It is difficult to find another place in Latin America where tourism has a strong presence as in Cuzco. A good part of the city’s economy moves around this activity, in particular in the urban downton, the center of the city. Of course, there’s a number of attractions and a wide variety of tours. Nevertheless, in the five years that passed since the last time I visted Cuzco, many things have changed and some of them because of explicit policies of the peruvian government.

When I was here in 1999, I did the Inca Trail. At that time, you could do it by paying only 17 dollars. There were no more rules, you weren’t obligued to hire anything extra. This amount covered the entrance to Machu Picchu. By then, the local authorities were worried about the number of people visiting daily and the ecological impact on the trail as well as on the archeological ruins. The peruvian government decided to raise the charge for the entrance to the location and, by doing this, increase collection, raise the rentability per tourist rate and diminish the number of visits, thus reducing the impact on the environment.

Today, to do the inca trail it is mandatory to hire a tour that has a guide and luggage carriers. As you can see, this generates more employment. The problem is that it raises considerably the costs for the tourist. Nowadays, to do the inca trail, in low season, can cost -at the cheapest- 145 dollars, and you have to bargain for the price. This amount DOES NOT include the train ticket for the way back from Machu Picchu to Cuzco, that means you’ll have to go to Ollantaytambo town to buy the train ticket yourself. Here’s another surprise: the tickets are sold with three days of anticipation only. But, how can I buy it three days before if the traditional inca trail lasts four days, which means that three days before my departure I’ll still be hiking? As you can see, this is subtly designed to force tourists to buy the common Backpacker ticket, the one that costs 33 dolars (one way). Get information on this detail before you buy the package; anyways, if you’re tight on the budget, get the two days inca trail, which you can buy for 145 dollars, all included, train ticket and all. The normal price for the 4 days trail, with train ticket, is 190 dollars.

The common price that non-spanish-speaking tourists -you know, in Latin America, the tourist that doesn’t speak spanish always ends up paying more- is 290 dollars, a price that can go up to 600 dollars during the high season, the official tourist information location adviced me in Cuzco.

But the price raise doesn’t stop there. The entrance to Machu Picchu costs now 20 dollars -peruvians pay 10 dollars, and students, worldwide, get discount- The Backpacker round trip train ticket that takes you to the ruins costs 66 dollars, despite the service is rather mediocre, they won’t serve you even a glass of water. I suppose keeping the train rail system should be complicated, because of the geography, but I find the cost a little overpriced for a 4 hour ride. While I find it perfect that the peruvian government does not subsidize the maintenance of this train -I don’t see why it should use tax money to favor foreign tourists- I believe there should be a better quality-price relation. By the way, Backpacker train does not offer any discount to peruvian tourists, they have to pay the same as any european or american tourist.

The cheapest way to get to Machu Picchu is to take the Backpacker train, that departs from Ollantaytambo, a town three hours away from Cuzco, by bus. The train leaves every day at 8:20pm and the round trip ticket costs 24 hours, for a less than two hours ride. The service is practically the same of the 66 dollars Backpacker train. But to buy the ticket you have to go to Ollantaytambo, waste a few hours, buy the tickets, return to Cuzco, and then return to take the train from Ollantaytambo another day, etc. Mi advice: as soon as you get to Cuzco, run to Ollantaytambo to get the ticket, they sell out quickly.

By the way, the scheduled times of these cheaper trains are fixed in such a way that you’d have to travel, for example, on a monday night at 8:20pm and return on a wednesday at 5 am. Hence, you have to spend two nights in Aguas Calientes, the town located 30 minutes away from Machu Picchu ruins. So you’ll save in train fare but you’ll spend on hotel and food. By the way, Aguas Calientes is way more organized now than it was, back in 1999, but with higher prices. Lodging costs at least 12 soles per person (about 4 dollars) with shared bathroom. If you want a private bathroom, you’ll have to cough up 20 to 30 soles per person. There are no menu under 12 soles -in Cuzco, you can find a lunch menu for 5 soles-; one hour of internet costs 4 or 5 soles, way too expensive. In Puno, for example, I paid 1 sol for one hour of very fine internet connection. In Cuzco, you can find decent internet cafes for 1.5 soles in the center of the town, and even less in further areas.

Those who have read this blog before already know that I find absolutely reasonable that tourist destinations seek to raise the expenses of tourists. In fact, this is one of the few ways to diminish the weight of leakage and to make the tourism-generated incomes really worth it for the country. But, I’m afraid, in many cases, mediocre services are being overpriced in Cuzco. The case of the train is noticeable: to go to Machu Picchu, you have no choice but to use this monopolic service, the cost will be somewhere around 40 and 66 dollars, since the cheaper train forces you to spend two nights in Aguas Calientes town, which has gotten expensive.

As an argentinean, I’m used to the fact that tourism ‘enterpreneurs’ raise prices considerably during vacations time, so the truth is that what I found in Cuzco did not surprise me too much. I have to point out the fact that the cost of visiting this city has gone up substantially, not so much on the supply and demand side, but for the peruvian government’s decision to turn this place into an international tourism elite location, with high costs and good infraestructure. Of course, this expense on the improvement of the provision of water, electricy, etc. runs on the government’s count and on the taxes paid by the peruvians.

The high prices scheme only reduces leakage if most of the money that tourists spend on tours and other items is collected by peruvian companies. And this is what happens here, since there is no presence of multinational corporations. This did surprise me, indeed, since I expected the presence of large foreign companies in the Cuzco market. Does anyone know if this is so for a reason and if there is any specific government policy that prevents or obstructs the arrival of foreign companies? In the rest of the country you can find Sheraton hotels, Mc Donald’s, the list goes on.

The price raise in Cuzco has a direct consequence on latin american backpackers, which have serious difficulties to pay the hich price of the tours. On the private sector side, the city still offers cheap alternatives, lodging for 8 soles -less than 3 dollars- the night, and lunch menu for only 5 soles, drink included. If Cuzco has become susbstantially more expensive, it’s because the government has decided to reposition the place as a selected destination.

So, now you know it: if you plan on visiting Machu Picchu by train, count on spending from 60 to 90 dollars for the tour, which takes about five hours. If you want to do the inca trail, count on spending 150 or 200 dollars. Add the costs of food, hotels -starting from 8 soles, up to 25 soles if you want private bathroom- and other tours. Do not miss the valle Sagrado tour, it costs 20 soles, don’t pay more, and the City tour costs about 12 soles.

No one questions Cuzco and Machu Picchu are beautiful places to visit once and again. In fact, I’m here for the second time. Unfortunately, my pocket knows little about aesthetics and beauty.

I still have a lot more things to publish on previous destinations and a few more tips on visiting Cuzco. I suppose I will publish them when I get to Lima, in a couple of days. By the way, we managed to bypass the blocking of the roads in Puno. At least, something good.