Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [160]
Combis en route to Laraqueri leave the cemetery by Parque Amista, 1km from the center of Puno (S3, 30 minutes). You can’t miss the signposted site, which is on the left-hand side of the road – just ask the driver where to get off. A taxi will cost approximately S70 with waiting time.
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LAKE TITICACA ISLANDS
Lake Titicaca’s islands are world famous for their peaceful beauty and well-preserved traditional agrarian cultures, which you can see up close by staying with families on the islands. A homestay here is a privileged glimpse at another way of life that you’re unlikely to forget.
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ETHICAL ISSUES OF COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM
After Cuzco, Puno is Peru’s most touristed town, as it’s a base for excursions on and around Lake Titicaca. Archaeology and mythology draw tourists here, sure, but what makes us stay is the chance to spend time in a culture so different from our own. Turismo vivencial (homestay tourism) has taken off around Puno and is now the basis of the tourism industry here.
There are dozens of tour agencies, in many cases offering the same thing at wildly different prices. So what’s the difference? Sadly, it’s generally the amount of money going to the people who share their lives.
Tour agencies pay host families a set amount per visitor, which is negotiated with islanders separately by each agency. Nearly all of the cheapest agencies (and some of the more expensive ones, too) pay little more than the cost of visitors’ meals.
So what can you do? The following tips will help you and your host family to get the most from your community-tourism experience.
Use one of the agencies listed on Click here, or one that’s recommended by fellow travelers.
Check that your guide rotates the houses that visitors stay in and the Uros floating island they visit.
Insist on handing payment for your lodging to the family yourself.
Expect to pay well for your homestay. Visitors must pay at least US$50 for a typical two-day island excursion for the host family to make a profit from your stay.
Travel to the islands independently – it’s easy (Click here).
Carry out your trash – islanders have no way of disposing of it.
Bring gifts of cooking oil, rice, pasta and fresh fruit – things the islanders can’t grow – or school equipment (pens, pencils, notebooks).
Don’t give candy or money to kids, so they don’t learn to beg.
Support communal enterprises, which benefit all. On Taquile, families take turns to run the Restaurante Comunál (Click here), which gives many people their only opportunity to benefit from the tidal wave of tourism that hits their island daily. Luquina Chico (Click here) and Isla Ticonata (Click here) run their tourism communally, through rotation of accommodation, profit sharing, and shared work providing food, transport, guiding and activities.
Consider visiting one of the communities around the lake. They’re harder to get to than the islands but are far more peaceful and less geared to tourism – here you’ll see a living, agrarian community, rather than a tourist screen.
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That said, the excruciatingly slow chug across the lake (whatever you do, don’t forget the sunblock!) is not necessarily more enjoyable than seeing it from the shore, and negative impacts from tourism are being deeply felt in many communities.
Taquile has attracted large numbers of tourists since the 1970s. Tourism income goes mostly to the few families who own restaurants and guesthouses, and resentment towards tourists is increasingly evident in the community.
The people of Amantaní tried to avoid this by introducing turismo vivencial. Food and lodging were offered at a set price in family homes, not hotels, following a strict rotation system enforced by the community. Yet over time this system broke down, as tour agencies played favorites and some communities began to undercut others. Now, some communities barely profit at all from receiving visitors,