Wednesday, 17 September 2014
Today is a waiting day, BORING! In the morning I went to a small cafe for breakfast, a chicken empanada and coffee. Then I read up on some news in Malaysia (same old, same old), had a shower and off I went to the bus station, where I had to wait some more because my bus to Arica is only at about 4 pm.
My 'bus' to Arica wasn't really a bus at all but a car who took 5 people (including the driver and me there were altogether 6 people in the car) across the border into Chile. I was quite sad to leave Peru, after almost a month in Peru I have grown fond of this country, its people, customs, traditions, language and all things Peru. Luckily I didn't have any problems with customs or immigration at the border, and then I was in Chile!
And then the problem started. I was supposed to take another bus from Arica to San Pedro de Atacama, but when I presented my bus ticket at the relevant counter, they told me that they had a booking in my name but the money has not been transferred to them. I told them that I had already paid for my ticket in full, but they said this was between me and the agent I booked the ticket from in Tacna. I gave them the agent's number in Tacna but they said they cannot call because it is an overseas call, and anyway this is between me and my agent. For some strange reason my hand phone would not reach the agent's number, so I had to use a public telephone to make the overseas call, and for that, I first had to get Chilean pesos, so I had to find an ATM machine. The agent in Tacna told me that he had already transferred the money to the Chilean agent, and asked me to give the Chilean agent's number to the people at the bus counter. I did so, and luckily they were 'kind' enough to contact the Chilean agent, probably because it was a local number, and it was their bloody agent! And then it was all sorted out and I boarded the bus which would stop in Calama for 2 hours and then to San Pedro de Atacama.
I was quite put off by the people at the bus counter who were extremely unhelpful and apathetical. In the end, the problem was in Chile and not Tacna, and if they only bothered to make some enquiries, I would not have had to gone through the hassle of finding an ATM, making an overseas phone call, etc. Because I was irritated I told the people at the counter that their organisation was no good, and they had the cheek to tell me to relax, after all the problem has been sorted. Yeah, no thanks to you lazy morons! Immediately I did not have a good impression of Chile.
Today is a waiting day, BORING! In the morning I went to a small cafe for breakfast, a chicken empanada and coffee. Then I read up on some news in Malaysia (same old, same old), had a shower and off I went to the bus station, where I had to wait some more because my bus to Arica is only at about 4 pm.
My 'bus' to Arica wasn't really a bus at all but a car who took 5 people (including the driver and me there were altogether 6 people in the car) across the border into Chile. I was quite sad to leave Peru, after almost a month in Peru I have grown fond of this country, its people, customs, traditions, language and all things Peru. Luckily I didn't have any problems with customs or immigration at the border, and then I was in Chile!
And then the problem started. I was supposed to take another bus from Arica to San Pedro de Atacama, but when I presented my bus ticket at the relevant counter, they told me that they had a booking in my name but the money has not been transferred to them. I told them that I had already paid for my ticket in full, but they said this was between me and the agent I booked the ticket from in Tacna. I gave them the agent's number in Tacna but they said they cannot call because it is an overseas call, and anyway this is between me and my agent. For some strange reason my hand phone would not reach the agent's number, so I had to use a public telephone to make the overseas call, and for that, I first had to get Chilean pesos, so I had to find an ATM machine. The agent in Tacna told me that he had already transferred the money to the Chilean agent, and asked me to give the Chilean agent's number to the people at the bus counter. I did so, and luckily they were 'kind' enough to contact the Chilean agent, probably because it was a local number, and it was their bloody agent! And then it was all sorted out and I boarded the bus which would stop in Calama for 2 hours and then to San Pedro de Atacama.
I was quite put off by the people at the bus counter who were extremely unhelpful and apathetical. In the end, the problem was in Chile and not Tacna, and if they only bothered to make some enquiries, I would not have had to gone through the hassle of finding an ATM, making an overseas phone call, etc. Because I was irritated I told the people at the counter that their organisation was no good, and they had the cheek to tell me to relax, after all the problem has been sorted. Yeah, no thanks to you lazy morons! Immediately I did not have a good impression of Chile.
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