NPR covers an increasingly ugly dispute over Incan artifacts—jewelry, bones, etc.—that were excavated from Machu Picchu by famed explorer Hiram Bingham III in the early 1900s and are still housed at Yale’s Peabody Museum. As NPR notes, Peru’s former first lady recently published an op-ed piece in the New York Times urging Yale to cough them up. “Yale,” she wrote, “must finally return the artifacts that symbolize Peru’s great heritage.” Come on, Yale. Get it together. As one observer says in the NPR piece of Yale’s failure to return them so far: Es increíble.

Related on World Hum:
* Machu Picchu: A ‘Must-See’ for the Jet Set?

Photo markg6 via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

Close followers of Celebrity Travel Watch will recall Cameron Diaz’s visit to Machu Picchu earlier this year, when her backpacker-commie-chic look—the shoulder bag pictured here says “Serve the People” in Chinese—was seen by some in Peru as too commie and not enough chic. (Turns out Maoist propaganda doesn’t always go over so well in a country that’s been terrorized by Maoist insurgents.) Well, now the Los Angeles Times is declaring Machu Picchu a “must-see for the jet set”—and not just celebs with Mao-inspired totes from China. Bill Gates made the trek this year, and in the last week or so Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson landed in Cuzco with plans to visit Machu Picchu, although they apparently scrapped the trip to the Incan ruins after “a run-in with several local journalists.” Officials have taken steps to limit Inca Trail traffic. What’s next? Limits on celebrity visitors?

Related on World Hum:
* Celebrity Travel Watch
* Peru: It’s no Nepal

Photo: AP.

Oops. An advertisement (pictured) developed by the BCF agency of Virginia Beach for the Virginia Tourism Corp. features two hands coming together to form the shape of a heart, a playful reference to the state’s long-time slogan, “Virginia is For Lovers.” The gesture, however, is also associated with the Gangster Disciples, “one of the most violent of four African-American gangs that hang out on the south side of Chicago,” according to an FBI report. The FBI also notes: “They are known for their violence and the distribution of crack cocaine.” Apparently Virginia does not want to associate itself with gun play and illegal drugs, and thus will be removing the image from its new “Live Passionately” campaign, according to the Virginian-Pilot. 

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The horrors of the 8.0 earthquake that struck the southern coast of Peru Wednesday continue to mount. More than 500 people are known to be dead, and more than 17,000 have been displaced, according to the latest update from the New York Times. Among those put in danger were many travelers from around the world. 

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Anyone else got an issue with Chile’s borders? Last year we noted that Argentina produced a tourist map claiming a disputed area with Chile. Now Peru has published a map in its official newspaper, El Peruano, that encroaches on what Chile believes is its “fishing-rich portion of the Pacific Ocean,” reports the AP. The dispute, according to the story, stems “from a war fought more than 120 years ago.” That would be the War of the Pacific, in which Chile captured, among other things, Bolivia’s former coastline. It’s becoming a big issue. Chile has already summoned its ambassador from Peru, and Peru has plans to bring the issue to The Hague’s International Court of Justice.

Related on World Hum:
* World Borders Redefined
* Peru: It’s No Nepal

Related on TravelChannel.com
* Samantha Brown’s Passport to Latin America: Santiago, Chile

The headline comes from the New York Post. The monkey flew to the Big Apple from Lima, Peru via Fort Lauderdale, Florida with a passenger on Spirit Airlines. “Spirit,” as the airline opportunistically called the baby marmoset, was apparently the size of a person’s fist and hid under the man’s hat. “Other passengers asked the man if he knew he had a monkey on him,” said Spirit Airlines spokeswoman Alison Russell. If the man didn’t know, then that’s a different story.

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After 18 months of voting, the New7Wonders organization announced its seven new wonders of the world this weekend. They are: Chichén Itzá, Mexico; Christ Redeemer, Brazil; the Great Wall, China; Machu Picchu, Peru; Petra, Jordan; the Colosseum, Italy; and the Taj Mahal, India. Last week, we named the seven wonders of the shrinking planet.

Related on World Hum:
* The Seven Wonders of Canada, or More Proof the Country Isn’t Boring
* 21 Attractions Short Listed for New Seven Wonders of the World*
* Seven New Wonders of the World Fever: Catch It
* USA Today’s Seven New Wonders of the World
* Egypt: We Don’t Need Your Vote to be Among the New Seven Wonders

Photo by markbarkaway via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

As we noted last week, the New 7 Wonders of the World will be announced July 7. Sure, the final list may not mean a whole lot more than bragging rights, but voting for the pageant sponsored by the NewOpenWorld Foundation ends in 11 days and competition among the finalists is heating up. How much? “In Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva recently used his weekly radio address to urge people to vote for the Christ the Redeemer statue,” notes the San Francisco Chronicle. “Jordan’s royal family has publicly lobbied for Petra, and the government of Peru set up free computer terminals so its citizens could vote for Machu Picchu.”

Related on World Hum:
* The Seven Wonders of Canada, or More Proof the Country Isn’t Boring
* 21 Attractions Short Listed for New Seven Wonders of the World*
* Seven New Wonders of the World Fever: Catch It
* USA Today’s Seven New Wonders of the World
* Egypt: We Don’t Need Your Vote to be Among the New Seven Wonders

Photo by markbarkaway via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

Poor Cameron Diaz. She was only going for the commie-chic, retro-kitsch look on her trip to Peru. Instead, she wound up offending Peruvians. On a visit to Machu Picchu Friday for the taping of a Canadian TV show called “4 Real,” Diaz toted an olive green bag featuring a red star and the words “Serve the People” in Chinese. That old Mao-era propoganda is hip among many young people in China—the same crazy kids enjoying plates of “Socialist Economic Model” at Beijing’s Red Capital Club. But is it hip in Peru? Not so much.

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The World Monument Fund has issued its 2008 list of 100 Most Endangered Sites. Threatened landmarks making the cut this time include Leh Old Town in Ladakh, India (increasing rainfall due to climate change is damaging medieval buildings); Machu Picchu (facing too many visitors and increasing ease of access); Old Damascus, Syria (pictured, where historic buildings are being “abandoned and demolished to make way for modern construction"); and Route 66 (as we recently noted, many sites are deteriorating).

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Royal Nepal Airlines apologized to Peru for promoting Nepalese tourism using an image of Machu Picchu, perhaps the most iconic attraction in all of South America. How does such a blunder occur? M.B. Khadka of the airline said the mix up was caused by the printing agency in charge of making the airline’s advertising posters, according to news reports.

Photo of Machu Picchu by Allard Schmidt.

That’s right. Peru’s president is spending his Easter vacation traveling around the country as a tour guide of sorts, taping a travel show for Discovery Travel Channel. The one-hour show is scheduled to air this fall. A Reuters report on Yahoo! has the wacky details.