53. Queue jumping

Wednesday, 13 February 2019

Bogota, Colombia

Plenty of road closures in the early morning drive to Quito airport due to the Presidential visit. Quito’s side streets busy with the rush hour of people walking to work. Plenty of street stalls selling sundry stuff. Traffic is a nightmare and told it will take an hour to the airport. It does.

Arrive Bogota. Have decided to book an organised tour of Colombia rather than go it alone for personal security more than anything plus ease of logistics. Not been too bad in South America as I’ve been to most of the countries I’ve just gone through before. But Colombia and Central America opted for guided tours.

Long queue for immigration. Of at least a good hour I reckon. Don’t do queues. Try the old…’I’ve got a tight connection’ routine and go through the diplomatic channel which is no queue. And, as most of you know, I was born to be in the Diplomatic Corp. There’ll be huffing and puffing from people in the village theatre group when they read that.

Young immigration girl looks at passport. It’s a British passport. Not a Diplomatic passport. She’s not having it. Go through the ‘I’ve got a tight connection’ routine. Decide it’s a bus connection. She stumps me when she asks to see said bus ticket that is leaving in half an hour (it’s not, I made it up as a try on). Don’t have any bus ticket. Tell her my agent is waiting with it landside. She’s adamant. I ain’t trying that trick on her and am directed to the long queue to wait in line.

Harumph.

Try the flight crew channel as that’s empty. Another young immigration girl. There’s clearly something wrong with me. Taurean charm is not working. She’s not buying the ‘I’ve got a tight connection’ routine either and demands to see my non existent bus ticket. Am sent to the back of the queue to wait in line.

Harumph.

Really can’t be bothered queueing.

Third time lucky. Walk down the disabled and aged channel.

With. A. Limp.

Straight to yet another young immigration girl.

Things are looking up when she immediately scans my passport. Needs a Bogota address to input. But for the life of me can’t remember hotel name.

Have to download a file from an email on my phone. Should take seconds.

But there’s crappy phone reception in the immigration hall.

It takes minutes.

She’s losing patience and pointing to the back of the queue.

Eventually. Do an internet search instead of airport hotels which is quicker than waiting for details to download.

That’s it. Movich Buro 26 hotel (https://www.movichhotels.com/esp/bogota/buro26/Pages/index.aspx#). Phew.

Passport stamped.

And that’s how you avoid a 1hr queue.

Word in the shires of England is that a lucky few have started receiving postcards from Antarctica. Only taken seven weeks to get there.