This post contains some graphic language.
Ever since arriving in Flores we had spent remarkably little
time outside the hostel. Without access
to money there wasn’t much we could do in the outside world. Plus the hostel social area was such a
pleasant place to stay and lounge around with its relaxed friendly atmosphere,
awesome food and comfortable hammocks.
It
was during these lazy days sat in the social area that this blog came into
existence. If I hadn’t lost my card and
become effectively stranded I probably would never have decided to take up writing
again. I was just sat there with my
laptop thinking what productive things I could do when it hit me, “start
writing again! Write another travel blog,
a better travel blog, the best travel blog!”
I stopped writing my last travel blog “Mikeing it in Australia”* for
various reasons but when I started writing “Journey to Panama City” those
reasons that had previously plagued me just faded away. The whole situation with losing my card was
give and take all over again I suppose.
* I have ambitious plans for the final section of Mikeing it in
Australia.
One last trip
After a few days Myles and I did decide to venture outside
the comfortable confines of the hostel.
Myles wanted to ask around the local tour guides about a jungle trip
that he might be able to fit in before he had to head back home. We stopped off at the first tour office we
came across. It was a small plain unlit room,
inside a local man was sat on a wooden stool smoking a cigarette. He was the tour guide who tried to pressure
us into booking a jungle trek on our bus to Flores by saying “but there are
only 2 spaces left....”
“I don’t have much information here but my friend owns a
bigger shop, he will have more information” he said whilst he got up, left the
shop and signalled us to follow him, “It is just a few doors down”. Of course a few doors down in tour guide
speech actually means “other side of the island”. We eventually arrived at the friend’s
office. This office seemed more
legitimate with modern luxuries such as lighting, a computer and some
posters. Inside was a short local guy
with a scar across his face. A young
Australian couple were also inside the shop and were in the final stages of
booking a 5 day jungle hike to El Mirador, somewhat reluctantly I might add.
The man with the scar on his face turned his attention to us
and immediately tried to sell us the 5 day jungle hike to El Mirador by showed
us photos taken from the hike. The photos
he showed us was just some pictures of some trees, the backside of a monkey
half way up a tree and a group photo of some tired looking travellers. Overall the photos looked pretty awful. “This trip looks shit” I muttered to
Myles. Scarface had this constant big
cheesy smile on his face. I think he was
trying to make himself look friendly and approachable but really it made him
look fake.
Red handed
We managed to get talking to the Australian couple. They told us that the tour guide had gotten
onto their bus just before arriving into Flores and had pressured them into
signing up onto this tour. Just looking
at them with their designer clothes and perfect hair it was obvious that they
weren’t the jungle trekking type. “We do
want to see some ancient ruins though!” they said trying to justify the
situation they were in. “Just do the
Tikal tour, it is only half a day and you get to see the temples at sunrise” I
replied.
“Where are you guys staying by the way?” asked Myles. They said that they did plan to stay at Los
Amigos but they were told by the tour guide on the bus that the hostel was
full. He had even got out his phone and “phoned”
the hostel to prove this. As a result he
had booked them into a hotel where one nights’ accommodation cost the same as a
whole week in Los Amigos. “That is
bullshit, there is loads of room in Los Amigos” snapped Myles.
We had completely inadvertently uncovered a scam the tour
guide had been playing on this Australian couple. With this information the Australian couple
confronted Scarface. “We are not going
to stay at your hotel, we are going to Los Amigos” the guy said. “What about the jungle trek?” replied Scarface
“We are going to give that a miss too” they said as they walked out of the
shop.
You are something different
Scarface’s attention turned to us. “Are you guys going to do with jungle trek?”
he said, his fake smile fading fast.
“Nah, we are going to give it a miss” replied Myles as we headed towards
the door. We waited outside for the
Australian couple as we told them we would take them to Los Amigos after they
got their luggage from the hotel however Scarface had other ideas. “Fuck off, go round the corner and get off my street, fuck
off” he said as he marched out of his shop and towards us. He was clearly furious at us for uncovering
his scam.
We began to move slowly and sat down on the street round the
corner, however he kept following us.
“Fuck off I said, fuck off” he said, his anger growing. “We are just waiting for the 2 Australians” replied
Myles. “No fuck off” he snapped. “I, I work, I am a working man who works for
his business, you guys, you are something different” he said. “You are a fucking conman who goes around conning
backpackers” I replied whilst we walked away at his request. “No you fuck off”, that is the last I heard from him.
Later that evening we sat down with the Australian couple
who had found their own way to Los Amigos and joked about the local guy we had accidently
pissed off.
Island monopoly
But the whole situation made me wonder about the tourist
industry on this small island. Los
Amigos was the only youth hostel on the island and was recently built within
the last 8 years. They also had their
own restaurant, bar and tour guide office within the hostel. The hostel food drinks and tours were the
cheapest on the island. So really Los
Amigos had a huge monopoly. What was
Flores like before Los Amigos arrived? Was
business on the island fair with tour guides booking a reasonable number of
trips? Had the arrival of Los Amigos taken all the tourists
and forced the local businesses into coming onto arriving buses and con
backpackers with high prices?
My conclusion was this wasn’t the case. I don’t think any backpackers would stay in
Flores anyway if there wasn’t a cheap hostel to stay at. I know I wouldn’t...
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| Flores is a beautiful island, but like anywhere with tourists, it has it's problems. |
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