It may be an 'hypocritic' article but set dots on the i's. Jeff of Lives of Wander
says he's found that small town of Vilcabamba is being invaded by gringos because locals have no much control of what they want and what they need. In a very interesting post he calls to answer the question of how to find the right balance on his statement: No beautiful town should be kept from visitors enjoying it, but no beautiful town should be overrun and destroyed by visitors. He's an experienced traveler and he knows what' writing.
"...this leaves the town quite a paradox. On the one hand, it is still a beautiful place and a very comfortable place to stay and enjoy. We found it very relaxing (and, even though we had spent the last few days relaxing, another few days was no trouble!). On the other hand, we couldn’t help thinking that this naive, small town had been taken over. The houses just outside of town were enormous, multi-storied, walled complexes complete with swimming pools. The ex-pats ate at the foreign owned restaurants (which admittedly, were very tasty) and seemed to run in their own social circles. They sat around the park with blackberrys and iphones."
As far as we are concerned we still think Vilcabamba should be kept the same way it always was. If tourist want to come, they are very welcome, but can affect locals making them change that of life the live. Vilcabambans had live there per centuries and they will continue to survive even when ex-pats stay to live and foreigners bring new customs.
