Grand Travel

 The Manuel Chavez Ballon Site Museum, located inside the Machu Picchu Archaeological Park in Cusco, would be the perfect place to house and display the artifacts to be returned to Peru from Yale University, park director Fernando Astete said Sunday.

 Astete expressed his happiness on the return of thousands of archaeological pieces taken from Machu Picchu nearly a century ago and said there is no better place to house these objects than the site where they were extracted from.

The museum opened its doors to the public in late July 2005 and sits on the way up to the ruins about 2 km (1 mile) from the edge of town at the entrance to the national park.

 The museum covers 900 square meters and is very well laid out, including information offices, research facilities, temperature and humidity control system, restrooms and a botanical garden to study orchids. Displays are carefully arranged and very well lit.

 "With the archaeological park just a few meters away and the museum featuring the original artifacts taken by Hiram Bingham, students, tourists and scientists would have some reliable information and it will be much easier to understand Machu Picchu," he said.

When asked about the possibility of housing the ancient objects at the Casa Concha in the city of Cusco, Astete did not disagree with the idea, but insisted that if they were taken from Machu Picchu they must return there.