The Second Customs Agent – 4/19/20
Apr 20th, 2013 by rallyadmin
On an earlier trip, John and I were trying to get out of Turkey and into Bulgaria and we were having problems. The Turkish exit immigration had absolutely no instructions anywhere and we were floundering about trying to get whatever stamps and documents we needed to satisfy the immigration officer at the exit gate. Along the way he said to us “It is a three step process.”
Eventually, we completed the three steps and left Turkey but the phrase “It’s a three step process” has stayed with us and is something we say on a regular basis. We’re saying it now and we’re suspicious that three steps might be optimistic.
We have breakfast and leave for Valparaiso. We want to meet the agents and give them the originals of the bill of lading, the car title and the carnet so that there isn’t a delay when the car finally is off-loaded.
It’s another beautiful day in Santiago, bright and bit smoggy as we head west toward the coast. But the sun disappears and the sky turns leaden again as we get closer to the coast.
The autopista ends and the road heads down from the coast hills to the center of Valparaiso. It’s not raining but there is a slight mist in the air and it’s cold and damp. Everyone walking the streets is bundled up with jackets and scarves. Winter is coming in the southern hemisphere.
This time the GPS gets us right to the street (Prat) that we’re looking for. We find a place to park up the hill a ways. The parking spot is tiny but it looks just possible to squeeze in. A street side parking attendant go charges for parking on this street guides us in.
Parking in Chile’s cities is either in a public garage or on a side street. There are no parking meters of meter maids. If you park on the street, there is a person who has some type of portable computer that clocks you in when you park the car. When you return, he clocks you out and gives you a slip with the amount you owe for the time you’ve parked. You pay him. It’s an interesting system. A lot of people have a job and parking in a very congested city is very organized.
Down the hill to Prat and start searching for the address of the customs agent. It’s afew blocks down Prat. We enter and the elevator operator sends us up one flight of stairs to the office door. We go in and the woman at the first desk asks what we need.
We try to explain in John’s limited Spanish that we are trying to get our stranded car through customs. She doesn’t really understand and she doesn’t speak English. While she’s funbling about I notice a stack of printed documents which are the documents that Gabby had emailed yesterday. I point to the documents and point to myself (my Spanish is limited to mas cerveza and gracias). She understands and immediately picks up the phone and calls someone.
She gets off the phone and asks a co-worker who speaks some English to help us. He tells us that the ship will berth over the weekend and the car should be ready Monday or Tuesday. We give him the original documents, thank him and leave. They have John’s cell number and my email. Time to wait. That was probably step 2.
We walk around Valparaiso a bit but it’s damp and dreary. Back to the car and back to Santiago.
On the autopista back to Santiago, we cross, actually go under, a small mountain range. On the east side the sun is out and the sky is blue. Behind us you can see the clouds spilling over the range from the west.
We get back to the hotel and I leave John to take a nap and I head off back to down Santiago to hike about and take some pictures. Yesterday, I forgot to take a camera so today I want to retrace steps and get some shots. In on the subway. Off at the University of Chile (UChile) stop. Down to the presidential palace (no demonstration today or at least not now). Over to the cathedral. Through some parks. Finally ending up at the subway at the Universite Catolica. On the subway back to the hotel.
We’re getting there but the only thing we can do is wait. We’ve done this before.
Obi-wan