Tonight I will update my blog on the Colca Canyon trip. I had booked for four three nights but decided that the hotel was located in a town with absolutely nothing to do. A dirty little town with no great scenery.
My guide told me that he called the tour company but that they could not refund the money for the night as they had already paid the hotel. This was a brazen lie. We had been scheduled to stay at two hotels and changed our minds and stayed at two others. The guide was paying for the rooms in cash as we went. I told the guide that this was bullshit and he called the agency and was then told that the money had already been deposited in the bank. I have heard every possible excuse as to why somebody cannot refund money here in Peru and was a bit tired of it all. Sure it was only thirty soles about $11 USD but I just don´t like getting ripped off.
I went to the agency this morning, for the record, especially so anybody doing a web search on this agency finds this posting, the information on the business card reads:
AI Travel Tours
Ronald W. Piclo9m M.
Gerente Administrative
STA Catalina no 203 Of. ' Cercado
TELFÑ (51-054) 630633
ronald-21-8@hotmail.com
www.aitraveltours.com
ai_travel_tours@hotmail.es
I consulted the map provided by the hotel. The map was absolutely worthless. The names on the streets were all wrong. Admittedly sometimes the streets change names and they may not have put more than one name on a street but certainly on more than one occassion the street was mislabelled, the map indicates a street named Santa Catalina running east of Ugarte while Santa Catalina runs north and south and intersects Ugarte.
In any event I just back tracked from memory as I had only bought the ticket four days ago. I entered the office and told the girl that I wanted a refund. She referred me to her manager. He picked up a cell phone and called his boss. Then he told me he would have to call the guide and could I come back later. Just another stalling tactic. I said ¨"Sure no problem." My hand snaked out and I snatched the cell phone from his hand. I told him he could have it back after I had my refund and that I would return shortly and I walked out of the building. He had a stunned look on his face. The phone started ringing every minute, the caller ID indicating the same number every time, undoubtably the office.
I walked down the street wondering if he was going to call the cops on me, but figured it was unlikely. The phone became annoying and I turned it off and removed the battery, although the likelihood of the Peruvian Police trying to triangulate my position was next to zero, they would be much more likely to wait at my hotel if they were both called and gave a shit.
An hour later I returned and saw my guide on the sidewalk. I brought him into the agency and said, ¨"Your final excuse doesn´t hold water, here is my guide.¨" The guide asked me to step outside for a minute, made a phone call and told me that he was authorized to refund my last night´s fare and asked if I had his boss´s cell phone. I exchanged the phone for 30 soles and went my merry way.
Anybody surfing the web for information regarding this agency, be informed that the lie. The told me that we were staying at another hotel that was really nice while all the other tours stay at hotels, in the Oasis that are filled with mosquitos with horrible beds. The whole area is very arid, there is no place for mosquitos to breed. We never stayed at the hotel he indicated but rather at one with wonderful beds and no mosquitos. The accomodations were extremely basic, adobe, thatched roof and dirt floors but by the time we went to bed nobody cared.
The brochures show waterfalls of up to 50 meters. Granted these exist in the canyon, but far away from any area visited in the tour. Take your business elsewhere. Try Marlons-travel.com or visit the fantastic people at marlons house in Arequipa.
Update. I have many pockets. My have seven, my shirt two, my vest far more than than the sum of the previous garments. I stuck my hand in my vest and found the battery for the phone that I had returned earlier. I offered the battery to the man who had previously abused me. He had his phone but a replacement battery was probably three days wages. I didn't have to return the battery, but it was the right thing to do. He looked at the floor, extended his hand and gave a genuine expression of appreciation. I am not a dick, but I don't like to me dicked.
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