I cannot help but feel that there is more than a smidgeon of truth in some of those reviews. My own experience of Niagara Falls, for example, mirrored that of the reviewer (the Falls are just off the main road -- if they were hard to get to, the experience of seeing them would almost certainly be many times better), and my experience of the Big Buddha on Phuket was not dissimilar to that of the reviewer who complained of being able to see only Christ's feet (one cannnot get far enough away from the Big Buddha once at his level to really appreciate his size -- a viewing platform is badly needed). Even Angkor Wat, stunning though it was, was better imagined than seen. I fear that Machu Pichu would probably be the same. We build up these images in our mind to the point where the reality can rarely if ever match our expectations. I experienced exactly the same when visiting the Outer Hebrides for the first time -- I had built up an image in my mind that could only be described as "truly magical" but once I had set foot on the islands that magic was lost forever. It is for this reason that I will never visit either the Galapagos Islands or Antarctica -- I need to keep some places as truly magical, if I am not to die a saddened, disappointed and embittered man. Who can ever forget the pain of learning that Father Christmas does not really exist ? Christmas is truly magical for a child, and once that magic is lost it can never be regained.
** Phil.
Topic: TripAdvisor (Read 3450 times)
