So let's say you've read this blog....and you've fawned over the photos of the amazing sites and very cute animals...and you want to go. Moreover, you've noticed that I dropped no names of airlines, hotels, agencies, guides, etc. And you want some down to earth travel advice.
PERU
If you do not book a prepaid tour, you can hire guides and drivers on an adhoc basis or buy a combination of one to four day package tours and treks from one of the many agencies in Cusco or Lima. Typically the smaller agencies have less overhead and more of your fees go directly to goods and services (rather than administrative middle men). The Cusco/Machu Picchu area is a destination for many Latin Americans who do not have large budgets and thus there is a tremendous amount of very inexpensive group travel. The Cusco-area City Tour which includes a bilingual guide and a six hour visit to four different sites sells for $12. The full day tour to the Sacred Valley which includes a sumptuous buffet lunch sells for $25. Comfortable hotels in Cusco with a full breakfast can be booked for $35/single and $50/double. And there a tons of cheap hostels which go for under $10/night. The treks can also be booked by Cusco agencies (both in-person as well as online). A standard Inca Trail trek (4 days; 3 nights) which includes bilingual guides, porters, cooks, food, tents, pick-up in Cusco and the train ride back from Machu Picchu sells for about $280. While the trip from Lima to Cusco is about an hour by air, it can be upwards of 25 hours by bus, so book your own flight in advance for at least this portion. LAN and TACA are reputable airlines which fly this route. Travel between Puno and Cusco can be done either by bus or train. The train only goes certain days of the week, while there are plenty of safe/comfortable tourist-oriented buses that go every day. In Puno you can go down to the wharf and book a day-trip to Uros. While there are agencies who sell the overnight visit/homestay to Amantani and Taquile Islands, more of your money goes directly to you host family if you book this $30/trip at the wharf as well.
If you do not have enough time to travel overland between Peru and Ecuador, you can purchase an open-jaw air ticket flying into Lima and out of Quito. In that I flew on American Airlines which has a partnership with LAN, they included the flight from Lima to Quito in my flight package.
ECUADOR
While Otavalo can be visited as a day-trip from Quito (typical cost for such a trip is $45), one can catch a local bus for $2 each way and spend a night or two in this very indigenous and quite prosperous town. The Saturday markets (that spill out from the plaza and through all of the streets) are not to be missed. In addition to the usual market fare (food and housewares for the locals) and weavings for the tourists, there are countless artisans with some delightfully original creations. Quito is a modern city with much well-preserved colonial architecture. Allow a couple of days to visit museums and the equator site.
GALAPAGOS
There are basically three ways to visit the Galapagos Islands. You can see it ship-board by booking a 6-10 day trip which includes the flight from Quito (or Guayaquil) and full transfers and accomodations. These ships vary from super-luxury oceanliners with room for upwards of 100 guests to small chartered houseboats with room for about 15 passengers. Typically, the more you pay, the better your food and accomodations will be. You can book at hotel in Puerto Ayora on the very touristic island of Santa Cruz and book day-trips to snorkel and visit neighoring islands. Most islands are at 2-3 hours away...and thus any day-trip is likely to involve a fair amount of transit time. The final version (which we did) involved booking a trip-package which included staying in quite comfortable hotels on four of the islands, a plethora of activities (snorkeling, biking, hiking, horsebackriding and museum visits) as well as passage by means of a comfortable motor boat between islands. While such a trip might be down independently, booking hotels and arranging passage between the islands (e.g. chartering your own yacht and crew) could be quite pricey. Our ten day tour which included the flight to and from , just about every meal, bikes, snorkeling equipment, as well as a stay at a spiffy Quito hotel was about $2,000. The ship-based tours tend to average between $300 and $500 per day, while the land-based Puerto Ayora version would depend on the hotel and day-trips one booked. Puerto Ayora has a full complement of different hotels to choose from, with a growing number catering to the interests of budget travellers.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The Culture of Tourism
The moment I stepped off the plane in Peru, I was thrust into a dynamic. There were roles I was expected to play--and a country-filled with counterparts to engage these presumed roles. I was expected to be interested in seeing indigenously dressed natives--in taking their pictures and purchasing their crafts. Moreover I was expected to be interested in viewing ancient Inca and Aymara sites...and being photographed visiting these places. This was just all a given. Who would go to Peru or Ecuador as a tourist and not want to do this?
To support such activities there has developed a whole complex of businesses and trained professionals. Many young Peruvians go to tourism school to become guides, translators, travel agents and hotel and restaurant managers. Being that there is a constant influx of tourists to Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, few Peruvians living in these areas even think of engaging in non-touristic occupations. Those who don't acquire professional training may make and/or sell crafts or wear indigenous attire and pose for "voluntary" tips. They were all primed for my presumed tourisitic appetite. Moreover, I was expected to play a certain part in this fixed exchange.
Of course we tourists come with their own agendas...especially to physically challenging places like the Peruvian highlands. We want to avoid altitude illness, we don't want to be taken advantage of financially...and we want to feel safe. So then the intercultural dance begins. Some tourists arrive on their prepaid tours and their guides watch over them like hawks. Others of us arrive a bit more independently and are immediately regarded as marks for the panoply of Peruvians who might potentially profit over our presence in their country.
In private corners the Peruvians chat about who tipped them well, who bought pricey stuff from them...and who didn't. And then we tourists have our chats. What's a good price? What's a good place to eat? sleep? and to take those ubiquitous photos? Who are the good agencies? guides? And where can you go when you just want to shake the whole thing off...when you've heard enough factoids about the ancient Incas and bought enough alpaca products?
And the Galapagos? Well the whole archepelago is sustained by tourism. Interestingly it is far more European than it is Ecuadorian. European pirates and whalers sought refuge there in the 15th and 16th centuries...and then beginning in the 19th century, European colonies and outposts sprouted up. While the habited cities on the islands do offer touristic-based employment to many Ecuadorian families, they are ultimately rarified places. Crime barely exists while the islands' best and brightest become naturalists and guides in the spirit of Charles Darwin.
As for the touristic appetite on the Galapagos...largely it is to share space with the many fearless species of birds, tortoises, iguanas and those oh so cute sea lion pups. And considering that we come there for that...they make very sure that we readily find all of them...and as often as possible. Scratching beneath the touristic veneer, we do find out that this wonderland is being genetically engineered for our enjoyment. If it weren't for touristic appetites, the six nearly extinct strains of tortoises would not be living in breeding sanctuaries with master plans to repatriate all of the niches that were nearly lost to the very hardy goats (on board with the early colonists' ships). After a couple of days on the Galapagos, it becomes very clear that there are no pristine places....except for the touristic imagination.
To support such activities there has developed a whole complex of businesses and trained professionals. Many young Peruvians go to tourism school to become guides, translators, travel agents and hotel and restaurant managers. Being that there is a constant influx of tourists to Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, few Peruvians living in these areas even think of engaging in non-touristic occupations. Those who don't acquire professional training may make and/or sell crafts or wear indigenous attire and pose for "voluntary" tips. They were all primed for my presumed tourisitic appetite. Moreover, I was expected to play a certain part in this fixed exchange.
Of course we tourists come with their own agendas...especially to physically challenging places like the Peruvian highlands. We want to avoid altitude illness, we don't want to be taken advantage of financially...and we want to feel safe. So then the intercultural dance begins. Some tourists arrive on their prepaid tours and their guides watch over them like hawks. Others of us arrive a bit more independently and are immediately regarded as marks for the panoply of Peruvians who might potentially profit over our presence in their country.
In private corners the Peruvians chat about who tipped them well, who bought pricey stuff from them...and who didn't. And then we tourists have our chats. What's a good price? What's a good place to eat? sleep? and to take those ubiquitous photos? Who are the good agencies? guides? And where can you go when you just want to shake the whole thing off...when you've heard enough factoids about the ancient Incas and bought enough alpaca products?
And the Galapagos? Well the whole archepelago is sustained by tourism. Interestingly it is far more European than it is Ecuadorian. European pirates and whalers sought refuge there in the 15th and 16th centuries...and then beginning in the 19th century, European colonies and outposts sprouted up. While the habited cities on the islands do offer touristic-based employment to many Ecuadorian families, they are ultimately rarified places. Crime barely exists while the islands' best and brightest become naturalists and guides in the spirit of Charles Darwin.
As for the touristic appetite on the Galapagos...largely it is to share space with the many fearless species of birds, tortoises, iguanas and those oh so cute sea lion pups. And considering that we come there for that...they make very sure that we readily find all of them...and as often as possible. Scratching beneath the touristic veneer, we do find out that this wonderland is being genetically engineered for our enjoyment. If it weren't for touristic appetites, the six nearly extinct strains of tortoises would not be living in breeding sanctuaries with master plans to repatriate all of the niches that were nearly lost to the very hardy goats (on board with the early colonists' ships). After a couple of days on the Galapagos, it becomes very clear that there are no pristine places....except for the touristic imagination.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Wind Down
My final night in Ecuador I faced I'd caught a fever (my skin was crawling with the chills) and that my tummy felt yucky. It was cold and rainy and I could barely sleep. In the early morning, I jammed my months-worth of purchases into two bags, alongside of sandy clothes from the Galapagos and wet socks from traipsing around Quito's torrential rains. My hostal manager made me some chamomile tea and after sipping as much as I could, I caught a cab to the airport.
After paying a pricey departure tax, I was informed that the only way I could take my Inka Trail walking stick back home was to incorporate it into one of my two official bags.... Either that or pay $100 for an extra checked item. The airline folks advised me to have it plastic-wrapped against my smaller bag (a cloth Ecuadorian duffel bag) for $7. Initially, I didn't believe it would work as the bag kept collapsing as more plastic was imposed on it and the stick....eventually it did work and I made it over to the final waiting room. As I took a seat (next to Amanda, an Australian woman who had been on the Galapagos tour), I faced that I really felt sick. She'd been sick (with some version of this bug) during the tour...and confirmed that whatever I was feeling was "real."
I went over to the airline desk and told them I didn't feel well. I must have looked pretty bad in that they immediately offered to let me fly another time. The thought of taking a cab back into rainy Quito sounded worse, so they changed my window seat to an aisle seat to enable me to get up and down more easily. Then I proceeded to take all the possible remedies I could: tylenol and ibuprofen to reduce the fever...and Bonine and Immodium for my tummy. Amazingly, I survived the first stretch to Miami, even partaking in a bit of breakfast. Miami was a total zoo. First there were passport inspections. Then all baggage had to be reclaimed, inspected by customs and re-checked. The first sign of American life was a Starbucks which was absolutely teaming with customers. Then there were all the business people on cell phones, blackberries, and laptops. For a moment I thought, wow Americans are so industrious! Then I remembered all the ladies in Ecuador with pails of mangos, all the barkers selling chips and sweets on city buses, and the countless Peruvians who engage the tourist dollar around Cusco and Machu Picchu. I went through one more (huge) inspection line in which terrorist contraband was again investigated (in Quito I'd gotten a nearly-full water bottle through inspection with no problem). This time I ran no such private tests...and again passed. Eventually I was seated on my last flight of the trip. Still feverish, I wrapped myself in the flight blanket and hoped for the best. The flight had yet to take off....and suddenly I found myself ruffling in the seat pocket for the airsickness bag. My worst travel fears began.... I began puking, first in the bag...and then just all over--the airline blanket...and one of my jackets. Two flight attendants rushed over and began to bag up all the soiled items...a nearby passenger, handed me several wads of baby wipes, another puke bag and a bottle of water. The attendants asked if I would prefer to fly another time, advising that it was completely feasible to wheel the plane back to the terminal. In that moment I felt better....and opted to stay on the flight. All I did for the next six hours was to drink ginger-ale, and stare at whatever movies/TV programming were playing. I arrived into the cold of LA, still sporting a Galapagos suntan. My cell phone was completely dead (I'd burned out the charger by plugging it into a 220 volt outlet on my first night in Lima). Fortunately a woman on the curb allowed me to use hers to call Don. He eventually came (the traffic that evening around the airport was so thick that he took him several tries to access airline curb in which I was waiting.)
After paying a pricey departure tax, I was informed that the only way I could take my Inka Trail walking stick back home was to incorporate it into one of my two official bags.... Either that or pay $100 for an extra checked item. The airline folks advised me to have it plastic-wrapped against my smaller bag (a cloth Ecuadorian duffel bag) for $7. Initially, I didn't believe it would work as the bag kept collapsing as more plastic was imposed on it and the stick....eventually it did work and I made it over to the final waiting room. As I took a seat (next to Amanda, an Australian woman who had been on the Galapagos tour), I faced that I really felt sick. She'd been sick (with some version of this bug) during the tour...and confirmed that whatever I was feeling was "real."
I went over to the airline desk and told them I didn't feel well. I must have looked pretty bad in that they immediately offered to let me fly another time. The thought of taking a cab back into rainy Quito sounded worse, so they changed my window seat to an aisle seat to enable me to get up and down more easily. Then I proceeded to take all the possible remedies I could: tylenol and ibuprofen to reduce the fever...and Bonine and Immodium for my tummy. Amazingly, I survived the first stretch to Miami, even partaking in a bit of breakfast. Miami was a total zoo. First there were passport inspections. Then all baggage had to be reclaimed, inspected by customs and re-checked. The first sign of American life was a Starbucks which was absolutely teaming with customers. Then there were all the business people on cell phones, blackberries, and laptops. For a moment I thought, wow Americans are so industrious! Then I remembered all the ladies in Ecuador with pails of mangos, all the barkers selling chips and sweets on city buses, and the countless Peruvians who engage the tourist dollar around Cusco and Machu Picchu. I went through one more (huge) inspection line in which terrorist contraband was again investigated (in Quito I'd gotten a nearly-full water bottle through inspection with no problem). This time I ran no such private tests...and again passed. Eventually I was seated on my last flight of the trip. Still feverish, I wrapped myself in the flight blanket and hoped for the best. The flight had yet to take off....and suddenly I found myself ruffling in the seat pocket for the airsickness bag. My worst travel fears began.... I began puking, first in the bag...and then just all over--the airline blanket...and one of my jackets. Two flight attendants rushed over and began to bag up all the soiled items...a nearby passenger, handed me several wads of baby wipes, another puke bag and a bottle of water. The attendants asked if I would prefer to fly another time, advising that it was completely feasible to wheel the plane back to the terminal. In that moment I felt better....and opted to stay on the flight. All I did for the next six hours was to drink ginger-ale, and stare at whatever movies/TV programming were playing. I arrived into the cold of LA, still sporting a Galapagos suntan. My cell phone was completely dead (I'd burned out the charger by plugging it into a 220 volt outlet on my first night in Lima). Fortunately a woman on the curb allowed me to use hers to call Don. He eventually came (the traffic that evening around the airport was so thick that he took him several tries to access airline curb in which I was waiting.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
