Tourists won't stop stripping down at Machu Picchu
March 13, 2014
By Rachel Chase
Despite government warnings against stripping at Machu Picchu, four foreign citizens decided it was a good idea to streak across the Inca citadel yesterday morning anyway.
Tourists won't stop stripping down at Machu Picchu
(Photo: Naked at Monuments/Facebook)
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Machu Picchu’s unexpected streaking problem seems to be flourishing in spite of (or perhaps because of) international press attention and official government warnings against the practice.
According to El Comercio, four foreign citizens were detained on Wednesday morning after parading around the citadel in their birthday suits. At around 6:20 AM, a pair of twentysomething Aussies got naked and took a picture near the Casa del Guardian. One of the streakers reportedly tried to bribe the guards so they wouldn’t call the police.
About two hours later, a pair of 20-year-old Canadian citizens were caught taking naked photos in the Tres Portadas area of the site. They were detained and compelled to surrender their camera’s memory card to the authorities, presumably so they couldn’t be able to publish the photos on social media sites.
On Tuesday, Luis Jaime Castillo of the Ministry of Culture told press that “[Streakers] will have to be expelled [from Machu Picchu] immediately, because they’re not just committing a crime against other people present, but also against the Sanctuary [of Machu Picchu], which has a lot of symbolism for Peruvians.”
In addition to multiple streaking incidents, Wednesday also saw the publication of official warnings against “disrespectful” and “obscene” acts at Machu Picchu.
What do you thinks, readers? Do the streakers deserve to be charged with a crime? Or are Peruvian authorities overreacting?
http://www.peruthisweek.com/news-tourists-wont-stop-stripping-down-at-machu-picchu-102495