Last weekend at Mar de Plata, we casually found the III Gastronomic Festival, which takes place around the same time every year. As soon as we saw the poster sign, we went over there looking for something to eat for lunch, but we found it was rather an exhibit of stands with products, not all of them from Mar del Plata. Among the offered products were cheese, honey, dulce de leche, chocolates, liquors, kitchen equipment, etc. Walking around the place, we found out about some guided tours that were offered for the low price of 6 pesos (US$ 2), and one of them was about visiting places that produced their own beer. Obviously, we signed up for that one.

The tour passed -but didn’t stop- by Los cuencos, a nice bar/restaurant at Roca 1404, a block away from the commercial Guemes street. You can have locally brewed beer there. Since we happened to stop by earlier to eat lunch there, we already knew the place. We chose red beer. It had a quite particular full bodied taste and quite aromatic. Only apt to those who want to experience other flavors. It went good with the food, a nice flounder with echalottes sauce and side vegetables -14 pesos, or 4.5 dollars- and a caprese salad. The beer cost 10 pesos.

The first stop was at the popular Antares brewery, where we could taste the different types of beer they made there. At that time, we tasted Kolsch, a light beer with a fruity taste; Scotch, red beer, one I tasted gladly -but I liked Kaunas’ better, which I will talk about later-; and Porter, black beer. These are the “classic” beers, which sell at 6 pesos (2 dollars) the pint, and 6.50 the 660 cm3 bottle. Then, there was the “special” beers group, which we tried later that same night, when we returned to the brewery.

They are, Cream Stout, quite similar to Guinness -and one I really like-; Honey beer, with a honey aftertaste -honestly, I liked Buenos Aires Buller’s kind better-; Barley Wine, with a higher alcoholic content and with a similar taste to white wine; and last, but not least, my favorite: Imperial Stout, dark beer with a taste close to coffee. Quite delicious, a rich beer without that caramel-like taste Quilmes Stout unfortunately has. The pint of special beer costs 7 pesos (less than 3 dollars), and the 330 cm3 bottles sell at 4 pesos. Luckily, Antares has opened in Buenos Aires now -if nothing funny happened, it opened in Palermo, at Armenia 1447. I’ll stop by for my pint of Imperial Stout. Soon.

The second stop was at Kaunas, a small brewery with an also small production which is distributed in local bars, and also gets bottled and sells. The style is closer to the english kind, much darker. Particularly, I liked the red beer -ok, I’m fond of red beers-, called Nut Brown Ale. Less aromatic than the one at Los Cuencos, easier and quicker to drink, but quite delicious. Highly recommendable. At the brewery, the small bottled beer sold at 3.50 pesos, and the 660cm3 bottles, at 5 pesos (less than 2 dollars). I don’t know if they can be found outside Mar del Plata, and I’d really love to know.

The third and last stop was at Posta del Angel, in Santa Clara del Mar. The place is really nice, with a patagonian look going on. Besides the brewery, there’s also a small bar, crafts store, and other things. We bought a black beer liquor there, which I still haven’t opened yet -and I will comment about it when I do-. We didn’t test much of the beer there, the cups were really tiny, but the red beer seemed really good, although it had less body than Kaunas’. Anyways, I brought a 660 cm3 bottle of red beer home. By the way, Santa Clara del Mar, a place I hadn’t been to before, seemed very quiet and nice. I’d like to spend a few days there in a not so far away future.

Of course, I you visited any of the places mentioned above, or want to mention any other thing about the topic of breweries, you can leave you contribution in the comments area, so that other reads have more information.

The first time we visit a city, it’s all about stress. We don’t want to miss anything, so we build a horrifyingly busy agenda for every day. The result is not the happiest; we enda up missing many of the places we wanted to see, and in many cases we take longer than planned to arrive anywhere. Since we’re unfamiliar with the local public tranportation, we might even end up lost and desoriented at some corner.

The first time we visit a city we’re just there. Period. To know a place is rather a task we can do when we visit the city on a second chance (or third or fourth). By that time, our hurry might probably be gone, and our knowledge of the environment might have improved, particularly in the management of time and local transportation. Then, we can relax, stop obsessing over maps, and finally dedicate to enjoy the trip.

A good part of the vertigo for knowing cities is due to our way of travelling. For example, latin american backpackers usually dedicate few days to every city and move around them in public transportation, which is cheaper, but also harder to use for the just arrived. This vertigo is the one travel guides foresee. For instance, Lonely Planet has begun to make small titles on big cities, stating what places to visit if you have one, three or five days to spend in that location.

Time and, of course, money is what we’re always short on. The combination “little time + little cash” is the most dreadful when travelling. If we were in a hurry and had more money, we’d take taxis to go anywhere and period. Or if we bought a tour package, they’d drive us everywhere. But since most of us are not members of the wealthy people club, we have to struggle with time only with our maps and our willingness to get anywhere in town, on board of a local bus.

The first time we’re in a city we realize what we really should have done to know it. And the second visit is the opportunity to carry on with these plans. To return is to know the place in a more detailed way, not just having been there.

The travel experience does not begin when we set foot in the airplane or bus. It begins much before, when we have a vague idea of the places we’d like to know. That idea can later be shaped into travel preparations. Finding out costs, evaluating its impact on our income, getting the tickets, searching for information, packing. This slow process of preparations is as much part of the travel as the trip itself. And it usually is the most stressful period, since when we’re on the road things happen much faster -and we realize that most of the research was quite useless.

Now I’m at that process previous to movement, reading and searching for information about the south of Brazil -that is, from Rio de Janeiro to Porto Alegre. Tourism in this area is focused on the beaches, but in my case I need to move around. If I stay longer than two days in a beach I frankly start to get bored. So, my ideal is to visit several points along the 14 days I’ll be in Brazil.

Unfortunately, quality tourism information about Brazil doesn’t abound in Argentina. Since, apparentely, it’s been taken for granted that most argentineans go to Brazil to lie down on the beaches all day, it’s quite hard to find decent guides. Forget about buying the Lonely Planet. Maps are not easy to find either; although in this case a map edited by De Dios Editores is available and it’s interesting for the map itself only, since the information it provides is quite limited, and it’s targeted to the middle/high class. So if you’re in Argentina and want to check a guide in english, Amazon is the only way. Of course, it’s costly; to the value of the book, add US$7 for each volume and US$6 for total shipping charges. For example, The Lonely Planet Brazil, priced at US$17.81 ends up costing US$30.81. Which is something, in a country where the exchange rate is higher than in other Latin American countries.

Much of the research was made through the Internet. For this purpose, Writeboard is a very useful tool. My wife and I have been adding info -hotels, schedules, bus costs- in a collaborative way. For those of you unfamiliar with this site, the functioning is simple: we provide a private website, one that has a password; then, we add the addresses of the people that will participate in the contents; and later, they’ll get their passwords by email. And that’s it. Then, you just have to add text as in any other wiki. The good thing is that many people can add information to the same page without having to exchange emails the whole time -besides, this kind of information is hard to consolidate. As soon as I organise the contents, I will add the info in the WikiNomade (spanish only).

And for now, we’ll keep on with the research. At least, until the ends of january, when we leave Buenos Aires and its ferocious summer.

Slowly, audio files that can be downloaded from the Internet -generically called podcasts- are making its way to the travels market. The english travel agency Thompson, for instance, offers podcasts for more than ten destinations, among them, Mexico and Egypt. A few weeks ago, we talked about the Lonely Planet Travelcasts. And the last three available are about Dublin, Bolivia and the South of Asia. About this topic, the travels editor Cath Urquhart has published an opinion column at Times Online, where she evaluates the possibilites of podcasts as an informative tool for our trips. Urquhart is interested in rebating all that story about the “death of travel guides” which would take place as soon as the use of audio files extended. I agree with her. We’ve heard this story before. For example, with the growth of the Internet, I’ve heard more than one say “why am I going to buy a guide for, if everything’s on the net?”. Unfortunately, that’s not true. The amount of information we can get on the Internet is huge, but completely disperse and unsystematized. Guides are, precisely, of great value not so much for the originality of the information, but for the fact that it’s clearly organised and structured. Of course, such organisation can be argued from many points of view, even political, but that’s another issue. But that the information is hierarchized is really important when you travel and have little time to search for info.

Now, well, what possibilities do podcasts have in the travels area? To begin with, I believe they can have excellent aplications in established tours, where they can function just like the audio guides delivered at some museums. In this way, they help to focus the traveller’s attention in some points. Another advantage: the tourist can take the audio file in his mp3 player and listen to it during air flights or long bus rides, and access to new information.

By the way, Jennie German-Molz also talks about this topic in her blog. And, in spanish, Viajes a tu aire has made several podcasts about destinations like Cuba and New York.

Take a picture playing chess with el Che in the Sierra Maestra cave and at a machine guns nest with guerrillas.

Is this a touristic proposal? Yes, it’s the one being made, to attract visitors, at “La cueva del Che” bar, located in Alta Gracia, Córdoba, Argentina. Guevara lived during his infancy and teenage years in Alta Gracia, since his asthma condition made his family decide to move there, being the weather drier than in Buenos Aires. The house where he and his family lived at is now the Museo Casa Ernesto “Che” Guevara, another initiative that counts with the official support of the Alta Gracia’s authorities.

The fact that Ernesto Guevara has lived part of his life in Alta Gracia is, of course, an excellent opportunity for the tourism market, always looking for the difference when building the relevance of a destination. Now, well, is any strategy valid? does it make sense to make a “spectacle” of the visit to a bar and in this way use the figure of the Che Guevara? Do they consider the visit not attractive enough, otherwise? I remember when I was in Los Angeles, I visited a wax museum where you could take a picture with Captain Kirk, but that’s pure showbusiness. Can we do the same with a political proposal?

Strictly speaking, yes, of course you can, but it’s also possible to question these proposals.

“La cueva del Che” bar is located at Chile 154, Alta Gracia, Cordoba, Argentina. The Museo Casa Ernesto “Che” is located at Avellaneda 501, in the same city. More info about this last place can be found at Alta Gracia’s website. If anyone has visited any of these places, you can leave your contribution in the comments. By the way, the brochure of “La cueva del Che” was distributed by the Alta Gracia stand at the International Fair of Tourism held two weeks ago in Buenos Aires.

You know it: tourism marketing sells destinations by remarking some kind of easily identifiable attribute. Buenos Aires is tango, Brazil is samba, etc. Some may think such promotion empoverishes the destinations and eliminates many location’s diversities. But the actors of the touristic field can defend themselves. They’ll say “you have to promote the destination somehow” and that implies to define a series of values to be communicated. Much of this could be seen at the Feria Internacional de Turismo - FIT (International Fair of Tourism) that took place this last weekend at Buenos Aires: tango dancers at the Buenos Aires stand, salsa dancers at the Cuba stand, samba dancers at the Brazil stand…

But let’s go out of the “touristic essentialism” (that fiction by which nations have “typical forms of being”). Let’s turn to a more practical point of view: how useful is it for the public to go to these kind of events?

First, we have to remember that the main interest of the FIT is to relate the actors of the tourism field to allow them to close deals. In second place, there’s the public. What was there for them? A strong presence of argentinean provinces, even those who traditionally hadn’t enforced tourism in the past, Brazil and Uruguay. A huge number of brochures were handed to the public, and you could see people walking around carrying large bags with all sorts of papers. In particular, my interest in maps made me look for them everywhere, and found very interesting presents at the Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay and some argentineand provinces stands. For those who wanted to visit a determined destination, there was a well set up informative structure, including hotel costs in different areas, or at least some phone number or email for contact. The only problem is that the fair was held a little late, almost ends of november, and by this time most people who go on vacations have already decided their destination. But it is work that can show its results next year, when tourists decide where to go. By the way, there were also U.S.A, Europe and Asia stands.

I still have a mountain of maps, brochures and diverse ads carefully bagged and I should probably sit down sometime to look at them all and decide which things are worth keeping. Seeing a big number of destinations in one place, besides, allows us to observe the bets made the different actors in the tourism market. With a more expensive dollar rate in relation to the rest of the region, many argentineans still find it too expensive to travel abroad. For this reason, there still is an interesting possibility for the argentinean provinces to catch local travellers. Everything indicates this summer will be very busy, with a large number of people, locals and foreigners, moving around argentinean territory.

Now, is it worth going? Surely, most of the brochures are worthless, but there’s a certain number of information that will be really useful. For example, you’ll be able to get maps and many references about hotels and lodges in certain places. Which is good information worth keeping to be used when we decide to visit those destinations.

I’ve made a small photo album about the event which can be seen at my gallery (still under slow construction, by the way; spanish only).

Note: this entry is based on my travel experience around South America. In some cases, there are elements that can be applied to other destinations, but I can’t guarantee it

Are there ways to save money in our trips and, hence, to be able to broaden our visit with less expenses? Here, some of the backpackers’ usual practices when travelling around South America.

Spend the night in a bus. The distances between Latin American cities are usually big, in many cases over 8 hours. So, one of the ways to save money is by travelling by bus during the night, every other day. Obviously, you’ll have to take the bus somewhere around 10pm. so that you’ll arrive to your destination early in the morning, around 6 am (not earlier, if possible). The con: you’ll have to walk around the city the whole day without counting on a place where to rest or take a shower. At least in Bolivia, this last issue is not a big problem, since there are public showers (not free, but they’re cheap) in all the bus terminals. Just don’t exceed your savings impulses and do spend a night in a hotel every other day; otherwise you’ll be so tired, you won’t be able to enjoy your trip. By the way, in Bolivia it’s possible to bargain for the price of bus tickets, particularly when there are not enough passengers to fill the bus. In these cases, you can get substantial savings.

The cheapest hotels are located nearby train stations. In Latin America, trains have been an object of a long process of uninvestment and, in fact, have stopped working in many places. But even in areas where abandoned (or not) train stations are located you can usually find most of the cheapest hotels and lodges of the town. Don’t look for single rooms nor with private bathroom, you won’t save as much. The con: it’s not unusual for these locations to be unsafe. By the way: in countries like Peru or Bolivia the development of camping is minimal, and doesn’t make much sense to carry a tent around these places. Besides, in high altitude places it gets so cold at night that you’ll hardly like it to sleep outside.

Eat in the streets. Ok, maybe someone concerned about hygiene and bromatology will strongly disagree with this advice, but you have to admit that you won’t find anything cheaper, at least not in Latin America. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to gain some digestive problems and, in the case these are really bad, you’ll end up spending more money in medications than in food. Not to mention the two or three days you’ll waste by staying in the bathroom.

Buy in groups. Particularly in countries like Bolivia, Peru and Equator, it’s not hard to bargain for the prices of crafts. But it’s even better to buy in groups, and talk the price of every piece down, until you get a greater discount for the whole package. Remember, bargaining is a social relation between the buyer and the seller, not a talk between a swindler and his victim. I clear this up because I’m tired of seeing european tourists yelling at the sellers “I’ve said 20!!!!”, as if they were ordering the price. The funniest thing is that these same tourists might have already been overcharged by taxi drivers and restaurants, and they didn’t say anything…

Got any more advice? Leave it on the comments area.

It’s quite usual for me to receive email o blog comments inquiring about the Inca Trail, the famous two to four days trekking experience to get to Machu Picchu. There are several issues where many questions arise. This entry consists of an arbitrary FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about the topic:

1) Can you do the Inca Trail without hiring a tour? No, you can’t. If you go without a hired guided tour, you won’t be able to get in. The four days trail starts in US$190 during the low season, and can go up to US$600 at high season. The price includes the train fare to the location from where the trekking begins, the service of guides, carriers and food. If you want to do the two days trail, you should consider spending around US$140. Useful tip: some agencies sell the tour for US$145, but it doesn’t include the train fare back to Cuzco from Aguas Calientes, the train station closest to Machu Picchu. Since the cheapest train tickets are sold with three days of anticipation only, you’ll have to buy the more expensive Backpacker fare, which costs US$33. Considering you’ll have to spend the night at Aguas Calientes and spend in food (more expensive at this location), you’ll notice you’ll save almost nothing. You’re better off paying for the complete tour.

2) But wasn’t it cheaper to do the Inca Trail not so long ago? Yes, of course. I did it in 1999 and cost me US$17. At that time, you could enter the place by yourself, without guides or anything. Since 2001, the peruvian government has promoted an environmet preservation policy together with a strategy to position Cuzco as an exclusive destination. On this context, nowadays only 500 people are allowed to do the trail every day, and the cost has rised considerably by demanding people to pay for the complete tour. In this way, they ensure a higher collection and more people are employed. Of course, those who want to do the trail are not quite happy about paying more, but that’s how it is.

3) How much does the train that goes from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes cost? There are two versions. The Backpacker train ticket that departs from Cuzco and costs US$66, round trip. The Cerrojo Backpacker round trip train ticket costs US$40, but you have to go to Ollantaytambo to buy it. The best thing you can do is take the Valle Sagrado tour, and stop at Ollantaytambo to buy the train tickets.

4) Can I walk my way up to Machu Picchu from Aguas Calientes? Yes, you can, but it’s a long way up (steep). The transportation is sort of expensive: a less than 30 minutes bus ride that costs US$12.

5) Are there any interesting archaelogical ruins on the way? Not many. The most interesting thing is the spectacular landscape. Anyways, a few minutes of walking distance from the third day stop -in which many load up in beer- there’s Huayña Wayra, beautiful inca constructions. Below, a picture:

6) Is it too dificult to do the trail? It demands a lot of physical efforts. If you’re not in good shape and want to do the trail, I’d recommend to start walking. But, to be honest, the real dare is the fact that part of the trail consists of trekking steep trails located at over 3000 m. (10000 feet) above sea level altitude. Some parts of the trail consists of climbing upstairs, which turns the trekking, into a torture -it’s much easier to walk on a flat steep surface than going upstairs. The worst thing is to start the next day; after the first 24 hour walk, your legs are crying and screaming. I’d recommend to get used to the height first; if you’re coming from Bolivia, that won’t be a problem; but if you just landed from a plane 12 hours ago, you’ll probably need two or three days to be ready.

7) How much does the entrance to Machu Picchu cost? US$20; peruvians pay half of that. You can hire guides for an extra $10, if my memory doesn’t lie to me.

By the way, as soon as I can, I’ll work on the FAQ’s about Cuzco and Bolivia.

I already insisted many times in this point: when one proceeds as an analyst, one can never assume the point of view of the interviewed person. That they assume the world in a determined way and explain it a certain form is the start point of an analysis, not the whole work. As Bruno Latour puts it, as researchers we must never describe the tribe in the tribe’s language. Or as Bourdieu says: to recover the common senses of the agents is the first step, a necessary one, of any research, but in the second stage one should take distance frome these speeches, make them objective.

What’s the point with all of this? Let’s take an example: tourists, particularly travellers and backpackers, affirm they travel to see other people, other cultures. But as Natalia Delfino and German Pikas analyze in their about-to-be-delivered thesis, when interviewing tourists in a hotel in Buenos Aires, most of the travellers admitted they had barely spoken to any native people, except those who worked in the hotel or other services. In a way, the traveller affirmed he traveled to see other people, which whom they finally didn’t interact. This doesn’t mean they’re lying; representations about our practices, and our practices themselves, are not always easy to agree. Think here about what you’ve done the first time you visited a city. Except when you have a friend who lives there, usually the people we met are our hotel’s roomates. This changes, of course, in those cities we visit over and over, or the ones we stay at for work reasons.

But in Natalia and German’s work there is an “other”: the other tourists. In the middle of these unknown cities, travellers establish new relations, but usually with those who share their conditions. That is, since they’re moving around the city, trying to get to know it, they get used to fighting the difficulties of moving around unkown territories. Instead of the native, Natalia and German hypothetize, the other is, precisely, another tourist.

What’s exposed here is rather a series of hypothesis that work fine in the case of Natalia and German’s thesis, based on a field work and interviews in a Buenos Aires hotel. It’s interesting to see how much distance there is between what we think we’re doing -in this case, meeting new people- and the practice itself -that is, not meeting natives, but other tourists instead. It would be interesting to think how does this relate in such a complex field as tourism and how this kind of hypothesis can allow us to think about the structures of a field such as travel, which is always moving but also quite still at the same time.

Touristification arrives to any type of relevant object in the economy, and this is being seen in the market of wine, also. In the last two years, more initiatives linked to winery tourism have increasingly begun to appear not only in the United States but also in south american countries where wine is produced, such as Argentina and Chile. A good example of this is the blog VinoTourism, focused mainly in news about Argentina, and written in english. There, I found very interesting notes published on the Mendoza newspaper Los Andes, and the spanish site Terra. The initiative is interesting, but it should complement with further analysis other media’s news, to get more value. Anyways, it’s clearly focused on the international market, which is interesting in an Argentina that’s increasingly more interested in exports.

And since we’re talking about wines, I dare to make some interesting recommendations about argentinean wines of good quality and quite moderate prices. First, the excellent Quara Tannat, a wine from Cafayate, Salta. At least in Argentina, you can get it for 10 pesos, a little over US$ 3. And the second is Atilio Avena Cabernet Sauvignon, preferably from 2002, which is under US$ 3 at the local market. If anyone wants to recommend a particular wine, these kind of advices are always welcome.