Peruvian Niagara Falls: I Was Not Fond Of Aguas Calientes
While I overall thought Machu Picchu unforgettable and an amazing experience, I think much less fondly of the town of Aguas Calientes. While it absolutely does have its charms and areas of genuine beauty. I found the main strip to be a painfully overstimulating tourist hellscape, a la Niagara Falls, Las Vegas etc. I found the main strip to be so over the top in this sense that it almost seemed like a parody of itself, I was half expecting to see a Machu Picchu-themed Hooters at some point. I was grateful to find some bastions of peace where I felt like I was, in fact in Peru, like the little indoor food market where I could get a reasonably priced meal that doesn’t taste like car exhaust (IF YOU ATE THE PASTA AT THAT RESTAURANT ON THE FIRST DAY YOU KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT, BLEGHHH!!). I feel like even though Machu Picchu itself and Aguascalientes are fundamentally different places with different feels, insane over-commercialization of such heritage sites so often leads to a feeling for the dilution of the cultural value of the site the town exists for in the first place….like I felt like that the tackiness and artificiality of much of Aguas Calientes negatively affected my perception of Machu Picchu while I was there, because the two places are inextricably linked. I guess it’s kind of a feeling of lament for how humans feel the need to exploit such a beautiful place at the expense of the places natural beauty. Souvenir shops, shitty novelty restaurants, club promoters yelling at me for a “VERYSPECIALPARTYLATERSHROOMSWEEDCOKECOMEMYFRIEND” can absoloutely overshadow the historical context of a place like that, transforming a place of jaw dropping cultural importance into a borderline theme park. Of course it should not be disregarded that the injection of tourist dollars has funded infrastructure projects, improved living standards, and provided educational opportunities for many, but this also puts people who live here in a very precarious position. The prosperity of Aguas Calientes is at the mercy of the number of visitors and therefore external factors beyond the community’s control, like political instability, global pandemics etc, whcih affect tourism disproportionately. On top of this, we have seen countless instances of economic disparities also arising as a result of this, as those involved in the tourism industry benefit more than those who are not, creating social tension and widen the wealth gap/exacerbate inequalities. In a perfect world Agua Calientes would be a lovely and peaceful Andean town nestled below Machu Picchu, but unfortunately that isn’t the world we live in, c’est la vie I suppose.
Huachaferia …
“I felt like that the tackiness and artificiality of much of Aguas Calientes negatively affected my perception of Machu Picchu while I was there, because the two places are inextricably linked.” After reading your blog I wonder if the majority of those who visit the town feel something similar. Somehow we have been able to compare different sites in Peru, but I suppose that for many visitors this is not the case, and Machu Picchu is the center of their tourist experience (or even the only one). What image of the country will they take with them then?
I am also not a big fan of Aguas Calientes. The calls of “My friend!” are still ringing in my ears. I also cannot separate Aguas Calientes and Macchu Picchu in my head.
“transforming a place of jaw dropping cultural importance into a borderline theme park”
Though perhaps Macchu Picchu would not be recognized as a place of cultural importance if it was not first
…if it was not first sold as a tourist destination.
Hi Ben
I agree, that pasta was foul, I’m talking straight up blehh, wouldn’t feed that to my dog, wouldn’t even feed that to Margaret thatcher if she were still around.
I agree that the gaudy, hypercommercial, soulless nature of Aguas calientes is a sad reflection of the nature of tourism. The feeling of these “tourist towns” around the world seems to be universal and definitely detracts from the experience of whatever the attraction may be.