Author(s):
Keely B. Maxwell* - Franklin & Marshall College
Abstract:
Visitors to Machu Picchu must travel on the train either coming or going. This means of transportation is thus of vital importance in shaping tourist experiences of the archaeological site. The sinuous railway ostensibly connects the city of Cuzco to the Inca royal retreat. However, because of its political, economic, and social configurations, the train serves not to connect but rather to disconnect time, identity, and landscape. Based upon archival and field research, I present the history of the train and the forces that have shaped its role in Andean landscapes, tourism economy, and social relations. While the original purpose of the railroad was to aid market access of Amazonian crops, it has been used by tourists since the 1920s. Today, tourists are the principal passengers. I describe how natural disaster and economic privatization have made this so. The time disconnect of the train is not only because tourists use modern technology to access a world heritage site, but also because policies to modernize the train for tourists have been accompanied by policies to de-modernize the surrounding landscape for tourist viewing. The recent privatization of the railroad has entailed practices that physically segregate tourists from locals on different trains, with resulting constructions and negotiations of tourist and local identity. Tourists are only allowed to use particular stops, further disconnecting them from the space through which they travel. These peculiarities of the train illuminate its importance in shaping the economic, social, and physical landscapes of Cuzco and Machu Picchu.
