Wed 0454 In building reception. Was half awake at 3am I think, did snooze on alarm at 4 til about 405 but was quite deliberate, got up, cleaned teeth, had coffee, finished packing (toothbrush etc). Had to leave key locked in flat so hope I haven't forgotten anything but checked round many times etc.
Feel a bit sad to be leaving and a bit scared (overstated but still) as next day or two going to be a little bit stressful but there you go. Not really doing anything I haven't done before, just not done these things that recently.
Hope car turns up soon, I really hate waiting for personalised pickups. Here now?
0516 Wow, that was fast. Estimate when booked was 38ish mins IIRC (presumably due to being middle of night and little traffic, as was indeed case), we actually left about 0457ish. Just had e-mail saying 4:57-5:15. Seatbelt (lap belt) in back of van was super loose but all part of the Latin American experience. :-) Driver had Disco Mix 80's (could see playlist name) on low, not a problem, just adding some colour to this blog entry. Tipped him 1k, prob not necessary but tis OK.
Obviously now got ages at airport but that's life.
Put fleece on, not cold but it's not too warm for it and it de-bulks my bag a bit and has extra pockets. There's a migration control bit at entrance to international departures, I don't think there's any reason to hold off going through there. Given I have vast bulk of my possessions at least plus no way to get into flat and getting back there would cost a fortune there's no way I'm going back into town.
0616 At gate C08. Has all that really taken an hour?
Border control OK tho the guy asked for my boarding pass and gave it back to me (at which point I put it in my pocket) three times. He kept asking questions about where I'd been (including mentioning Buenos Aires), which all seemed a bit weird, but whatever.
Like a fuckwit I didn't realise security would be immediately after border control and therefore couldn't keep my bottle of water. Had I known I'd probably have lingered before border control and eaten the food I brought with my water. Fucking hate being deprived of water unless I pay through the nose to buy some, but hey, terrorism!
Security OK, signs etc showed no scissors (no mention of blade size) so I hoiked my nail scissors out of bag and put them loose in security tray and no one said anything so at least I got to keep them. No fuss at all, I put my belt etc in bag and managed not to forget anything and no one quibbled about my liquids or anything.
Noticed a coke vending machine on walk to gate selling 600ml bottles of water for CLP1k, which seemed borderline tolerable. Normally I'd avoid buying water because I'm not desperate at the departure airport (I just drank at security and at flat this morning) but this is a budget flight with no free food or drink (I would maybe hope water is an exception but I doubt it, budget airlines being what they are) so I splurged. Did go to a shop and a small cafe first and shop wanted 1750 and cafe 1450 so amazingly vending machine cheaper. I appreciate I'm just supposed to not care about money, it's only a few quid, blah blah, but fuck that. A few quid here, a few quid there, it adds up. There are other better things I can spend the money on.
I also knew I had 1k in change in pocket having sorted change out yday when making sure I spent soon-to-be-invalid coins, so I was able to offload that into the vending machine - given there's always a risk coins will simply sit in my London flat forever and never get spent this also eased the pain of buying water.
Going to snack on some chocolate biscuits and peanuts/raisins I have with me. Had toyed with not eating these yet as I'm not really hungry but I have to assume having them in my possession may cause shit on arrival in Brazil. (eg look at how ultra restrictive Chile is - *nothing* seems to be permitted in terms of "food" on arrival)
0714 I think I am the only peeson at the gate. Maybe a handful nearby. I thought there were more but it was apparently overspill from a flight at next gate. I did perhaps get here early, but it's not that early any more.
0843 On plane (A320neo according to safety card), no problems with bag, no one seems to have been checking very overtly which is "normal" but budget airlines always make me edgy. I assume they *would* have noticed if I had brought my bag on without purchasing hand baggage, tho just possibly it would slip through as the free "hand bag" everyone is allowed - but I guess if they charge for regular hand baggage on the zero fare they probably enforce it, and it wouldn't have been worth risking it anyway.
Leg room is perhaps a bit lacking but may be my imagination, in any case it's fine for me - got to get some advantages from being short.
1444 Jesus fucking wept. It was all going too well. No paperwork to fill in at immigration. Phone worked. Customs queue bit long but waved through. Uber sweet as a nut. Got to hotel and the woman on the desk speaks nothing but Portuguese - which in itself would be fair enough - but also showed no fucking recognition whatsoever of the concept of a booking.com reservation when I showed her the booking confirmation. I have been speaking to her in Spanish but I don't think she understands me; I sure as fuck don't understand 99% of what she says, not that this stops her talking. I have even resorted to Google Translate-ing a few sentences and she reads them out but they either don't make sense or she's being obtuse. I had to pay cash instead of card - I *think* she said the machine wasn't working - and despite lengthy attempts (including Google Translate and simply translating the word "receipt" on web) she seems unable to give me any kind of receipt, so I am a bit worried I'm going to get into a row where the hotel deems me a no-show. I'm practically certain this is the right place - the number outside is exactly correct and the price the woman eventually wrote on a bit of paper is exactly what I expected to pay - and the area doesn't seem exactly replete with hotels (it is, as mentioned on web, slightly sketchy looking) so I really don't see how I can have come to the wrong place.
She also took me to room 6 before realising the key was for room 9, *even though it had 'nove' or something like that written at the bottom*, which seems odd. Maybe she is illiterate, but she *did* read one of the Google Translate things out loud so she can't be completely illiterate.
At least I have a room. These kind of linguistic challenges are all part of travel but it will be easier to take them as challenges if I don't feel I'm in a sketchy area not speaking language about to have to go in quest of another hotel.
I am going to reorganise my possessions re security now I have a "base" and then go out and try to find the bus terminal and exchange my ticket voucher for an actual ticket.
There is one socket in room which is nominally for the loudest fan in the world. Of note is that it's a Euro-style socket *but* the adapter I picked up at side of road in Chile doesn't work because the socket is recessed and the adaptor doesn't fit. The multi-country adapter I bought when I arrived in Chile does fit, luckily.
1606 Got ticket with no fuss, tho no automated machines AFAICS despite IIRC being largest bus terminal in South America. But easy enough to hand over paper to woman at desk.
Walked up north from Tiete in quest of a Pao de Acucar supermarket of myth and legend (aka Google Maps); it doesn't seem to exist. A number of small or not so small unpretentious restaurants, striking out boldly I am in one (quite large, London bus poster on wall) for beef and chips with a 600ml Brahma. Did speak to waiter but also pointed at menu.
1642 Food not bad, came with salad (undressed but had some admittedly not too bad beetroot in centre which I ate aroud) and rice and some sort of beans in sauce which I ate with the rice. Bill is 10 for beer and 16 for food as expected; quick web search had led me to expect a 10% service charge but there isn't one so will prob make it 30; I need to break a 50 and then I'll try to break another one at minimarket I saw on futile quest for PdA. Not quite finished beer but bill given w/o asking (whatever that means).
Beer bottle is in one of those insulated polystrene containers which you probably do get in other countries but which always make me think of Brazil.
Kudos to myself for not just holing up in hotel with snacks from supermarket, but am going back to hotel after minimarket and will try to do bit of laundry and a last minute Portguese cram on Duolingo etc.
I had formed the idea there was a time difference from Chile and even put my watch forward an hour while in customs queue but there seems not to be.
Keep saying things like "gracias", oh well. Mulling while in Uber (feeling pretty smug) that maybe it would be good to come and do a month's intensive Portuguese some time. My primary foreign language is always going to be Spanish and I wouldn't be likely to get enough practice to truly keep up Portuguese but a month could get me to a basic communication level (esp given I do have Spanish to help) and maybe that wouldn't fade too much. Just a thought, not planning on doing this on this trip.
Got change, didn't know word for " tip" but proffered BRL4 at waiter and though he seemed a little surprised he took it. Maybe didn't need to pay that, but while not *cheap* it's not too expensive. (Gut feeling is food was cheap at 16, beer was OK but not great at 10 for 600ml; it's not quite 5 to the pound, FWIW.)
Swallow of beer left, let's go.
1724 The PdA had mysteriously appeared opposite the restaurant (Nova Majestosa) so I went in there and got some peanuts (for "emergencies" , not really for today) and a couple of bottles of water. Walked back down street parallel to Cruzeiro do Sol and it felt a bit less sketchy, or maybe I've settled down a bit after something to eat. Woman from reception loitering in street with bloke (husband?), said "boa tarde" but don't think she likes me very much. They do have a black and white cat here which sleeps in the lobby (and a sign saying in Portuguese "don't feed the cat*s*" ) which looks nice but I haven't touched it.
Drink some water while it's cold then laundry and phone charging and shuffling of belongings ready for bus tomorrow etc.
I've no idea if I can pass for Brazilian if I keep my gob shut. I have read it's very racially diverse here (and a very casual observation would seem to back that up) and I have seen white people on the street who don't obviously seem to be tourists. With my baseball cap and long-sleeved T-shirt on to further obscure any relative lack of tan (tho this is down to covering up and/or factor 50, not being fresh off the boat) I think I might have a chance, it is at least not implausible. This might make me feel a tiny bit less at risk on the street etc.
BTW meat at restaurant was "bisteca"; I am not sure it was beef but FWIW. It was OK anyway.
2006 Done some laundry, struggling to dry it as there are zero hooks anywhere, but will be in a dormitory for a few days on cost grounds so be good to go in with as many clean clothes as I can manage.
The extremely loud fan does move a hell of a lot of air. The vaguely buzzing noise it makes (slightly digeridoo-ish, it seems to me now) is somehow intermittently turned by my brain into a choral-y kind of music; currently I've been getting "Nowhere Man" , probably because someone was playing it very loudly from one of other flats in Santiago as I went to throw some rubbish in the chute last night and it's got into my head. The effect is sort of pleasant but a bit weird.
Oh, when I withdrew cash at the airport the machine referred to swingeing BRL24 fee as a "convenience fee" ; more like a "we have you over a barrel" fee. I did at least withdraw a fair chunk of cash so the percentage fee is still eye-wateringly large (2.4% approx) but not as bad as it could be.
2251 Feeling bit quietly down, bit dubious about trip tomorrow. Not a big deal. Forgot to observe earlier metro runs on elevated track (enclosed in stations) along CdS, not underground.
Had shower earlier, suicide shower absolutely refused to generate any hot water. For all that it's really very warm the water was painfully cold and I didn't really shower all the "properly", but did more or less get the job done.
2311 Bed. Feel a bit tired though not terribly so and need to be up early for bus. Half packed but due to damp laundry etc stuff is scattered everywhere. This morning in Santiago feels a lifetime ago.
Have had fan off since got out of shower and since want to charge phone overnight as read in bed will keep it off.
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