The regulations on going to Machu Picchu are changing so rapidly that it’s hard to keep up with them, which is unfortunate because every time they make a change it’s almost always for the worse. On my last trip to Machu Picchu, I was stuck in a line for something and I happened to sit down and read my entry ticket. This is always a mistake because: A. You can no longer plead ignorance when you do something you know to be prohibited. B. The things that are prohibited are so asinine as to make you furious.
Yes, the last time I looked, there was a specific regulation banning Selfie Sticks at Machu Picchu. This was about six weeks after some idiot fell off a ledge while taking a picture of himself with his selfie stick. Now, there are some serious cliffs around Machu Picchu where, if you fell, you’d seriously have enough time to read a book and write your memoirs before you hit the ground. Falling from one of those would at least be spectacular…but that’s not what happened. This idiot dropped about 6 feet and landed right on his head, thus ruining the use of selfie sticks at Machu Picchu for the rest of us forever.
However, the factors of this guy’s death raise the question of why the sticks should be banned specifically at Machu Picchu. Presumably, selfie sticks are dangerous in the Inca Ruins because of the thousand foot drops…and as of yet no selfie stick has contributed to the deaths of anyone on one of those (at least that I know of)! There are 6 foot drops to be found all over Peru, but nobody is talking about banning selfie sticks from Larco Mar or the Plaza de Armas! It’s actually a crime against humanity to ban selfie sticks because of the thousand foot drops! If you go over one, that’s when you specifically WANT a selfie stick so you can take radical pictures of yourself all the way down (think how impressed everyone will be when they recover the camera!).
But the reality is that the last time I was at Machu Picchu I took a look around and what do you think I saw?
That’s right: Selfie Sticks!
Everybody seemed to have the dang things, which made me angry about dumping mine off in the hotel after reading the regulations.
You see, there are a lot of regulations in Peru that just nobody seems to obey. Traffic laws for one thing. Just go to Peru sometime and spend 5 minutes watching traffic. You’ll go, “hmmmm” and then you’ll throw the rest of the rule book out the window.
It’s ethnocentric to impose your belief that rules must be followed when you travel to Peru. This isn’t really part of the culture, or at least there’s a very, very big zone where the rules can be bent…like into a corkscrew.
Most of the tour books already are aware of this phenomenon because they include language like, “food is prohibited at Machu Picchu, but you can probably bring in a small sandwich and some drinks and a bag of cookies.” Look, if it’s disrespectful to say, “go ahead and bring your selfie stick” then it’s disrespectful to say, “go ahead and bring food and water.” These two ideas are in the exact same category.
You usually show up at the entry gate with a small backpack that they don’t even really search. If you’re out in the ruins using your selfie stick, one of the park ranger dudes will probably just say, “oye” and then you’ll have to put your selfie stick away. When that happens, take a few more quick shots of yourself and then tuck the selfie stick away and wave. This isn’t like visiting the USA, you aren’t going to get tazed.
So there you go, enjoy your selfie sticks, and if you happen to fall off one of the big cliffs, please have your next of kin send me the images so I can post them here.
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