Before embarking to the Galápagos islands I had one night in Guayaquil, Ecuador‘s second largest city and gateway to the islands. I stayed close to the airport, stocked up on insect repellent and sunscreen and tried to mentally prepare myself (=calm myself down) for my upcoming first ever dive aboard experience. The next morning, despite arriving at the airport with plenty of time, I almost missed my flight as the procedures at the Guayaquil airport are extremely inefficient; I had to argue my way through skipping both horrendous lines at the tourist card desk as well as the baggage drop after taking forever at the faulty self-check-in terminals.. Phew, my diving boat would not have waited ! After a thorough baggage check by the K9 dog unit at Baltra airport I was picked up by the boat crew and met the rest of the divers: a group of 6 Americans, a French couple, 2 Spaniards living in Panama and another American who I shared my cabin with as we were the only solo...
I thought I had travelled in Asia before, and I believed I had seen and experienced a lot.. Thank you, India for teaching me a lesson and leaving me so humble again in this regard! I was told India would be different, intense, and overwhelming; but still I did not expect such a trip 😆 Starting my trip in a very hectic phase of my year (business, changing flats, and a medical incident in my family) I had very little time to prepare my travels. Arriving in Delhi in the middle of the night, the lack of preparation lead to the first issues.. the local sim card I bought was only activated 24h later, the metro was not running at this hour, and my hotel pickup service didn’t show up.. so using my common sense I went for a pre-paid taxi (to avoid being spun around the city several times); unfortunately, this is the type of taxi that will stop in the middle of the city, road blocks ahead, and stating that the area my hotel is in wouldn't be accessible due to some street festival...
If we believed some weeks ago that Ecuador didn‘t make it easy for us to leave, crossing borders in Bolivia (in and out of the country!) was another level; at least for one of us and of course, this story is not about the almighty German passport.. Since Peru and Bolivia share access to Lago Titicaca, naturally we needed to cross the border at some point. The bus driver in Puno already questioned Diana about her visa, but we had read up on a visa for Bolivia could be retrieved on arrival for Romanian citizens.. and so is the case, unfortunately not without hiccups and hassle. The border control needed a full itinerary, confirmation of hotels, flights and an exit ticket, plus two passport photos - all in printed paper version. Luckily, there is a small shack at the border crossing that offers to take passport photos and printing services; so it could resp. should have been easy to arrange. The elderly guy working there preferred to exchange money with all other tourists first, only to t...
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ich wünsche Dir viel Spaß und alles Gute für deinen Trip. Lass was von dir hören!
LG Britti :)
geile route :)