(Nov 19, 2012)
It seems I always get the easy blogs to write!
After the horrendous expense we incurred during our two and a half days in Chile, we decided to take it easy once we made it back to the relative inexpensiveness of Peru. We planned on taking roughly a week in Arequipa for Robin to finish planning her time in Argentina and for me to painstakingly write another scholarship application.
In efforts to save money we decided to only eat one meal a day (lunch where we can get a FULL meal for 1.60) and eat inexpensive fruit and bread for the rest of our meals. This turned out pretty well until I ran out of jam but luckily Robin felt sorry for me and helped me find more jam to carry me through!
In Arequipa, there were two things we wanted to see (other than our hostel room): the Colca Canyon ( purported as the deepest canyon in the world, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, home to Andean condors) and the Monasterio de Santa Catalina (the "city within a city" full of beautiful gardens and colonial architecture).
We headed to the Monasterio first only to find that it cost S./35 to get in which is about $14USD per person. We didn't have that much with us and, suddenly grumpy at the price, we weren't inclined to go get more. After being told that there was no student price, we decided we'd seen enough colonial architecture in the actual city of Arequipa and elsewhere (besides, what gardens are nicer than Butchart?) and left for a cheap lunch.
After lunch we went to find out more information on Colca Canyon. We headed first to a tourism agency to figure out if we needed a tour or not. As it turned out we probably didn't need a tour but it was at this point we learned that we needed to buy a "Tourist Ticket" to get into Colca Canyon costing S./70! This seemed excessive (it only cost me S./64 to get into Machu Picchu and I mean, come on, what's some canyon versus Machu Picchu?). We were further informed that the fee was governed by an autonomous organization started in one of the towns on the rim of the canyon and that 'Tourist Ticket' prices had doubled since the year before.
Nonplussed that the ticket price was so high and that no one seemed to know where the money was going, we headed over to the Colca Canyon Autonomous Organization office to ask some questions.After getting nowhere with the secretary, we were taken to a waiting room to wait to talk to the director.
Our discussion with the director went... poorly.
The following is a brief summary of the interview:
We spent another day uneventfully in Arequipa and then, having seen next to nothing (oops!/Editor's Note: for very good reason), we headed off to Nazca.
Yesterday we went to see the Nazca lines (from an observation point, flying to see them is prohibitively expensive) which were pretty cool but not much more than that.
Today, though, we went to see a series of underground aqueducts (puquios) built by the ancient Nazca Civilization, that are still used today to irrigate the nearby fields. Though I didn't find the aqueducts terribly interesting in themselves (they're just a bunch of well-like structures in the ground. All the cool stuff is underground) I think it's pretty amazing that something built 1,500 years ago is still in use today.
Tomorrow we're off to Ica to try sandboarding (Editor's Note: and a Pisco wine tour!)! Wahoo!
It seems I always get the easy blogs to write!
After the horrendous expense we incurred during our two and a half days in Chile, we decided to take it easy once we made it back to the relative inexpensiveness of Peru. We planned on taking roughly a week in Arequipa for Robin to finish planning her time in Argentina and for me to painstakingly write another scholarship application.
In efforts to save money we decided to only eat one meal a day (lunch where we can get a FULL meal for 1.60) and eat inexpensive fruit and bread for the rest of our meals. This turned out pretty well until I ran out of jam but luckily Robin felt sorry for me and helped me find more jam to carry me through!
In Arequipa, there were two things we wanted to see (other than our hostel room): the Colca Canyon ( purported as the deepest canyon in the world, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, home to Andean condors) and the Monasterio de Santa Catalina (the "city within a city" full of beautiful gardens and colonial architecture).
We headed to the Monasterio first only to find that it cost S./35 to get in which is about $14USD per person. We didn't have that much with us and, suddenly grumpy at the price, we weren't inclined to go get more. After being told that there was no student price, we decided we'd seen enough colonial architecture in the actual city of Arequipa and elsewhere (besides, what gardens are nicer than Butchart?) and left for a cheap lunch.
After lunch we went to find out more information on Colca Canyon. We headed first to a tourism agency to figure out if we needed a tour or not. As it turned out we probably didn't need a tour but it was at this point we learned that we needed to buy a "Tourist Ticket" to get into Colca Canyon costing S./70! This seemed excessive (it only cost me S./64 to get into Machu Picchu and I mean, come on, what's some canyon versus Machu Picchu?). We were further informed that the fee was governed by an autonomous organization started in one of the towns on the rim of the canyon and that 'Tourist Ticket' prices had doubled since the year before.
Nonplussed that the ticket price was so high and that no one seemed to know where the money was going, we headed over to the Colca Canyon Autonomous Organization office to ask some questions.After getting nowhere with the secretary, we were taken to a waiting room to wait to talk to the director.
Our discussion with the director went... poorly.
The following is a brief summary of the interview:
- Where does the money from the Tourist Ticket go?
- The money from the Tourist Ticket mainly goes to refurbishing churches these days. It take about a quarter of a million DOLLARS per church to refurbish.
- ...
- ...
- Does any of the money from the Tourist Ticket go into upkeep in the canyon?
- No. Why would the canyon need upkeep? It's a canyon.
- ...
- ...
- What other projects are funded from the sale of Tourist Tickets?
- We put some money into repaving the roads and stuff.
- Why don't you put a small toll on the road like all of the other roads in Peru?
- We don't need to, we get more than enough money from the Tourist Ticket!
- We heard that the ticket has recently increased in price, why?
- Because people will pay it!
- We're thinking of skipping the canyon due to the price, why don't you offer a student rate like most other attractions in Peru?
- Student rate? Too expensive? You people have no problem spending $200USD a night on a hotel and you complain about the price to get into my canyon?
- We don't pay $20-
- My canyon is like a HOTEL. It's BEAUTIFUL, it has AMAZING BIRDS. The price is a STEAL.
- Sir, do you have budget we could see so we can see how you're allocating your money between projects.
- Don't be ridiculous.
We spent another day uneventfully in Arequipa and then, having seen next to nothing (oops!/Editor's Note: for very good reason), we headed off to Nazca.
Yesterday we went to see the Nazca lines (from an observation point, flying to see them is prohibitively expensive) which were pretty cool but not much more than that.
Today, though, we went to see a series of underground aqueducts (puquios) built by the ancient Nazca Civilization, that are still used today to irrigate the nearby fields. Though I didn't find the aqueducts terribly interesting in themselves (they're just a bunch of well-like structures in the ground. All the cool stuff is underground) I think it's pretty amazing that something built 1,500 years ago is still in use today.
Tomorrow we're off to Ica to try sandboarding (Editor's Note: and a Pisco wine tour!)! Wahoo!
...money, money, money, money, money makes the world go round...er canyon stay deep and not be a fabulous landfill site for the world's garbage. Sing it: A pound, a Deutschmark, a Euro (update), a buck...Joel Gray (or is that "Grey"?) Theme of the week - the filthy lucre. It happens.
ReplyDeleteI am all agoggle and restless for the Editor's wine tour and sand boarding - Sands up!!
lots of love...Tante Joel-oise
Travelling vicariously is so much better than not at all! I feel I must have led a very sheltered life to not have ever even heard of sandboarding before... Hope you didn't have any falls - having your skin sandpapered wouldn't be much fun! Glad you're having such good times...
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