Are you a traveler or a tourist? If I’d asked that question to most people I’ve met during the last 2 ½  weeks, the majority would have answered with an emphatic ‘Traveler!’. But that’s due to the fact that I’m in an inexpensive country which attracts that sort (and me). What’s the major difference between a traveler and a tourist? In my opinion, the biggest discrepancy is that travelers take time. They might stay the extra day or two beyond seeing the main attraction in a city to sit at a café or take a walk in a park. There’s no getting around that most of the time I’m not going to blend into the local scene based on looks, language differences and general customs, but I try to put myself in a situation where I don’t stand out…

…until today. 

First stop, the artesian craft spectacular just outside of Huancayo. Rob, Jessie and I had decided to make ourselves tourists for the day and booked an all-day cultural tour that began at 10:30 in front of my hotel. Half a dozen stops throughout the Valle de Mantaro would make us better, more cultured people, right? First issue for me (and I take all the blame for this one), the tour was in Spanish. Staring out the window taking in the street scene of Huancayo, the guides words flew right past me, except for the odd word or two that meant we were going to see a cathedral around the corner. Arriving at a small, covered area that contained many of the local arts and crafts of the area, we were given a 10-15 minute introduction by our guide (in Spanish) before browsing around and given the ‘opportunity’ to buy something. The next stop, just down the road, was a dairy processing company that redeemed itself a bit by offering fresh ice cream to our little tour. The samples of cheese made on the spot were quite tasty as well.

The day was beginning to feel like a guided tour of a shopping mall. Down the road at Laguna de Paca, we were led onto a small boat and rowed slowly out to a 25 sq. ft. man made island (not allowed to get out of the boat as it was private property and would cost extra) before returning to mainland where our van and guide awaited. It was quite nice to get out in the warm sun and onto a body of water for 30 minutes or so after sitting in the van for so long. The guy rowing our boat told of legends about the numerous islands before offering little key chains for sale as we neared the shore. Funny thing about this whole trip was that the 3 of us were the only non-Peruvians on the tour.

The next two areas of interest would make break the day. We rolled into the small tourist village of Ingenio, a trout farm with dozens of restaurants offering grilled trout, steamed trout, boiled trout, ceviche and any other preparation method available to man. After a good lunch (of trout), we took the van 100 yards down the road to the trout amusement park. After passing the non-functional trout sculpture/fountain we were led through the many stages of trout farming, seeing the little guys swimming in small man-made pools by the millions before their demise at the tourist restaurants scattered along the road. As dusk approached, we jumped back in the van and were taken to the Monasterio Santa Rosa de Ocopa, a monastery that I’d been looking forward to seeing when I saw the lineup the previous day. After dropping off our bags (and therefore disappointingly, but understandable, our cameras) we waited in line for the guided tour through the grounds. Throughout Peru, I’d learned that the company that you book things through is never going to be the one that actually provides the services. This was true today in that we were farmed out by Peruvian Tours to a company called Adrenalina. Now, I’d been waiting for the adrenaline portion of the tour all day, but had basically given up. An unfortunate misunderstanding between the two tour companies occurred when we were the only 3 people to not be given a ticket to gain entrance to the monastery (the third place we had to buy our own ticket), putting us out an additional S/5 or $1.75. It wasn’t about the money…

All in all, the day was a learning experience to say the least. Where possible (and sometimes it’s just unavoidable), I’m going to steer myself away from tours like these in favor of taking a cab to the ’real’ textile market or just enjoying a walk around town, peeking in to the barbers shop or strolling through the farmers market at mid-day to see where restaurants get their goods. I did learn an important lesson today and was able to take away a few good memories and photos as well.