THE ROAD FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO COLOMBIA
So after a really cool day with Em and Hannie, I head back to my hostal to get myself sorted for my flight to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. First, I dropped by an internet cafe to do a bit of last minute emailing. So, I was reading a hostal booking confirmation from Lima (I had booked in for the 5th and 6th but had stipulated that I may not 100% be able to make it on the 5th, but def on the 6th) and the reply email said..."no worries, just let us know if you cant make it tonight" Tonight? what the hell is he talking about....im clearly in Brasil tonight....and then...noooooooooo...oh please no.....oh no no no!!!!! "Disculpa....Cual es la fecha hoy dia? cual es la fecha por favor???....es 5 de junio? si??? ...en serio....... "F*********************@@@@@@@@@@@@@@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Threw money at the cafe ppl much to their amusement, ran (yes, ran!!) back to the hostal grabbed my ticket, gingerly opened it up to find.....my flight was in fact on the 4th!!! So all day, the whole "what luck we have the day together Em, what luck" was in fact all down to my shere inability to catch my bloody flight!!! Useless!! I must be the worst traveller in the world.. Anyway, went to the travel agent the next day, had to pay a penalty but managed to get on the flight leaving that evening. After three plane changes and a tedious 5 hours of flying, I arrived in Santa Cruz. It was the early hours of Weds morning and seeing as I didnt have a hostal booked (or even know of a hostal for that matter) I decided to sit in the airport until the morning and see if I could grab another flight.... Sat, read, sat, read....what a fun night I was having. Didnt dare sleep as wasnt in the mood for getting robbed, but eventually succumbed and had a cheeky nap! Woke up a wee while later and spotted a flight boarding. Found out that it was going to Lima and that I would be able to buy a ticket for the flight.
I decided to check out the other flights leaving that day...one was going to La Paz. Was told that I woiuldnt be able to get a ticket (strange that I could for an international flight but not for a domestic...what logic!) Anyway, sauntered back to the ticket desk of LANPeru and queued up with the rest of the folk. The flight was due to take off at 6am and as the clocked ticked on, I began to get frantic!! The guy on the other side of the counter didnt seem too bothered though, so I figured I would relax and just see what happened.
Well, luckily for me they dont seem to mind selling tickets at the hour that the plane is due to depart...so 6am, I buy my ticket to Lima, (the guy then has the cheek to tell me to make haste run over to check in, queue up to pay the airport tax, get myself through security and begin to board the plane...job done!
After a couple of days hanging out in Lima, catching up with Jam-es and the rest of the crew, I decided to splurge and buy an airticket to Quito (didnt really have a choice as I had overstayed my scheduled time in Lima and needed to get to Ecuador smartish!)....all well and good. Got a great price...almost too good to be true...correct!! Too good to be true, because it wasnt! The guy comes over the night before I am due to leave and proudly hands over my ticket to Guayaquil...Guayaquil?!?!?!?!...dude, that 10hours away from Quito...I need to be in Quito Sunday lunchtime...not Monday lunchtime..whats up with that?! C`est la vie....have to buy myself yet ANOTHER connecting flight...ends up being the most expensive journey across South America...ever!!!
Once in Quito....the sun was shining, birds singing, was happy to be back in the familiar, umm...the sun was shining (by the way, for all y´all who think I am out here sunning myself etc...umm...noooo...its winter ie. rainy, miserable, chilly, winter in london-like...!) I mill around for a couple of hours til Rebekah arrives. Met her mum and sister, (they came down for a family holiday to the Galaps!) [Sniff, sniff...Maw, Paw, Vij: where were y´all when I was in the Galaps?!] had dinner and a jolly old reunion and then prepared ourselves for the road to Colombia.....
posted by Priya @ 1:36 PM
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