The World Monuments Fund has joined the Gore battle cry. The non-profit introduced its 2008 list Wednesday of 100 famous natural and historic sites in danger of drowning. For the first time, the World Monuments Watch lists climate change as a threat, in addition to political conflict and unchecked development. Potential global warming victims include Machu Picchu; the historic neighborhoods of New Orleans (which have, arguably, already fallen prey to the crisis), and all of Shanghai. Yikes.

Is the report a legitimate warning or another ploy to elicit enough fear in lazy Americans to change consumption habits? We still plan on flushing twice and using that extra cardboard holder to keep my hands from burning on a hot cup of Starbucks. But, just in case, we are recruiting Costner for my team.

Royal Nepal Airlines has some ‘splaining to do. They have the unenviable job of trying to drive tourism to the country after it’s recent political woes. So, perhaps the stress of the operation can explain this: A recent ad campaign sporting the tag line “Have You Seen Nepal?” featured, instead of pictures off the majestic Himalayas, a shot of Machu Picchu. Guess they haven’t seen Nepal either. According to Reuters: “Peruvian mountaineer Ernesto Malaga, who was visiting India last month, noticed the blunder on a poster hanging on a wall in the airline’s office in New Delhi.” The story tries to play down the magnitude of the error, making polite noises about how high-altitude Incan sites and Himalayan temples don’t look all that different. After all, it’s not as if Machu Picchu is a world wonder, or one of the most photographed places on the planet. Royal Nepal has publicly apologized to the Nation of Peru.

– Nepal
– Machu Picchu

The travel pages kept it real this weekend, with stories on stunt trips, insider knowledge and secret destinations, tips on how to find and avoid political hotspots, and news about how growing numbers of people are changing some beloved destinations.


Overcrowding at Machu Picchu
– “Taking the Back Roads to Machu Picchu” (NYT)

Hong Kong’s Disappearing Harbor
– “Hong Kong mourns as shrinking harbour gives way to development” (Guardian)

SF Chronicle Goes for the Borat Tie-in
– “JUST BACK FROM: Almaty, Kazakhstan” (SF Chronicle)

Survival Tourism
– “Setting Out Into the Arizona Wilderness With Only a Knife” (NYT)

Steering Clear of Politics in Mexico
– “Let caution be your guide” (LA Times)

Che’s Cuba
– “Santa Clara’s rebel saint” (Globe and Mail)

Berlin’s Fast Food for Foodies
– “Street Food with Ambition in Berlin” (NYT)

Istanbul on the Cheap
– “Modernity or Tradition: Istanbul at a Crossroad Finds Its Own Way” (NYT)

Secret Baja
– “Loreto: A relaxed fit” (LA Times)

Yellowstone in Winter
– “Zipping through Yellowstone” (Houston Chronicle)

LA Times Asia Special:
Macao’s Casinos
- “A new type of treasure island rises”
Nikko, Japan
- “Serenity amid the shoguns”
North Korean Mountains
- “One tiny crack in the border”
South Korean Monasteries
- “A peek at the monastic life”

Barcelona on the Cheap
- “Footloose in Spain’s Capital of Style, Barcelona” (NYT)

European Love Nests
- “Continental hotels for stylish dirty weekends” (Times of London)

Georgia (the country, not the state)
- “In Georgia, a Pilgrimage to the Cradle of Wine” (NYT)

Greenland
- “Magnetic north” (Guardian)

Mexico City
- “Grabbed by the Mariachis” (Times of London)

World Wonders: Tourist Traps, or Trips of a Lifetime?
- “Still got the magic?” (Times of London)

The snows of Kilimanjaro are melting, Machu Picchu is about to slide into the abyss, and tourists are carting off pieces of the temple at Luxor on a daily basis. The latest International Newsweek cover story—The 7 Most Endangered Wonders of the World—gets off to a pretty glum start. Among the 17 pieces in the issue, there’s some frank discussion of how tourist development can help or harm a destination—e.g. how the UNESCO World Heritage designation can bring thousands more visitors to a site, but comes with next to no cash attached to help support that level of interest. From there, however, things devolve pretty quickly into a hedging-their-bets apologia to the tourism industry for running the cover in the first place. Concerned about where you will vacation once Venice and the Maldives finally succumb to rising ocean levels? Never fear: you can always see one of the new “Wonders”, such as Lakewood Evangelical church in Houston (wha?), clearly an acceptable substitute. Why bother even leaving your own country, actually, when savvy entrepreneurs are building indoor ski-slopes in Dubai and tropical lagoons in Germany. “Location” is all just an abstract concept, anyway.

Elsewhere:
-If you’re looking for a better list of jaw-dropping new man-made spectacles than Newsweek dredged up, try this year’s (you guessed it) “Next 7 Wonders” from Condé Nast Traveler’s April issue.