did not finish yesterday... patience was exhausted, and in addition the internet was disconnecting regularly, so here we continue - from Cusco. Even the pictures are up (see the link).
Since writing the "privatisation" thing yesterday, some more things happened-
we got cheated again... No, it does not mean that we are stupid and fall for such idiots, but we just could not get the change. Went to play pool, had a drink, and when paying, they had calculated 10% service chasrge from 15 Soles as 2 Soles. It must be the bad school teachers... When reminding the woman to return 50 centavos that she forgot to give as a change, she played dumb... Well, on the positive note - she may have problems with mathematics, so we had to forgive her. With 95% of teachers failing reexamination, what else can you expect from the people.
BUT - of course there are really nice people as well. After being charged the service fee wrong, we of course did not continue eating there, and went to a local fast food stand. If you are in Aguas Calientes, please do cross the bridge (the last one up hill) to the "people´s" side of the town - that is where normal people live and which is not deidcated to tourists. Just crossing that last bridge teh water prices for 2 l bottle drop dramatically - from 5 Soles to 3.50, and there on the corner is this shop where you can get you normal food, and just after that a small "hot dog stand". There you can get very nice burgers, as for the other things I dont know. The woman running the stand also told us that the "service fee" that restaurants charge is going for salaries of people in the kitchen. That is, they dont get ANY salary if tourists do not pay "service fee". After she had worked in a restaurant for 1 days, she decided to quit and open her own food stand. So, this is and AD for her fast food stand!
In general, the town was nice, except yesterday evening we were getting bored. After all day walking in Machu Picchu, we were tired, but not enough to sleep, so with our new friend Camile (from Columbia) we had icecream on the main square, went to play pool, did not go to the hot springs as we would have to buy more staff (or rent - towels, flip-flops) and finally we had a nice time at the fast food stand. I long however for some nice salads! After the easy going evening we went to sleep. Sounds boring...
But, more "crazy" stuff about all the trip to Macu Picchu. "Peru Rail" is an interesting concept. It has been privatised as I read in 1999. While they say its a Chilean compnay, in reality they are British. our theory (not double checked!) is that the british company (will try to check who...) is using a "fake" subsidiary in Chile to pay bribes. And this way trying to maintain clean hands. Cant say they suceed, but at least they suceed in 1 thing - many peruvians are not happy with chileans, since they think its thier idea to rip of tourists who leave Aguas Calientes not that happy. In the picture you can see that I am happy and grateful to Peru Rail for reminding me of going back home. The experience will for sure stay in my memory... This morning taking the train we just had to conclude that they do everything to make tourists feel like at home - except, that this must be the MOST EXPENSIVE railway in the world if you count USD/hour. Also, at the train station I wanted to take camomille tea: turned out to cost 1 EURO (4 Soles)! The day before in the fast food price the "peruvian price" was 1 Sole... Have to say they really succeed in prearing me for coming back to Madrid, and even then I may think that Madrid is cheap! At least the AVE fast train wont seem expensive anymore. Well done!
However we also discovered talking to the fast food standlady, the taxi drivers, the bus drivers, hostel runners (we stayed in a very cheap one... and a very humid one - I would choose a different place next time) that there is enormous citizens activity nad organisation from Cusco to stop all the crazy things government (wonder how much and who is paying them?) plans: they already had 24 hour strike, and as we found out another 72 hours still remain to be used. I am with all 4 for this! No to Peru Rail illegal monopoly, no to building 5and 4 start hotels almost on the Machu Picchu site, but also no to raising entrance fee to the site to 100 USD. The 40 USD we paid I think were more than enough, but if they use the proifit to ensure good maintenance and support to new archeological sites - I am ok with 40.
Will be interesting to follow what wil happen....
Since writing the "privatisation" thing yesterday, some more things happened-
we got cheated again... No, it does not mean that we are stupid and fall for such idiots, but we just could not get the change. Went to play pool, had a drink, and when paying, they had calculated 10% service chasrge from 15 Soles as 2 Soles. It must be the bad school teachers... When reminding the woman to return 50 centavos that she forgot to give as a change, she played dumb... Well, on the positive note - she may have problems with mathematics, so we had to forgive her. With 95% of teachers failing reexamination, what else can you expect from the people.
BUT - of course there are really nice people as well. After being charged the service fee wrong, we of course did not continue eating there, and went to a local fast food stand. If you are in Aguas Calientes, please do cross the bridge (the last one up hill) to the "people´s" side of the town - that is where normal people live and which is not deidcated to tourists. Just crossing that last bridge teh water prices for 2 l bottle drop dramatically - from 5 Soles to 3.50, and there on the corner is this shop where you can get you normal food, and just after that a small "hot dog stand". There you can get very nice burgers, as for the other things I dont know. The woman running the stand also told us that the "service fee" that restaurants charge is going for salaries of people in the kitchen. That is, they dont get ANY salary if tourists do not pay "service fee". After she had worked in a restaurant for 1 days, she decided to quit and open her own food stand. So, this is and AD for her fast food stand!
In general, the town was nice, except yesterday evening we were getting bored. After all day walking in Machu Picchu, we were tired, but not enough to sleep, so with our new friend Camile (from Columbia) we had icecream on the main square, went to play pool, did not go to the hot springs as we would have to buy more staff (or rent - towels, flip-flops) and finally we had a nice time at the fast food stand. I long however for some nice salads! After the easy going evening we went to sleep. Sounds boring...
But, more "crazy" stuff about all the trip to Macu Picchu. "Peru Rail" is an interesting concept. It has been privatised as I read in 1999. While they say its a Chilean compnay, in reality they are British. our theory (not double checked!) is that the british company (will try to check who...) is using a "fake" subsidiary in Chile to pay bribes. And this way trying to maintain clean hands. Cant say they suceed, but at least they suceed in 1 thing - many peruvians are not happy with chileans, since they think its thier idea to rip of tourists who leave Aguas Calientes not that happy. In the picture you can see that I am happy and grateful to Peru Rail for reminding me of going back home. The experience will for sure stay in my memory... This morning taking the train we just had to conclude that they do everything to make tourists feel like at home - except, that this must be the MOST EXPENSIVE railway in the world if you count USD/hour. Also, at the train station I wanted to take camomille tea: turned out to cost 1 EURO (4 Soles)! The day before in the fast food price the "peruvian price" was 1 Sole... Have to say they really succeed in prearing me for coming back to Madrid, and even then I may think that Madrid is cheap! At least the AVE fast train wont seem expensive anymore. Well done!However we also discovered talking to the fast food standlady, the taxi drivers, the bus drivers, hostel runners (we stayed in a very cheap one... and a very humid one - I would choose a different place next time) that there is enormous citizens activity nad organisation from Cusco to stop all the crazy things government (wonder how much and who is paying them?) plans: they already had 24 hour strike, and as we found out another 72 hours still remain to be used. I am with all 4 for this! No to Peru Rail illegal monopoly, no to building 5and 4 start hotels almost on the Machu Picchu site, but also no to raising entrance fee to the site to 100 USD. The 40 USD we paid I think were more than enough, but if they use the proifit to ensure good maintenance and support to new archeological sites - I am ok with 40.
Will be interesting to follow what wil happen....
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