They have art everywhere and if first impressions matter (they do) then I'm going to like this place!
In Panama: The moto could NOT be shipped today and definitely not to Quito - there was no warehousing available - planes yes, a place to put it, NO!
Calls were made, hands were wrung, then they found a plane leaving Bogota to Quito tonight so they would accept it for pick up in Quito on Monday - no storage needed - problem solved...
Got to the other side of the airport and it struck everyone as CRAZY that I should show up at an airport and want to buy a ticket to get on one of those things that fly - seriously!
It took 90 minutes and every supervisor available, plus one from upstairs, to buy a ticket. At 11:47 they gave me a ticket for the 11:50 flight with this advise "no stop to shop, ju mus urry"
Then passport control needed a supervisor because my passport was stamped at the frontera/border with vehicle information and this was very confusing. Oh, and security needed to look at my small carry on, twice.
Asi la Vida - Any other mind set isn't helpful or rewarding.
I'm in Quito now and I've just found a great little hotel and cleared the mental slate.
Dot, dot, smile!
Nick
via BlackBerry