5 DAYS TO TOUCHDOWN IRELAND
Greetings from Indianapolis, Indiana US A
All well here so firstly a few things on the past (as promised in last blog!) then should be back on later telling all about Indy (get me and talking like a local!)....
Airline dramasDid ye hear about the trouble we had flying from Peru to US? Well starting from the start.... we booked the flights with Aeropostal (aka Venezuelan Airlines) on the Internet about 6 weeks ago and it was a bargain price $286 (about half price of "normal"airlines - ie those u would have heard of!- and Expedia etc. I know it should have rang alarm bells, but we filled in Credit Card details etc and got the confirmation email so assumed all was rosy.
Up we rocked to check in. Ok was a little concerned as knew from Internet Banking that no money was taken from my Credit Card, but thought "maybe they do things different here and only take the money whe u check in"- yip living in a dream world aint I!). Bad news from the counter as she informed us that there was no booking......and explained that their Internet is only used for reservations and tickets must be paid for by contacting "an office" and paying for ticket within 72hrs! She was pretty helpful (and admitted that this happens alot of DIY Tourists!) and found us 2 seats (but it was an extra $50 odd each- still great value though!)
So all to do now was pay the $698 between us, so handed over the Visa card (my kind sponsor of these few months of "fun"!) and she came back (trouble part 2) saying that my Credit Card wouldnt work due to chip error. Assuming it was something to do with the new "Chip and Pin" Card I went back behind the scenes to try it again and put in my PIN etc. But (trouble 3) it wasnt even scanning the card.... So Moya to the rescue and she went up to the office and tried her card, but (trouble 4) hers would work earlier
So we came to the conclusion that their VISA machine wasnt the healthiest - God forbid they'd admit that though!. So still looking for $698 we tried plan B (ie taking cash directly out from ATM). But (trouble 5) they most that u can take out in a transaction is $300, so I put back in the card asap to try for another $300 and bingo got it. But by the time I tried for more the banks had caught up with me and $600 was all I was getting (for that day at least!). Moya came to the rescue with the last $100 as her Bank card worked here.
So we handed over that cash and raced through and barely made the boarding gate in time......
Dodgy Immigration stuntsMust admit now that I am well clear of Peru that I pulled a sneaky stunt when leaving Peru. When I got my new Passport I was informed that I "should" go to the local Immigration office to update my details. Apparently it can set off alarm bells here if you enter on one document and try and leave on the other.
As above this work "should" wasnt strong enough for me to skip my last afternoon at the beach, ie 2 to 3 hours queuing versus chilling out on a beach (with sand too hot to walk on barefoot) there was only going to be one winner. So came up with a plan, that seeing as my Temp Passport was valid until 21 Mar (ie the day I'd fly out!) that Id use this one last time for leaving Peru and swap over to my "New Real" Passport for transitting through Venezuela and entering US
Yes it all worked perfect, had a great afternoon on the beach (although did need a few swims to cool down every so often and Moya nearly had our bags stolen- only for she was so alert to the local "scams", God Bless her cotton socks!)
The little things that you notice being back in "normal costs" worldWe are starting to notice a few things since arriving here in the US, the main ones are:
A) u can flush toilet paper down the toilet here
B) there isn't a lady sitting outside every toilet looking for money off u
C) u can eat salads with out much danger
D) u have to actually flag down taxis ie they dont just beep assuming u need a spin
E) u can get Newpapers in English
F) shop keepers, taxi drivers etc dont cringe when u dont have the exact change
G) no stalls selling food on the side of the streets (or out their house windows as per Cuba!)
H) no "collectivos" etc - bus that stop, pick u up and drop u off where u like (ie no fixed stops!)
I) and finally EVERYTHING COSTS A FORTUNE -and the US is cheaper than home ahhhhh
Loads more ot follow, these are just what stand out after a few days!!!
PS Got more photos developed so hope to get them up over the next few days!
