Plotting in Cusco.
There were only three of us left in La Paz last night. Jorge's Mercedes needed repair and he was not sure if it could be done. What he was sure of was that, even if it had to be towed, he was getting his car out of Bolivia and into Peru. None of us could wait to leave.
We had to yell at the taxi driver ( not the lovely Ruben) to slow down as he was driving like a lunatic in the pouring rain. I thought that we are not going to die on our way out of his terrible country. The airport was what you would expect, scruffy, busy, noisy, with the added bonus that, next to our clerk , was a howling dog in a cage. In the next queue was a lady with a bin liner over her bowler hat to keep off the rain.
Even leaving the country wasn't straightforward. There was much frowning and head shaking going on and a supervisor was called over. Apparently, you have to have you passport number on the booking confirmation, but I wasn't asked for it by ebookers when I booked the day before. We pleaded with him, that our names and dates of birth were the same as in our passports and so it was obviously us, still no joy. All the time that poor, retched dog kept howling. He talked, darkly, about a large fine. We just wanted to leave the country, anything. Then, he smiled and said as it was our first time we did not have to pay. Sighs of relief from two Shooters, we actually had boarding cards!
We flew over Lake Titicaca which sparkled in the sunshine. We were just wishing that we were on it rather than above, with the rest of the rally.
Cusco has changed a lot since I was last here in 2000 - for the better. It is quite, quite lovely. We caught up with Jose and Maria, Karen and David and Roger and Gillian at the magnificent Hotel Monasterio. Then the plotting began in earnest. We were all trying to book hire cars for the different stages of the Rally. Getting one all the was through was not possible. The others had managed, locally, to book a car to Arica, the first stop in Chile, but when we tried online, that was not possible and as the Hertz office in Arequipa closes at noon on a Saturday and it would have been impossible for us to get there by then, we had already booked to fly to Arequipa, and then on to Arica.
It was so complicated plotting our way further south. Without Jose's help we would not have been able to do it. All sorts of permutations were worked on. The main difficulty is that the rally crosses the border between Chile and Argentina so many times. You also need a special permit for each border crossing and that takes time. Copes of passports and International Driving Licenses had to be emailed to each separate office and other, extra information was required. As i suspect there were many people in Puno also trying to book through Hertz, cars of any description were not available in many places. Eventually, after several hours, we all managed to do it. We all now have a car from Arica to Pucon and then another car from Pucon to Puerto Arenas only 150 miles from Ushaiia. With so many of us we could hire a bus from there. Jose was the hero of the day as we could not get any of the pages in English and it was all so complicated.
The rally continues for us but just not as planned and, we will have spare seats for anyone else that might need them, but I hope that they don't. We are determined to make the most of it although the wretched disappointment remains.
We all had a very convivial dinner (alpaca) and are enjoying the luxury of the hotel. We have a local hire car being delivered this morning and will go down to Urabamba, in The Sacred Valley, to await the arrival of the old cars. And, we're not in Bolivia any more!
We had to yell at the taxi driver ( not the lovely Ruben) to slow down as he was driving like a lunatic in the pouring rain. I thought that we are not going to die on our way out of his terrible country. The airport was what you would expect, scruffy, busy, noisy, with the added bonus that, next to our clerk , was a howling dog in a cage. In the next queue was a lady with a bin liner over her bowler hat to keep off the rain.
Even leaving the country wasn't straightforward. There was much frowning and head shaking going on and a supervisor was called over. Apparently, you have to have you passport number on the booking confirmation, but I wasn't asked for it by ebookers when I booked the day before. We pleaded with him, that our names and dates of birth were the same as in our passports and so it was obviously us, still no joy. All the time that poor, retched dog kept howling. He talked, darkly, about a large fine. We just wanted to leave the country, anything. Then, he smiled and said as it was our first time we did not have to pay. Sighs of relief from two Shooters, we actually had boarding cards!
We flew over Lake Titicaca which sparkled in the sunshine. We were just wishing that we were on it rather than above, with the rest of the rally.
Cusco has changed a lot since I was last here in 2000 - for the better. It is quite, quite lovely. We caught up with Jose and Maria, Karen and David and Roger and Gillian at the magnificent Hotel Monasterio. Then the plotting began in earnest. We were all trying to book hire cars for the different stages of the Rally. Getting one all the was through was not possible. The others had managed, locally, to book a car to Arica, the first stop in Chile, but when we tried online, that was not possible and as the Hertz office in Arequipa closes at noon on a Saturday and it would have been impossible for us to get there by then, we had already booked to fly to Arequipa, and then on to Arica.
It was so complicated plotting our way further south. Without Jose's help we would not have been able to do it. All sorts of permutations were worked on. The main difficulty is that the rally crosses the border between Chile and Argentina so many times. You also need a special permit for each border crossing and that takes time. Copes of passports and International Driving Licenses had to be emailed to each separate office and other, extra information was required. As i suspect there were many people in Puno also trying to book through Hertz, cars of any description were not available in many places. Eventually, after several hours, we all managed to do it. We all now have a car from Arica to Pucon and then another car from Pucon to Puerto Arenas only 150 miles from Ushaiia. With so many of us we could hire a bus from there. Jose was the hero of the day as we could not get any of the pages in English and it was all so complicated.
The rally continues for us but just not as planned and, we will have spare seats for anyone else that might need them, but I hope that they don't. We are determined to make the most of it although the wretched disappointment remains.
We all had a very convivial dinner (alpaca) and are enjoying the luxury of the hotel. We have a local hire car being delivered this morning and will go down to Urabamba, in The Sacred Valley, to await the arrival of the old cars. And, we're not in Bolivia any more!
Comments
Post a Comment