Originally from Seattle, Jessie Kwak and her husband Robert Kittilson are living in Peru and sharing their experiences on their new website Unpaved South America. With Jessie doing the writing and Robert capturing the images, the website will highlight the lesser-known destinations in South America. By Jessie Kwak Machu Picchu will be closed at least [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Peru’
2009 Murder Statistics: U.S. Visitors to Latin America
Out of the approximately 2.5 million U.S. visitors to Mexico in the first half of 2009, at least 126 Americans died of non-natural causes, according to U.S. State Department statistics. The Los Angeles Times points out that, of these, there were: 36 homicides, and 22 drownings. The balance of the non-natural deaths resulted from accidents [...]
Another Lonely Planet Author Weighs in on Peru
Another member of the Lonely Planet tribe has condemned the disparaging statements about Peru made by Jens Porup, that the coordinating author of LP’s Colombia guide. Commenting on Travelojos was Sara Benson, the coordinating author of Lonely Planet’s Peru guide. She disagreed with the notion that other LP authors agreed with his statements. She says: [...]
Raging Debate Over Peru Continues on Travelojos
Peru has taken a real beating lately on Travelojos. It all started a couple of weeks ago in a post about travel writer Jens Porup’s harsh characterization of the country. Since then Travelojos readers have weighed in both for and against Peru. While most readers said they believed Porup’s assessment of the country was unfair, [...]
A Man’s Tale of a Cold Streak in South America
There’s no question that Roosh Vorek, the author of South American travelogue A Dead Bat in Paraguay, is a “player” when it comes to the ladies. Before self publishing a memoir about his travels in Brazil and other countries, Vorek wrote Bang—“a collection of simple but powerful techniques, moves, and lines that make it easier [...]
Publishers Riding Wave of Central America’s Popularity
There’s been a 65 percent increase in North Americans traveling to Honduras over the past five years, Ensley Eikenburg, associate publisher at Frommer’s told USA Today last week. The story was about Frommer’s recently released guide to Honduras. She added that since Frommer’s began publishing its Costa Rica guide in 2001, it’s been one of [...]
Lonely Planet, Ex-Writer Trade Blows on Travelojos
Two posts last week (here and here) mentioned some disparaging remarks the author of Lonely Planet’s guide to Colombia made about Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The author, Jens Porup, made the unflattering characterizations of these countries in a speech in Bogota before Colombia’s minister of tourism and other highly ranked officials. His comments generated a [...]
Lonely Planet Writer Slams Peru, Other Countries
Yesterday’s post about Lonely Planet writer Jens Porup’s speech in Bogota mentioned some harsh comparisons he made between Colombia and Peru. He also characterized Ecuador and Venezuela as being generally unpleasant places to visit. I’ve never been to these countries, so it’s hard for me to gauge the validity of Porup’s assessments. But, I support [...]
Colombia Should Cater to Backpackers, Expert Says
As Colombia begins to shed its reputation for crime and violence, it still struggles to attract international visitors. A lack of an iconic tourist attraction is chief among the country’s problems. In a speech before the Bogota Tourism Board a couple of weeks ago, travel writer Jens Porup offered a strategy to Colombia’s top tourism [...]
Looking for a Big Mac? Think Mexico, Not Bolivia
The Economist magazine released its latest edition of the Big Mac Index last week. The index tracks the price of McDonald’s Big Mac in the 120 countries where the burgers are sold. It converts to U.S. dollars the purchase price in each country. The Big Mac costs $3.57 in the U.S., according to the index. [...]
