It’s time for another collection of the best travel stories on the web, from the award-winning webzine Perceptive Travel.

One of the features is mine this time, a piece on getting to the roots of good coffee by visiting farms where the beans are grown. Come along for the ride to Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia in Alert in the Americas.

On Ontario’s remote Moose Factory Island, where the Cree First Nation is cautiously courting tourism, Carolyn Heller learns that there’s more to see than the “sights.” See Going Where No Roads Go in Ontario.

Lea Aschkenas heads into the Amazon jungle of Ecuador and fights discomfort and insects to appreciate the teeming life around her.

Graham Reid checks out some new and noteworthy world music. Afro-soul, Indo-jazz, desert blues, and “Autotune goes to Africa.”

Travel book reviews from William Caverlee include Encounters from a Kayak, Food Lover’s Guide to the World, and On This Earth, A Shadow Falls.

As usual, we’re giving away some cool travel gear as well. Last month someone scored a new pair of hiking shoes from Wolverine. This month we’re giving away a whole Travelling Light package from Sea to Summit. The winner will take home a daypack that compresses down into a tiny pouch, a mesh laundry bag, Travelling Light See Pouches, and a travel wallet. If you’re on our newsletter list already, check your inbox or bulk folder. If not, sign up here to get in on the action next time. You can also follow Perceptive Travel on Facebook and watch for the contest questions.

In one city, should you take a taxi from the far-flung airport to the center, it will cost you more than $250.

In another city, taking a taxi from the airport to the center will cost you less than $5.

How much does that tell you about expenses in the destination?

Quite a lot. The first city is Tokyo, in many respects the most expensive in the world. The second city is Sofia, Bulgaria—one of the best values around.

This study put out by British foreign exchange company Moneycorp found a staggering variation in the cost of getting into the city from the airport in capitals around the world. Some of this can be chalked up to distance: the cab fare in Quito just doubled, for example, because the new airport is a lot farther away from the center than the old one.  Switzerland is crazy expensive, but the airport in Geneva is only 6km from the city.

In Quito though, you could hire a car and driver for days for less than it’s going to cost you for a taxi to your hotel in a place like Japan. The destination costs matter more than anything.

A taxi from the airport to your hostel bed in Cusco will cost less than a night’s lodging. In Madrid it’ll cost you five times as much.

““What our research into airport taxi costs reveals is the wide variation in taxi fares depending on which country you’re visiting.”

As the article points out, knowing this information in advance can determine whether you want to find an alternative means of transportation or not. When I arrived with my family in Bangkok at 4 am, jet-lagged, I was happy to pay the $18 it cost for a taxi there. When I arrive in Madrid next month after a week in Portugal, however, no way we’re shelling out $100 to ride in a car.

This is another case where reading a guidebook before you depart is a smart move. Instead of pecking around the web for an hour looking up answers to questions like this, it’s all there in front of you in one place, properly researched by someone on the ground.

Remember that some cities are far easier than others when it comes to public transportation alternatives. JFK airport in New York City is great, my other former home of Nashville is impossible. Mexico City has a subway, but you’re not allowed to take luggage on it. Bucharest has a great bus to the city, so does Salt Lake City (and soon it will have a train as well). The only way to know what the options are is to do some research.

Meanwhile, you can be sure that The World’s Cheapest Destinations also have reasonably priced airport taxis in their main airline gateway cities. Even in the honorable mention countries (Turkey, Mexico, Argentina, Czech Republic) you’re not going to see a fare that makes your jaw drop except in rip-off resort areas like Cancun.

Have you encountered a particularly cheap taxi fare—or one that emptied your wallet?

[Flickr Creative Commons photo by bornin78]

There was a time when people rode trains all over Ecuador, from the capital of Quito to Otovalo, Cuenca, and the coastal port of Guayaquil. More than 60 trains a day departed from the main station in southern Quito.

Then came the age of the automobile, which killed off the trains in a lot of places in the Americas, from much of the U.S. down to Patagonia. Compounding the problem for Ecuador though was the terrain: this is a land of steep, high mountains. Building the railways in the first place was daunting enough. Constantly clearing the rockslides and broken tracks after natural disasters required more resources than the government was willing to spend. So over time the journeys got chopped up into smaller pieces. That’s about to change—and more on that at the end—but here’s one of those pieces: the Devil’s Nose train ride down a very steep mountain to the bottom.

This famous train journey is unique because of the engineering challenges the builders faced (ones that took the lives of some 2,500 workers) and one novel solution to them. At one point the train goes around a bend and then comes to a stop at tracks that end. At that point the tracks are switched and the train proceeds down the mountain facing the opposite direction: the previous back of the train is now the front. This enables it to tackle a much steeper grade than it could have otherwise. (You can see that transition in the video above.)

Soon it arrives at a renovated station in the narrow canyon, which is a place you can actually spend the night now if you want. There’s a package including the train down and back, lodging, and two meals for a quite reasonable $50 per person. Regular day visitors get a bite at a panorama snack bar up some steep stairs, where there’s also a museum. Local community people perform traditional dances on the train platform. And there’s a woman with a llama for photo ops. Sure, it’s kinda cheesy, but fun.

The exciting news is, short trips like this are not going to be all there is anymore. Workers are busy restoring the line from Guayaquil to Quito and it should open by July of 2014. A lot of it is new tracks, with materials meant to hold up to tremors. At first all the effort is going into offering a luxury 4-day grand train trip to get some real funds flowing in, but it should become a true passenger line that all travelers can use eventually. It will be one of the world’s great journeys when that happens, through the “Route of the Volcanoes,” from sea level to 3,000 meters.

I first took a train ride from Quito to Cotopaxi and saw new government initiatives in action. There was a spruced-up station with an attractive new cafe serving good coffee, a room explaining the history of railroads in Ecuador, and an introductory film about the train system here in two languages. The people working at the station and on the trains were bilingual and sporting nice Tren Ecuador uniforms with a cool logo.

We clattered out of the city, past factories and homes, and climbed up the hills to a point where we could look across park lands and a valley to mountains dusted with snow on the other side. When we got to Machachi station, a brass band was playing to welcome everyone. No, this wasn’t a special occasion—they do that for every arrival.

The revitalized train system is just one more reason to visit Ecuador, which is one of the best values in the world for travelers, with a lot to offer for a reasonable price. International Living just tagged Ecuador  as their leading retirement destination in the world for the sixth year in a row. Even if you’re not trying to live to 100 in Vilcabamba, this is one of the cheapest places to live in the world–with a good quality of life. It’s also one of The World’s Cheapest Destinations for travelers at any budget level, so put it on your list if you’re heading to the Southern Hemisphere.

To check the latest options on train trips in Ecuador, see the Tren Ecuador site or book an excursion with Metropolitan Touring—-my host when I was researching Ecuador articles for another publication.

Pardon the delay. I was feeding the llamas.

I’ve spent the past week in Quito and areas north and south of there, doing research for some articles, reviewing hotels, and updating the upcoming 4th edition of The World’s Cheapest Destinations. While I mentioned in the last post that most prices haven’t changed much since the last time I was here, imported goods are being taxed at a rate of 100% or more. It’s gotten much more expensive here to spend a night at a bar or replace your dead camera/laptop/phone.

Otherwise, there’s more positive news than negative, so here’s a quick rundown on official developments and word on the street for travelers in Ecuador.

New Airport for Quito

There’s a lot of bureaucracy in this country, so often things take far longer than they should have to get moving. Quito’s new airport is by most accounts finished, but it won’t open until February 2013 (at least) because, um, the roads to it aren’t finished. You can fly in, but you can’t get out in a car. Once it’s done, you’ll pay far more for a taxi to the city than now, but there’s going to be a shuttle bus service from the get-go that should be reasonable.

Get Used to This President

Rafael Correa may be pegged as a power-grabbing socialist by some international press outlets and diplomats, but he’s extremely popular these days at home, with a 70% approval rating. He could be in office until 2017. As in Nicaragua, people seem to put up with a bit of screwing the constitution to run more than the allowed number of terms if life is getting better—especially the roads. Everyone here is talking about new highways and bypasses, rural roads getting paved, and potholes getting fixed. Note to politicians: help people get to where they need to go easier and many other problems can slide.

For travelers, expect more cheap subsidized gas, better highways, and…

The Rebirth of Ecuador’s Train System

The history of Ecuador’s trains is one of fits and starts, joy and disappointment. Building train tracks through the Andes Mountains and then keeping them from being covered by landslides takes a lot of resources. In the late 19th century, some 2,500 workers died just building the Devil’s Nose section that uses two switchbacks to get down the mountain. This government is pushing hard to get the longest part—from Quito to Guayaquil—going again. It is scheduled to reopen in the summer of 2013. The first priority is a luxury service that will stop for the night several places along the way. But a tourist class one will follow and will be worth the splurge I’m sure. I went on two sections of it this week and was really impressed with the operation, both the restored and brand new coaches, and the scenery. I saw track improvements going on all over the place. Watch the Tren Ecuador site (in both languages) for updates.

Ecuadoran Food Getting Its Due

I’m amazed at the number of gastronomy, coffee, and chocolate tours now being offered in this country. As with Peru a decade ago, the cuisine of Ecuador seems to be finally getting its due. It’s not all that photogenic unless a chef does some magical reconstruction, but they grow just about everything here, all year long, so the profusion of fruits, vegetables, and herbs is astounding. Much of the street food and cheap market stall fare here is nothing to write home about, so splurge a few dollars more now and then and see what the fuss is about.

I’m currently in Quito, Ecuador, where it’s only taken me one full day to confirm that most prices are pretty much where they were last time I was here a few years ago. (See Travel Prices in Ecuador.)

The fact they use the U.S. dollar as their currency helps, but there’s also low inflation and the country grows a lot of its own food. All the fruit pictured at the top was selling for $1 a pound or less in the market.

Gasoline is heavily subsidized, which helps keep the costs of transportation down.

There’s one big change though that everyone is talking about: the price of alcohol. It has roughly doubled this year for anything imported.

Theories abound as to whether this was a sin tax to bring down consumption and raise revenues or just a way to keep more money in the country. The bottom line though is that imported brands—which is almost all of them—now often cost more than you would pay in your own country. This includes wine from Chile and Argentina, which is universally a great deal across the rest of the continent.

Ecuador has a wealth of tomatoes and sugar cane, so you’d think they could do some decent vodka and rum at least, but no go yet.

For now, there are few solutions. Bring in duty free bottles. Drink local brands (usually lousy). Drink beer.

That last one is probably the best choice as the beer is decent and it’s made in-country. No import taxes.