeed there is so much mixing between the groups that they have essentially merged into one. these days the uros continue to add reeds to keep their islands afloat as a tourist spectacle. they are always dressed in ´´traditional´´ garb and a visit to the islands is little more than a disturbing caricature of their former selves. there is not a day where tourists do not visit. there is not a child that does not pose politely for a photo and then demand money. their entire life is a business, no better than having your picture taken with mickey mouse. they take people on short rides in ´typical´ reed boats for 5 peruvian soles while they themselves get around in outboard motorboats. im not quite sure what i expected when we went out to these islands, but the three of us stood in shocked revulsion as the other tourists behaved as though they were at a circus, chasing chickens, entering houses, and generally treating the residents like novelties, which, for a price, they were happy to be.

so what does tourism do to a native culture other than exploit what is ´different´ for a few photographs?

question to ponder. ill be home in 2 days. think about it.