Thursday, February 24, 2011
I’m not in a very good mood right now. I’ve arrived at the hotel in Quito but it has been a long 12 hour day of traveling. I woke up at 7:30 this morning to get ready and walk to the square for a bus to Armenia. Glee never finished downloading, so I set it up when I woke up and it completed at 8:10 just as I was heading out the door. I jumped on the minibus to Armenia as it was pulling out. During the hour ride I listened to a few Marketplace podcasts.
On arriving in Armenia, I asked for the counters selling tickets to Cali and was directed to a desk which told me the next bus left in 30 minutes. It was only 9:10, so I bought the ticket, found the baños and joined the locals eating empanadas. At 9:45 I stood waiting for the bus while the bus driver insisted it was coming soon. Five minutes later, he pulled the bus around and I got situated. Another 20 minutes passed and there was no sign of the bus going anywhere, so I got out and started talking to the driver in Spanish, explaining that I had a flight and wanted to know when the bus would be leaving.
In the end, I got a refund for the bus and had to find another bus to Cali. After asking three other companies, I found one departing at 10:30, paid my 20,000 pesos and boarded the bus. Luckily, this one left on time. Three hours, one toilet stop, many podcasts and an episode of Glee later I made it to the bus station in Cali. Used the loo, once again struggling to manage my backpack and daypack in the small stall, before purchasing my ticket for the airport bus leaving in eight minutes.
I arrived at the airport at 3pm, an hour before check-in time, and simply sat waiting for the LAN counter to open. When I finally checked-in, I was informed that I needed to pay the departure tax, take my receipt to another counter, then come back to get my boarding pass (of course, these instructions were slightly hard to follow in Spanish). Clearing passport control took time given all the slow people in front of me, but security was a breeze. Little did I know about the full security check that was coming at the gate.
Since there were two flights leaving around the same time, the LAN passengers had to wait for the security check. The check literally involved going through my entire carryon bag. I noticed the through checks on some of the passengers and think I lucked out with my woman. She looked through most of my bag, but not every nook and cranny. Still had some time before my flight and felt so ready to just get on the plane. Ended up talking to a guy sitting next to me from Brazil.
When I finally boarded the plane, the two seats next to me were empty since the flight continued to Lima. The hour journey (arriving at 8:10pm) felt like the quickest one of the day and I was one of the first off the plane so clearing immigration was easy. There were few bags on the carrousel but they were soaking wet. I thought mine would be ok in the duffel bag but the entire inside was soaking. Luckily the waterproof cover protected most of my bag and I strapped it on my back and left the terminal to find Hernan (Ricardo’s friend who offered to pick me up at the airport). He was standing with a sign, looking very professional in his work clothing. We walked out into the pouring rain to find his friend with the car.
The ride into Quito city took longer than I thought and the guys had trouble finding the hotel. When we located it, I was told the Tucan group wasn’t staying there. We’d been moved to a hotel across the street which didn’t seem nearly as nice. The guy at reception had no idea when the group would be back and walked me (and Hernan) to my room, which was at the back of the hotel on the second floor. Turns out my roommate is our tour guide, as evidenced by the numerous Tucan papers on her bed.
I went to the lobby to call home, and the connection was so poor that mom couldn’t hear me at all. I really wanted to talk to her and was disappointed with the slow internet. The hotel feels a bit sketchy to me, and with the rain and cold and hotel change, not being able to speak to my mom just pissed me off even more. Seems silly to be upset, but I think I’m just exhausted and annoyed that the guy in reception has no idea when my tour leader will be back. I’m going to shower and get ready for bed and see what happens. Sorry to complain, but that’s what journals are for. J
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