What a day Friday was! Gaby at Air Canada called us at the hostal and asked us to come see her again. Sandra from the Canadian Embassy also called to say she would email a letter to Air Canada explaining what happened to John. OK, maybe we’ll make some progress today.
We spent the day walking/running back and forth between the warehouse where the bikes were being held and the Customs office, probably a 4 block walk. We must have done that walk back and forth at least 10 times. Also, the stack of documents kept growing as everyone seemed to need copies of documents that were already copied, and then they gave the original copies of copies of originals back to us. Huh, what was that again??
Of course the biggest problem was the language barrier between Jose and us. Jose was a Hombre (eventually to become an Amigo) who cornered us outside Air Canada Cargo the day before. We refused his help initially but obviously he knew we weren’t from ’round here and knew we would need his services to help with Aduana. Of course his help was offered totally in Spanish but it was obvious that he wanted to “help” us reach a goal. He was what John would have called “a coyote”. Jose knew what had to be done, and knew the people who could make it happen.
The second biggest problem was that it was Friday and if Jose didn’t speed up the processes, the bikes wouldn’t be released until Monday. In order to speed up the processes, several palms had to be greased. What the heck, it’s only money right? We needed assistance and he could provide it. That’s how things work!
Finally by about 7 PM we had succeeded in getting the customs documents amended, got approval to split the shipment and take 2 of the 3 bikes, paid the ridiculous storage charges, and hired a truck to deliver the bikes to our hostal. By 8 PM we were back at the hostal with the bikes and we were ready to drop! Our poor feet were so sore we could hardly walk. But this is good. Tomorrow we can assemble the bikes and Sunday we can leave Lima. Traffic should be slow on Sunday as religion is a priority here, so this is working out just fine. John would be proud of us!
Do we head north to Carhuaz and Punta Olympica Pass at 16,000 feet or do we forgo that part of the trip due to the lost time and head west to Huancayo or simply follow the Ocean south to Pisco? We can decide manana! Buenos noches.
We spent the day walking/running back and forth between the warehouse where the bikes were being held and the Customs office, probably a 4 block walk. We must have done that walk back and forth at least 10 times. Also, the stack of documents kept growing as everyone seemed to need copies of documents that were already copied, and then they gave the original copies of copies of originals back to us. Huh, what was that again??
Of course the biggest problem was the language barrier between Jose and us. Jose was a Hombre (eventually to become an Amigo) who cornered us outside Air Canada Cargo the day before. We refused his help initially but obviously he knew we weren’t from ’round here and knew we would need his services to help with Aduana. Of course his help was offered totally in Spanish but it was obvious that he wanted to “help” us reach a goal. He was what John would have called “a coyote”. Jose knew what had to be done, and knew the people who could make it happen.The second biggest problem was that it was Friday and if Jose didn’t speed up the processes, the bikes wouldn’t be released until Monday. In order to speed up the processes, several palms had to be greased. What the heck, it’s only money right? We needed assistance and he could provide it. That’s how things work!
Finally by about 7 PM we had succeeded in getting the customs documents amended, got approval to split the shipment and take 2 of the 3 bikes, paid the ridiculous storage charges, and hired a truck to deliver the bikes to our hostal. By 8 PM we were back at the hostal with the bikes and we were ready to drop! Our poor feet were so sore we could hardly walk. But this is good. Tomorrow we can assemble the bikes and Sunday we can leave Lima. Traffic should be slow on Sunday as religion is a priority here, so this is working out just fine. John would be proud of us!Do we head north to Carhuaz and Punta Olympica Pass at 16,000 feet or do we forgo that part of the trip due to the lost time and head west to Huancayo or simply follow the Ocean south to Pisco? We can decide manana! Buenos noches.
