Eleven years ago this very day, I went to Ecuador. I'd only flown anywhere for the first time the week before, and the journey was one from hell. I seem to remember having said this before, but hey, I'm getting older and so am allowed to repeat myself more! On the flight from Paris to Bogotá I was sat next to a very drunk (actually everyone on the place except me and the staff was very drunk) Norwegian, who saw I was reading Lord of the Rings and kept saying loudly, "BIL...BO....BAGGINS!" and laughing hysterically. When the cabin depressurised in Bogotá I was swiftly overcome with altitude sickness which left me somewhate incapacitated for a while. Then I got lost in the airport, which was being rebuilt. Then they told me I had to go straight to the gate even though there were five hours before my next flight...not to the nice cafés. And then the security staff robbed me. They told me it must have been the fifty japanese business men who went through before me, and had they their bags checked by sniffer dogs
. I spent an hour in the police department, where the security chief told me I wouldn't believe how corrupt his staff were
, was given a bottle of water by him for my dehydration, and escorted to the gate, where I fell asleep and almost missed the flight to Quito.
Sometimes, when the buses are on strike, or my train is cancelled, or my flight a little delayed, it helps to remember going to Ecuador. It makes me a bit nicer to the staff when I remember they're not robbing me. Personally, anyway.
Just thought I'd share.
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