On the Road with Reid 'Round Ireland: The Post-Modern Pot o' Gold (cont'd)

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The eighth century beehive huts by the side of the Dingle road, once free and rarely sought out, now charge $2.35 and are crawling with tourists

If You Build It, They Will Come
I'm not denying the struggling farmer whose pastures happen to host prehistoric landmarks the right, and opportunity, to make a few euro off those tourists who keep tramping across his land to take pictures of his huts and his sheep. And if some of this money is going to protect and preserve this important heritage, then I'm glad.

Now a few Euro isn't much, but when you're hitting five or six of these sites a day—and you usually are—you'd be surprised at how fast it drains your wallet. Plus, forking over a €2 coin each time tends to suck a big ol' hunk of the magic out of visiting a hallowed ancient site. Walking through a gap in the fence and trudging up a hillside all alone feels almost like you're discovering these things yourself, a little Indiana Jones moment of adventure as you crawl with your flashlight into the dark, cobwebby entrance passage of an ancient tomb to stand in the quiet, stony central chamber buried deep in the heart of the hillside. (Of course you're not the first; at the very least, the bloke who wrote the guidebook was there before you, but it feels that way.)

I'm often told that selling tickets helps control and limit the number of visitors, which can be crucial in preserving these relics of the past. But in my experience, somehow the mere setting up of an official ticket booth seems to draw in even more droves—especially of the tour bus variety—like ants to a picnic, whereas unheralded sites draw only a trickle of the more intrepid and well-informed travelers. And besides, when you have to wait in a line to crawl down that tomb passage, you feel less like Indiana Jones and more like a customer on the official Indiana Jones ride at a theme park. Can animatronic sheep be far behind?

I'll bet you're wondering when I'm going to stop complaining and get to the good part where you save money.

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