Travel Tip 162
How to deal with crowds when traveling
If you’re in a crowd like this, take everything you need because getting your spot back isn’t easy.
There are the crowds you anticipate and the crowds that take you by surprise.
Today I’m just talking about crowds you can anticipate. Here’s my top three tips for how to prepare for going somewhere you know will be crowded.
So, you want to go to a crowded event or place?
If a crowd like this wouldn’t be any fun at home, don’t plan on getting in the middle of one when you travel.
1. Recognize how comfortable you are with big crowds at home.
If crowds always make you anxious or claustrophobic, don’t plan to go somewhere crowded when you travel. It might not be any fun and worst-case scenario, could completely ruin the trip for you. There are plenty of places in this world that you can go without crowds, like the Peruvian rainforest or Oregon coast.
Travel already pushes you outside your comfort zone in so many other ways, I don’t see any reason to go somewhere crowded if you already know you hate crowds.
This is the horse that kicked me but thankfully didn’t step on my foot.
2. Dress appropriately for a crowd.
This is mostly about not giving pickpockets any opportunities but also about protecting your feet from getting smashed. Pickpockets are a global hazard, though some places are more notorious than others. Make sure that you have inner pockets that zip closed and are big enough for valuables and essentials like your wallet and phone.
Wear shoes that will protect your feet. If it’s hot and you want to wear sandals, consider how uncomfortable it would be to have sweaty feet for a day versus how uncomfortable it would be to have a broken toe for 6-8 weeks.
The more packed together a crowd is, the more uncomfortable you’ll be if you have a lot of extra stuff. Also, if everybody else is buying plastic ponchos, follow their cue.
3. Take only the essentials with you.
Don’t take more than you need because big backpacks are awkward and attract pickpockets. If you’re out all day, having extra stuff will just be heavy. However, you do need all the essentials for the whole event because crowds make it very difficult to go back to the hotel for your hat or extra cash. Don’t assume that ATMs will have money during a crowded event and make sure you have everything you need before you’re engulfed in the crowd.
The Virgin of Carmen’s procession on July 17 is on a narrow bridge that is always very crowded.
Consider what kind of crowd you’ll be dealing with.
There are places that are always crowded, like the Eiffel Tower and places that are only crowded during an event, like New Orleans’ French Quarter during Mardi Gras.
When you’re in the crowd, the experience is the same, but what is available to you may be totally different.
Know before you go: there are no bathrooms inside Machu Picchu.
Take bathrooms for example.
A place that is always crowded should have bathrooms that are adequate for the number of people that are usually there. If you’re going to be somewhere more than a couple hours, make sure you know where the bathrooms are.
The maximum number of tickets sold for Machu Picchu every day is 5,600 (plus the people who arrive on the Inca Trail, about 200 on the 4-day trail and another 500 on the 1-day trail). Plus, guides and employees, who don’t need tickets. Let’s just say about 7,000 people are at Machu Picchu every day. If you’re going to prepare for that kind of crowd, it’s essential to know that the only bathrooms are outside the ruins. It was not possible to both preserve the ruins to UNESCO standards and also add plumbing to Machu Picchu.
Every July 15th, the people in the middle of the plaza can’t leave until the fires have died down and Q’onoy is over.
At an event, the situation is different.
Hopefully, the event you’re attending is well-organized and they have planned ahead to provide portable bathrooms for the number of people they expect. If you’re at an event and it’s poorly organized, the lack of bathrooms may be your first sign that nobody with any experience planned the event.
If an event is so poorly planned that they didn’t even get portable bathrooms, you have to wonder if they have emergency plans for fires or for getting an ambulance into the area.
During the Guerrilla, the Saqras are literally playing with fire. Always know where the exit is during events like this.
Is there an obvious evacuation plan?
Every year in Paucartambo, the main road into town becomes the exit and to get to the center of town you have to take a circuitous dirt road that wanders through several neighborhoods. There are ambulances parked by the market, already pointed towards Cusco because the Festividad de la Virgen del Carmen is a 4-day event that gets over 50,000 people, sometimes 80,000. With that many people, it’s statistically guaranteed that somebody will have a medical emergency at some point, even if the emergency has nothing to do with the crowd or the event.
Every year at Paucartambo I get better at anticipating the crowds, both which events will be crowded and how to deal with the crowds. Every year, I have less and less with me when I head out into the streets.
New blog: The Qhapaq Ch’unchu of Paucartambo
My experience with the Qhapaq Ch’unchu was so fascinating and so much fun. This blog post explains who they are and what they do during the 4-day Festividad de la Virgen del Carmen. The photos alone will blow your mind but I hope you take the time to read all the complexity of their traditions and role in the festividad.
