Want to see the real Argentina?

[Granadaiscool]

For just 60 dollars you get this
http://plazaconstitucion.cartonland.com.ar/?p=1465

 

[mcaffa]

Wow. That is disgusting. Someone making money off of poverty.
I hear favela tours are quite popular in Brazil, too.
What is wrong with people?

 

[Granadaiscool]

Wow. That is disgusting. Someone making money off of poverty.
I hear favela tours are quite popular in Brazil, too.
What is wrong with people?

They are supported by the local people

 

[Elpanada]

I don't know I personally don't think you have any business going to the Villa if you can't make it there on your own and without a security guard, I don't think that there's anything particularly disgusting about those tours though, they are not hurting anyone that much is for sure so how are they in any way different to other for-profit tours offered?"The tours have received considerable criticism from sociology
students and local bloggers who say they are degrading for residents
and exploiting a morbid streak in rich tourists. To Roisi, that
criticism is missing the point. He says most of his critics have never
set foot in a villa, and insists his aims are altruistic."I found the piece of text above here in a news report written about them tours and yeah I definitely don't think that people who have only set foot in Villa Crespo! have any business criticizing what that man is doing.

 

[bigbadwolf]

Wow.That is disgusting. Someone making money off of poverty.
I hear favela tours are quite popular in Brazil, too.
What is wrong with people?

It's also being done in India. Part of a growing niche called "poverty tourism." I understand the logic behind it: some people would like to see the way real people live and work, not just the sanitised version presented to typical tourists - Teatre Colon, Recoleta Cemetery, and so on. At least, I hope that's the logic behind it.

 

[Granadaiscool]

I don´t understand the logic. I know there are villa´s, I just don´t care about them. I don´t want to go there, dont want villera´s and stuff like that. I prefer to ignore them and wish they stayed in the own villa.
My mom is coming to town and maybe I take the train to Tigre, but otherwise there would be no reason for her to go Retiro. Nowadays I even see tourist go there. I wonder what they are looking there

 

[TatanBsAs]

It is supported by the local people that offer it and the foreign people who pay for it. And just like Recoleta, Pto Madero, etc. are only a SMALL part of the Argentine reality, the villas are also a part of the argentine reality. I am thinking of setting up a middle class tour...anyone want to sign up?. I will charge in pesos.
"Real argentina" involves people from different social-economic backgrounds. It is not limited to Recoleta, nor the villas.

 

[syngirl]

I was all against doing the favela tour when I went to Rio. Ultimately though, my friend wanted to do it and we went. The cost was less than this one though. And the favelas are inherently more interesting because they climb up the mountains and have incredible views -- the same views that their wealthy neighbours pay 2 mil and more for...
I definitely was on the side of the "it's weird to go look at poor people etc" -- however in the favela the tour was very very well organised, the company used the money from the tours to build 2 schools within the favela we were in and had installed a clinic and were paying for doctors and nurses to work there.
The set up in Rio was kind of the same -- you were taken on motorcycles up the mountain into the favela. From the top you walked along some of the streets, then we went to a artists house, he had an incredible house at the top of the mountain, internet installed, A/C, everything. Then you walked from there all the way down the hill, past a bakery where you could have some lunch, and then visited one of the schools so that you could actually see what the money from the tours was paying for.
Ultimately I walked away thinking it was a good thing. The hardest part was seeing the kids, and realising that it's only very very few that will ever get out of there. In fact, a lot of the guys in the favelas have a lot of money (not from the most legal of sources of course), but they choose to stay because everyone they know is there.
My problem with this one in Villa 20 is that 60 US / 180 pesos is astounding. I know the idea really only appeals to tourists, but I would be impressed if they tried charging a lower rate and try to encourage private school groups here to go on the tours. I dont know how forward-thinking any of the private schools are in this town though. It would be an eye-opening experience for any of the people living in barrio cerrados, and I'm a firm believer in the idea that if you teach people things like this when they're young, maybe they will grow up to do something about it etc.
Granada, I actually think it would be great for you to go on one (not with your mum of course). It would be really interesting to hear back from you what you thought after going. The price is high, but I'd love to hear from someone else who went with the closed mind like me. I don't think I will be doing it here, I'll be honest, for 20 us I'd go if I had friends in town, but 60 is too steep for me.

 

[PanamaRandy]

When I was in India I went on one of these "poverty" tours. I first had some mixed feelings about the whole deal..but what I found out was this that 50% of the cost of the tour went right into the community, the locals love it because also it's a great way to get tourists in to sell a piece of art etc. India is far worse on a large scale than Argentina yet to be honest the Indians seemed to be more content and happier in general than the amped up white person going on the tour. One thing you will notice is if you go on a tour like this that these people living in such a place have a lot of pride, and their homes as simple and plain as they are are also clean..it's only with shame on the white man eyes that they are looked at in a different way. I am not trying to romanticize poverty at all and I do feel it's good for all Gringos that have $$$ to take a look at the other side of the same coin on which they live..
Best
Randy

 

[bigbadwolf]

When I was in India I went on one of these "poverty" tours. I first had some mixed feelings about the whole deal..but what I found out was this that 50% of the cost of the tour went right into the community, the locals love it because also it's a great way to get tourists in to sell a piece of art etc. India is far worse on a large scale than Argentina yet to be honest the Indians seemed to be more content and happier in general than the amped up white person going on the tour. One thing you will notice is if you go on a tour like this that these people living in such a place have a lot of pride, and their homes as simple and plain as they are are also clean..it's only with shame on the white man eyes that they are looked at in a different way. I am not trying to romanticize poverty at all and I do feel it's good for all Gringos that have $$$ to take a look at the other side of the same coin on which they live...

I couldn't agree with you more. India is usually sold using pictures of the Taj Mahal and the Himalayas, but the everyday reality of its one billion people is very different. And if one is an authentic traveller (and not three hundred pounds of blubber in a Hawaiian shirt), one might want to aim for a more authentic and complete picture of a land and its people other than the usual tourist spots.