Machu Picchu closed two days per week. That is what Peru’s Geological Institute suggested during a recent conference. The polemic measurement aims at reducing the massive arrival of tourists to the Inca citadel, and thus preserve it from wearing and damage. According to the Geological Institute (Instituto Geológico Minero y Metalúrgico de Perú, INGEMMET), the 3,000 daily visitors to the archaeological complex, plus the arrival of buses and trains, could exceed its normal carrying capacity.
The granitic rocks on which the archaeological complex stands are already showing signs of fractures. This, according to the geologist Patricio Valderrama, could provoke some descends in the structure of Machu Picchu.
The Geological Institute is studying the bearing capacity of Machu Picchu, in order to determine the ideal number of daily visitors.
The 2-day closure proposal, however, means a higher tourist congestion on the open days; this, obviously, will impoverish the Machu Picchu experience (and eventually scare visitors away). A better alternative, both for the tourism industry and Machu Picchu’s integrity, would be to impose a limit on the daily number of tourists.
March 12th, 2007
Roger Waters live performance (above); and (top) with other Pink Floyd members
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Extraordinary musician and former leader of legendary rock band Pink Floyd, Roger Waters will perform live in Lima next March, 12th. Needless to say, expectations for what many consider the most important 2007 concert in Peru are sky high.
Waters is expected to deploy during the gig some of the music that made Pink Floyd utterly famous, in particular the songs from The Dark side of the Moon album.
Pink Floyd ’s main songwriter, Roger Waters (b. 1943) was also the bass player and one of their vocalists. He was also the mastermind behind the majority of the band’s songs, concept albums and many of Pink Floyd’s symbols including the Pink Floyd Pigs and the marching hammers. Waters’ extraordinary capacity for song writing -both lyrics and music- are largely responsible for the masterpieces found in The Dark side of the Moon, The Wall, and Wish you Were Here albums.
After Pink Floyd dissolved in 1985 (only to re-form again without Waters), Roger Waters pursued a solo career that produced three studio albums and one of the largest concerts ever, The Wall Concert in Berlin in 1990. In 2005, he released an opera, Ça Ira and joined Pink Floyd at the Live 8 concert in London, on July 2, for their first public performance together in 24 years.
Roger Waters in Lima, March 12th, Monumental Stadium (Ate).
March 12th, 2007
