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| Entrance is $10 for me $5 for the lady selling popcorn at $.40 |
I really like the idea here that nationals have
cheaper access to a number of the tourist destinations so they too can
experience their own culture. Better access to all, and those traveling foreign
tourists with money can pay more to support the system.
Two years ago Jackie and I were in Iquitos,
Peru, we found that the admission to Machu Pichu was far cheaper for the
Peruvians. Unfortunately, none of our
colleagues we met had visited Machu Picchu.
Not one. It was just far too
expensive to even take the $200 plane to Cusco, the jumping point. Sad that every North American who pops down
manages to go and snap some picturesque facebook photos, but no Peruvian outside Cusco actually can afford to see this piece of their heritage.
For a somewhat parallel I offer the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC: admission is a suggested $20 and $10 for students. This an opportunity to see thousands of
pieces of the world’s finest art with constantly updated special
collections. Suggested means that
anyone- whether from the pits of projects, or homeless, or mentally ill and
unable to hold a job- can come for a dollar or even free. It’s a public privilege I fully support and I
will rant to no end when fellow students will easily blow $20-50 out on a Friday night and won’t pay the $10. So next time anyone
thinks to complain about those suggested donations, think twice about the rationale, and just make sure I’m not
around to hear.
We are very lucky, especially living in New York, to have such incredible access to art, culture and preserved history. I remember when I was in Argentina I took a tour of La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires. The cemetery is full of these amazingly intricate mausoleums, some of which are damaged and starting to degrade from weather and age. I mentioned what a shame it was that no one was able to preserve these pieces of history and the tour guide snapped at me for being a wealthy American. I certainly did not intend to offend anyone, but to a certain degree she was right. We are used to people putting forth funds to preserve our history and make them accessible, but that is not the case in other parts of our world. It is a good reminder to be thankful for the beauty we have at our fingertips.
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