Amy Allcock

I was excited to hear this morning that Flickr introduced geotagging functionality (especially since geotagging is something I have recently become interested in) and was eager to begin locating and tagging some of my pictures. My first choice was one of my most recent and personal favorites ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú Good Morning Machu Picchu. Not only is this the quintessential shot of the archeological site but it is one of the few photographs of mine where the location is actually recognizable and hasn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t been abstracted away. I was able to locate Cuzco easily enough on the map, however, labels and landmarks of the surrounding area were few and far between. I dug out my Lonely Planet and between the guidebook maps and satellite imagery I was able to follow the river from Urubamba up towards the general area of Machu Picchu. I got lost in the many mountain valleys and was about to give up on pinpointing the location when I faintly saw the switchback-scared mountainside of Machu Picchu staring back at me. On the one hand I was relived to have found the exact location but on the other hand I was slightly disturbed at how we managed to scar the landscape in such a way that a bus route can be seen from a satellite. Machu Picchu is a fine example of building in harmony with the surrounding environment, yet this road seemed to be a glaring example of how modern society is completely out of sync. We can send satellites into orbit to take pictures of our landscape and landmarks, but we can?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t build a road that preserves the design integrity of an ancient site. Although I marvel at the ability to locate Machu Pichu on a satellite map, I just wish there was an easier and less obtrusive way to see the site, both from the ground and from above. The Incas designed their cities in the shapes of animals to be seen from above, but something tells me that this isn’t exactly what they had in mind. Machu Picchu was designed in the shape of a condor but now all that can be seen from above is a zig zagged bus route.