SNAFU

We have been really enjoying a lot of the things that make the third world the third world - the markets, the riotous colors, the anything-goes attitude. Of course, there is a flip side to that coin, and right now it is staring us in the face - the corruption, the brainless bureaucrats, the ENDLESS hassle.

We decided to have the turbo shipped to us from the US, at great expense, because the van won't go without it. Well, actually it will, but it will only have about 25-30 hp, and we would be driving to Argentina at 20 mph. That wouldn't be any fun, and we still have thousands of miles to go before the end of our trip.

So, we found a turbo, and had it shipped to us by DHL.

On Monday, yesterday, it arrived in Lima. This is where things got $%^&#$ed up. We got an e-mail saying that they couldn't import our package into the country because importation of used car parts isn't allowed.

First, the turbo is brand new. Our shipper didn't mark the box labelled 'used' on the DHL label. So we don't know why they think it's used. Doubtless some nasty bureaucrat is trying to line his pockets and make our lives difficult.

Second, we're not trying to import the part - we're in transit, and will be leaving this backwater as soon as we can put it in our car and drive away.

Sigh. There was no convincing anyone of this over the phone, so this morning, Tuesday, May 1, Douglas got on a plane to Lima, on a mission to liberate the turbo from the dastardly customs agents. He has a real flair for convincing government officials that they would rather help than hinder us. I think it's his cute smile.

Unfortunately, we didn't realise (and the folks we talked to yesterday at DHL didn't tell us, even though we said he was coming to Lima today), that today is a national holiday and EVERYTHING is closed. So poor Douglas is stuck in Lima by himself, waiting for customs to open so he can argue with corrupt bureaucrats. Lima's not exactly a nice city (to put it mildly) - it's huge, dirty, and has more than its share of crime and corruption.

That's all for today - I'm off to make voodoo dolls of witless customs agents.

o, and keep an eye out for new posts from a while ago - I'm working on catching up on our blogging from while Beulah was visiting us. I'll post them in the order they occurred, so the new ones won't always be at the top.