給想去烏尤尼(Uyuni)的台灣同胞們參考! (血淚經驗分享)

前面一篇提到在烏尤尼(Uyuni)的經驗很糟. 怎麼個糟法? 以下是中文簡要版

我們在La Paz的時後被告知到Uyuni會和另一個三人團體併團. 我們對併團其實沒什麼意見,甚至還有點興奮,畢竟我們在Cusco的四天行程裡,有三天都是跟另一團併, 人多笑聲多, 還蠻有趣的. 我們甚至留下彼此的電話, 以後可以連絡

誰知道到了烏尤尼,接了我們後去接那三人,我一看就傻眼了!  那不是三個人而已, 是三個人外加一條狗! 去烏尤尼的車子不大 (Nissan)的一般四驅車, 座了七人(我們2+3+司機+領隊)已經很不舒服,還有一條狗! 而且我們根本不知道有狗!  我對狗有很深的恐懼症之外(從小悲慘遭遇所致), 狗的味道讓我不舒服. 我馬上就跟領隊說不能有狗,狗需要留在Uyuni市區. 領隊跟狗主人講,狗主人說: 不行,問過公司公司說可以帶狗.  然後領隊就強迫我必須接受,因為我們有被告知要併團.  可是, 和三人併團是一回事,和三人+狗併團是另一回事啊!!


領隊的做法是把狗主人和狗放到前座,要求我座後座, 一車七人+一狗開始. 沒多久,我已經開始不舒服了! 但領隊根本不接受我的要求, 甚至在我要他請對方把狗留下來後, 就已經開始不跟我講話. 還好那時後還沒離開烏尤尼市區太遠, 我手機還可以通,只好趕快連絡我們在La Paz的連絡人,讓他知道不是三人,還有狗! 在La Paz的連絡人表示他會了解情況. (從這個回應, 我們猜測La Paz的連絡人根本也不知道對方其實還有帶狗!)

到了第一站火車墳場, 我又跟領隊講說: 我開始不舒服了,我真的沒辦法跟狗關在一車上三天. 然後隨時看La Paz的連絡人是否回應了. 不久就聽到領隊在跟公司老闆講電話,一下子又跑回來問: 妳們是哪來的? 對於這問題我們很詫異,說: "美國啊" (明明已經問過).　領隊說：不不不,美國之前是哪裡? 日本?韓國?

對於這問題我們覺得更詭異了,但還是回答: "台灣"   然後就開始聽到他一直講Taiwanese (其他西班牙文或Quechua,一種當地語言,事實上更多時後他們是西班牙文和Quechua的混合). 我覺得很奇怪,這事情的處理跟我們從哪裡來有什麼關連?

總之我們就在火車墳場等. 當時我就想好了, 我一定不跟狗同車. 這是基本的尊重嘛! 哪有不問對方就直接強迫接受的? 尤其在我已經表達我對狗的恐懼和狗味道給我的不適之後

過了一會, 我們在La Paz的連絡人回我說,他跟對方公司講好了! 有兩個方案:

方案一: 三人團體把狗留在烏尤尼, 行程繼續 (其實這也是我一開始就跟領隊講的)
方案二: 對方堅持不留狗的話, 看是我們兩人繼續行程,或者是狗主人以外的兩人跟我們一起繼續行程

兩個方案我們都接受,也認為兩個方案都合理.因為事實上一開始就是說是三人團體,怎會平白多出一條狗呢?


結果導遊無法說服對方把狗留下來,對方跟我們說: 我們當初就有問公司可否帶狗,公司說可以的. 既然如此,這就是公司的責任了! 公司應該把訊息清楚告知各方的,而不是試圖隱藏,領隊更不該強迫我要接受.

總之,對方不願意留狗下來,另外兩個同伴也不願意留下狗主人一人,於是我們兩人繼續行程,他們和另一台車(講西班牙文的團)繼續. 

從那起,領隊都不再和我講話. 其實那也沒關係,他英語超爛, 問問題也都聽不懂或是答非所問 (後面會舉例).所以不講也沒關係. 雖然氣氛不好,反正我看風景就好.

就這樣,行程繼續. 我還在慶幸說,還好一開始我的恐懼症就發作了想跳車,那時後電話還通,還可以連絡我們的旅行社在La Paz的負責人.  誰知道領隊的不滿持續, 到了第二天整個發做


第二天我們到晚上投宿的hostel時還不到下午四點半, 我們表示想先洗澡 (前一天冷到嚇到了), 也問領隊幾點晚餐. 再次強調,那時後四點半不到,領隊說要七點半才吃晚餐. 我們請領隊問說是否可以早點. 前面提到他英語很爛, 這是個最好的例子. 我們說: 7:30 is too late.  Can we have dinner earlier? 結果他回答: I don't understand.  What is late? What is earlier? (我不懂.什麼是late?什麼是earlier?) 所以我們得用非常非常簡單的英文再講一次. 請他去問.

接著我們就先回房間洗澡.洗完出來問他是否問過廚師可以早點吃晚餐. 他的回答是: 沒有,我不需要問也不需要解釋.七點半就是七點半.
我對他說: 你也許不需要解釋,但我們需要了解為什麼現在四點半不到, 不能早一點吃飯好休息. 他拒絕去問.強硬的說他不需要解釋

這時後我先生對他說: 我們想要早點吃飯早點休息.那我們一起去問.就拉著領隊和我去問廚師. 我們透過肢體語言讓廚師知道我們餓了! 問說可否提前吃? 請領隊翻譯,結果一問,廚師自己說: 6:30可以嗎? 我們很滿意,說6:30沒問題.

就在我們以為問題解決了之時! 問題就來了. 吃飯到一半, 領隊來講明天的行程,還很得意的說: 你看你們是第一桌開始吃晚餐的. 事實上我們到的時後,已經有一桌,而且其他桌也在我們到的三五分鐘內就全數出現了! 根本就是他懶得問. 但我們沒說那麼多, 只回他: 不是喔,我們來的時後後面一桌已經開始了! 你看,就問一下廚師就好了嘛!很簡單的啊

結果他就整個爆走了!

我前面就說過他不跟我講話, 沒關係. 這下他更誇張了! 他對我先生說, 然後用手指指著我: 她歧視! 明明就只是一隻狗,有什麼問題? 不是我的問題! 都是她的問題! 歧視歧視歧視! 7:30吃飯有什麼問題? 不是我的問題,都是她的問題! 她沒教育, 她是壞人! 就只是一條狗!有什麼關係. 

我先生試圖跟他溝通,舉了個例子說: 有人對花生過敏,告訴你時,你會怎麼處理? 你會把花生拿走,是吧? 你不會強迫對花生過敏的人吃花生吧? 你也不會因為這樣指責對花生過敏的人說他歧視吧?
結果那領隊繼續罵,繼續重複罵我歧視,那只是一條狗,沒關係等等.還說: 我不需要那些錢! 還說 I am done with Taiwan (我不知道要怎麼翻成中文)

我受不了這種莫名奇妙的指控,晚餐才吃一半就離開餐桌.沒兩分鐘我先生也離開,因為他意識到根本無法跟這領隊溝通,覺得多說無益. 我們討論著是否要跟hostel的主人借衛星電話,連絡La Paz,因為不是很有把握領隊接下來會做出什麼事情. 但覺得司機可能還好,最差就是都不要下車,或是連著司機.

我們還討論了一下,這跟錢到底什麼關係?為什麼他要一直強調我不需要那些錢? 又跟我們是台灣來還是哪裡來的有什麼關係? 我們的推測是: 因為他本來以為有五個人會給他小費,現在明顯少了三人給他小費了! 所以他才提"錢"  (事實上那麼糟的情況, 我們最後只給司機小費, 一毛都不給他).

但,最差的是, 因為怕狗, 就要被罵歧視, 這種領隊千萬不能跟! 

這公司也不老實! 因為那三人告訴我們他們有問過公司可以帶狗嗎? 公司說可以! 所以公司一開始就應該問過我們,也應該跟我們在La Paz的連絡人講,並不是只有三人，而是三人＋狗。蓄意隱藏資訊！

此外, 我們還懷疑領隊還隱藏其他的.例如說, 我們的travel agency當初講的很清楚,會有熱茶因為天氣很冷.結果第一晚就沒有熱茶,要我們要.  在Uyuni的時後,我看到公司的其他人在上貨, 有其他食材(例如:cabbage),但我們的餐從來沒出現過有cabbage! 又,當第二天中午午餐時，我們問領隊前一天才新開的茶呢？（一盒裡有好幾包茶包）可以先把那包吃完啊！領隊完全不理會（也有可能是他英語太差聽不懂啦）。那樣就算了！結果到了第三天在一個偏僻之處有個房子,他們把車子停下來,要我們在車上等,然後就看著他們卸貨. 後來說是司機的媽媽住那裏. 我們的猜想是: 他把那些東西都給他媽媽了!  其實沒用完的食材沒吃完的給他媽媽也沒關係,畢竟我們都用公筷母匙. 但是, 我們好奇到底有哪些東西是公司準備給我們,也含在對我們的收費裡的,但卻是給了他媽媽?

我們也不懂他為什麼要問我們是哪來? 這件事情到底跟我們是哪裡人有什麼關係? 還要說 I am done with Taiwan. 真是莫名其妙


強烈建議: 避開這間公司. 更不要找這個領隊(說不定他跟不只一個公司當領隊). 這公司是Cordillera Expeditions,  這領隊名字聽起來是me-cello, "米切羅". 


(好我知道這一點都不簡要啦XD)

以下英文版全文:

Some background information first-- we had 14-day customized tour in Peru+Bolivia with an US-based travel agency who helped us to find local operators in where they don't have local presence, for example, Uyuni. 

Before flying to Uyuni, the representative in La Paz of the travel agency told us that we will have a shared trip with a group of 3 people, which we had no problems at all. In fact, in 3 out of our 4 days tour in Cusco, we had a shared trip with another group of 6 and we had a great time.

However, as soon as we flew to Uyuni, we started to feel that this time it may not go as well. The local operator (i.e., Cordillera Expeditions) came very late to pick us up and we had to call La Paz to double check that someone will pick us up. The first real problem was, after us, they drove us to pick up the group of 3 in downtown Uyuni and it turned out that it's not a group of 3 as we were told. It is a group of 3 Belgian girls + a dog! Having phobia + the smell of the dog makes me sick, I told the guide (whose name sounds like Me-Cello, please pronounce in English) right away that I had no problem sharing with a group of 3, but not with a dog as my phobia and etc so I would suggest them leaving the dog in Uyuni. The guide first asked the dog owner, and the dog owner said that she did inform the company that she has a dog and the company said it's okay. However, we were never told of that! This is why we felt that the company is not honest to begin with.

Because the dog owner insisted to take the dog, the guide forced me to share the car with the group because they have told us it is a shared tour. He made the dog owner sat in the front seat which normally is for the guide and made me sit in the very back to "separate" me from the dog. I did try to compromise but it didn't work out for me at all and I started to feel ill. At the first stop, the train cemetery, I told the guide that no, it won't work for me. The guide still tried to force me but I was very firmed this time. I also texted our travel agency representative in La Paz right away that they needed to rearrange something because of my issues with the dog. Our La Paz representative said he will verify with Cordillera Expeditions, and handled the situation quickly and gave us two options--either they leave the dog in Uyuni and we continued as a 5-person group, or if they insisted to take the dog, then we continued as either private tour or private tour +2 (the non dog-owners). We accepted both options and thought either one was fair. 

Unable to convince the dog owner to leave the dog in Uyuni and the group insisted to travel together, we two continued as a private tour. Since then, the guide didn't talk to me, which is fine to me to be honest, because his English is quite limited and often didn't communicate well. In fact, when I told the guide at the train cemetery that I started to feel ill, he called the company owner. Being on the phone, he came back to ask us "where are you from" and we felt strange--"from US" as we already told him. He then asked: " before US, where are you from? Japan? Korean?" We said: "Taiwan." We don't know how is this relevant at all. Nevertheless, we answered. And we heard him emphasizing "Taiwanese" in his conversation with the owner. (I will come back to this later.)

Just when we thought the issue was handled, it wasn't. The tension accumulated. On the second day, we arrived the hostel before 4:30p and he told us that dinner will be at 7:30p. We asked him: "it is too late to have dinner at 7:30p. Can we have the dinner earlier since we are already here?" He didn't understand what is "late" and what is "earlier," so we had to use the very simple way to make him understand. He said he would ask the chef. After taking shower and it was not even 5p, we asked whether he asked the chef and what did the chef said. He didn't ask at all and told us: "7:30, and I don't need an explanation. It's chef's decision." We told him: "we understand it's the chef's decision, and you may not need an explanation, but we do as we are already hungry, and we would like to know if the chef can move the dinner earlier." He refused to ask and said it's not possible. Wanting to solve the problem, my husband urged him to ask and we three all went to chef together. As soon as we said we are hungry with some body language, and then asked the guide to translate, the chef said something in Quechua and we asked the guide to translate, and it was "is 6:30 okay?" We said okay right away. In fact, when we arrived the dining room, there was already one table there. The guide was just too lazy or for whatever reason didn't want to ask the chef!

But the worst part just came half way during the dinner time-- he came to talk about day 3's plan and bragged that we were the first table to have dinner, and we told him, "no, there was already one table and see, it's easy, just asked the chef." He then started to yell and call me names. He talked to my husband, as mentioned that he didn't talk to me as soon as I told him I cannot travel with dogs, and literally pointed his finger at me, saying " she (referred to me) is a bad person, discriminative, it's just a dog, not a problem, and not his problem. 7:30p dinner, not his problem. All problems are her" and many other bad words. Among all those bad names he called me, I cannot understand how dog phobia is discriminative at all. My husband tried to help him understand by giving him an example that "“if someone is allergic to peanut, what do you do? You take away the peanut, correct? You don’t force that person to eat peanut, right? and you don't blame that person to have allergy or phobia, right?" Yet, he kept calling me names by repeating " she is so discriminative, bad education (I think what he wanted to say is ill mannered), it is just a dog. 7:30pm for dinner is okay, she is discriminative, and I am done with Taiwan." 

I cannot stand that nonsense. So I left the dinner table. Now I know why he had to ask where we are originally from, even we came to the tour as US citizens and US customers. Among all the groundless accusations he made, I am particularly upset about him calling me discriminative! I don't understand and cannot stand either that why a person with dog (or whatever pets may be) phobia is called to be a discriminative person! He treated me worse than he treated the dog of another customer! 

My husband left soon as he found it impossible to communicate with the guide and the guide just blamed me for everything. The guide even said multiple times that "I don't need the money!" We still don’t understand why not accepting a dog due to phobia and illness is being accused of being discriminative? Neither do we understand why this has anything to do with “money,” unless he was referring to tips, so my unable to tour with the other three made him lose the potential tips from other 3 passengers, and then he blamed me for that! 

We think the company is not honest because per the other customers of that group of 3, they said they had mentioned and asked the company whether they can bring the dog, and the company said YES. So it is the company's responsibility to ask us first whether we can accept it, not tried to hide the information. We were lucky enough, or because my dog phobia is so bad that I started to feel ill in no time when my cell phone still worked so that I can text our La Paz representative to solve the problem, given that the guide refused to and just forced me to take the dog, which he shouldn't have done to begin with! 

The guide is also not honest-- we were told very clearly that there will be hot tea because it is very cold. But after the first dinner, we didn't have hot tea. We had to ask, and then the guide said okay. We don't know what else he has been hiding from us-- on the second night's dinner, we didn't finish the dinner at all. We try to be environmentally friendly so we asked what happened to the tea box and the soft drink that we just opened but not finished, we could just finish them before opening another one. He didn't respond. But then on the way back to Uyuni on the third day, our car stopped in a small place and they asked us to wait in the car, and later they came back, told us that the mother of the driver lives there. We suspect that those newly opened tea boxes and etc. were given to the mother. We are fine that if those unfinished food was given to the mother as we all used the serving spoon and etc. However, when we were still in Uyuni, I saw the company was preparing food materials into those big plastic containers, but we never had anything made in some of the food materials they prepared. So who knows what else they have been hiding from us and yet charged us?

If you are like us who plan to travel with a travel agency, make sure you tell your travel agency that don't put you in a group with Cordillera Expeditions in Uyuni and make sure you avoid the guide named "Me-Cello." If you are finding the local group for yourself, avoid Cordillera Expeditions and avoid the guide "Me-Cello" too. This is by far the worst experience at all. I am not proud of having dog phobia, but being called a discriminative person due to that is just ridiculous and unbearable. Plus, how is our origin relevant in this kind of situation at all? Who is being discriminative?