Not So Golden in Brussels

My sister, my nephew and I took a weeklong vacation to London to celebrate Christmas and decided to take a day trip to Brussels. Europe is like a story book with medieval villages and cobbled stone alleys full of little souvenirs shops, outdoor Christmas markets, the Christmas lights, the jolly atmosphere brought out the Christmas spirits, it is the BEST TIME of the year.  Brussels is beautiful as usual, though bone chilling cold the day we visited. We managed to have a good visit, did the sightseeing thing with one HUGE hiccup.

We signed up for a day trip to Brussels with Golden Tours based in London. The package provided round-trip Eurostar tickets and Hop-On Hop-Off tickets in Brussels so you can travel at your own pace. I had used Golden Tours before and never had any problems.

It was a good day visiting Brussels, though I had this "thing" going on in my head even before I left the US..."Shirley, don't miss the train, don't miss the train". It just kept repeating in my head to the point that I became worried and decided that it was a warning of some sorts so I shall take heed. We were at the Brussels Eurostar station at 6:00pm for the 7:52pm departure back to London; unless all 3 of us felt asleep in the departure lounge, there was no way I would miss this train.

WELL, being so early at the check-in, we handed our boarding passes to the gate agent and were told our boarding passes were invalid, our boarding passes do not exist in the Eurostar computer system. The gate agent referred us to the customer service for further assistance. The customer service guy said "Let me guess, you bought these tickets from some tour company that starts with the word "Golden"?" I produced the welcome package from Golden Tours and the guy said there were 8 people issued with fraudulent tickets from the same tour company last week. He photocopied our tickets, called the line manager and referred us back to the gate to see if the line manager can offer us any help.

Eurostar refused to redeem our boarding passes and I completely understand. It is not their responsibility to honor any fraudulent tickets. However, learning that was the last train from Brussels back to London and that we had a plane to catch the next morning back to the US, I had no choice but to purchase genuine Eurostar tickets at the gate for the price of €686 so we could get on this last train to London.

We met 2 other tourists on the same self-paced tour at the departure lounge and learned that their tickets were fraudulent as well. They too, had to purchase tickets at the last minute to get back to London; WORST, they signed up for the same self-paced tour with Golden Tours from London to Paris with departure date the next morning.... Good Luck to them. I regret not asking for their email address, perhaps we could have exchanged info on the tickets situation.

It was a 2-hour train ride from Brussels to London. After an hour ride and once I calmed down, I took a walk to the seats of my original boarding passes, yes, those fake ones issued by Golden Tours, to see if those seats were double-booked, to see who was sitting at those seats, just to satisfy my curiosity. Those seats were empty. I asked the family sitting across from “my” seats to see if may be those people were at the dining car or went to the bathroom, etc. The family said nobody was sitting at those seats.

I had written up a document with photocopies of the fake boarding passes, the real boarding passes I purchased with receipts and all. I intend to request a reimbursement for my €686 extra expenses.  The outcome is yet to be determined, will see how that turns out. Stay tune…..

3 months later......

Is it possible a big outfit like Eurostar make a mistake? 

Eurostar was gracious enough to own up to a mistake in their system, which nullified Golden Tours' tickets. Eurostar issued me a full refund of €686. I was glad the issue was resolved. I wonder how many of the other tourists who did not file the complaint, thus never get their refund and never know the truth, even though the truth is out there.

46 Dresses and a Love Stone

I was shopping at Sou Wester, the lone gift shop-restaurant, tourists stop at the Peggy’s Point Lighthouse on the rocky but picturesque Peggy’s Cove in Nova Scotia.  Not paying attention to the line that blocked the 2^nd floor, I dropped off all the souvenirs from my arms by the cashiers and announced I would return shortly to pay for all that after I took a look-see on the 2^nd floor. She looked at me puzzled but replied “sure, let me opened it for you”……did I realize then that the 2^nd floor was CLOSED. Oops!!! But the lady was kind enough to oblige.

I walked around the 2^nd floor while everybody on the tour was having breakfast downstairs at the restaurant. It was cold and rainy outside, gray sky above the rocky coast with a light house, as if a Steven King story was about to unfold…..  The 2^nd floor was just additional junky stuff, T-shirts, toys, plush stuffed lobsters, postcards and a basket full of colored gem stones. 

I stopped in front of the basket of gem stones, a pink stone polished into the shape of a heart with the word “LOVE” etched on it, caught my eyes. I picked it up and starred at it, turned it around only to see the label $8.99. Decided I don’t need it, got a good collection of color gem stones going already and don’t need to spend another $10.00 on a small stone I have no use for. Put the stone back in the basket and went look-see in other corners. The old wooden floor board cracked along with every move I made. 

Somehow I circled back and picked up that same stone again, the pink stone with the word “LOVE” etched onto it. I really don’t need another pink gem stone, had no reason to spend the money on another stone but somehow, something is egging me on to buy the stone…….if you don’t buy it now, you may never return to Peggy’s Cove to get another one like this one and if you don’t need it, so what, just $8.99 + tax, big deal…… FINE, I bought the stone. Did not feel much connection to it, tossed it in my luggage, brought it home, left it on my desk among the small collection of stones I already have.

3 weeks went by……

JS was going on a Guatemala mission trip with his church. He was telling us that Ms. Bettye had made 46 little girls dresses for his church group to take to Guatemala as gifts to the local kids. I was fascinated and curious so JS showed me those dresses already packed and loaded in the back of his car; 46 little dresses, 46 different pieces of cloth. 46 different patterns. 46 dresses, each is unique and precious.  Each dress was hand-made with love.

It then dawned on me the pink stone I bought from Peggy’s’ Cove was NOT for me, it was for Ms. Bettye. I was merely the carrier to bring it home for Ms. Bettye. She IS the rightful owner of that pink stone of LOVE from Nova Scotia.  She graciously accepted the stone.

Sometimes it is the way events unfold that made me pause to contemplate life; seemingly unrelated events woven into the fabric of life, how places from faraway circled back to the home front, it is the mystery of life that makes me wonder exactly how does this thing called LIFE works???

Air Travel Adventure

A dull moment is always welcome…..

On my way to Canada…..

Arrived at the airport for my flight to Toronto 2 hours early except the flight did not arrive on time and was delayed for over an hour. By the time it landed, its cargo door was jammed; disembarked passengers had to wait by the gate to get their checked-in carry-on. Needless to say, I had already missed my connecting flight from Toronto to Halifax even before my arrival at Toronto. But I have to give Air Canada some credits, they already booked me on the next flight to Halifax and handed me the new boarding pass shortly after I stepped off the flight at Toronto. With the flight situation,  I also missed the pre-arranged pick-up at the Halifax Airport. Had to find my way from the airport to my hotel in the evening.

On my way back from Canada….

Got up at 2:30 am. Dragged myself and my luggage down to the lobby by 3:45 am. Taxi driver picked me up at 3:55 am. Arrived at the Halifax Airport by 4:25 am. Boarded the 5:30 am flight from Halifax to Toronto. Had almost 2 hours to spare for my connecting flight from Toronto to Nashville.  The 8:50 am Toronto flight should bring me to Nashville by 9:47 am local time which would have given me the whole day to do whatever I need to do…..which was my plan. BUT….. as in most situations in life, being flexible is a MUST.

As fate had it, even though I have done my part and done everything correctly, somehow it was not ME who is in charge of my life, circumstances beyond my control plays a HUGE part. The only thing I can control is how I react, you can fight it, be bitter about it, laugh at it, or go with the flow. Fate is like the weather, it pays no attention to YOU. It does its own thing regardless of how YOU feel or want or wish.

Upon arrival at the Halifax terminal, all Air Canada check-in kiosks were down, nothing was working. The AC personnel were not in their best mood, not friendly like the folks I met during my journey but then I understand, hey, we were all here at 4:30 AM. A grumpy AC guy told me to go to another less-grumpy AC guy and the less-grumpy AC guy checked me in. It seemed like he had the only working computer. He was standing at a stand-alone mobile stand in the middle of all the down check-in kiosks. The boarding pass for my Toronto to BNA showed seat GTE (Gate). I had no assigned seat and was told to get seat assignment at the boarding gate upon arrival at Toronto. Assuming their computer was down, I did not pay much attention. Upon arrival at Toronto, I saw the check-in line to US was a mile-long due to the Air Canada down computer system. Thank God I had 2 hours in between flights so I stood in line only to hear an AC person calling for passengers from connecting flights to follow her to the head of the line. Since we had already been checked-in from our originating location, there was no need to stand in that long line again. We followed her and headed straight to the US passport control. I got through the maze of security checkpoints with no problem. After that I stopped by random AC ticket counters along the way to gate F98, the very last gate at a faraway terminal where my connecting flight to BNA was. Nobody was able to issue me a new boarding pass with assigned seat, every counter told me to go straight to the boarding gate (F98), only the gate agent @ F98 could issue a new boarding pass because the flight was overbooked.

At the last AC counter I stopped along the way, a AC lady with a kind face told me there was a chance I might not get on the flight because it was overbooked and if so, she could book me into a nice hotel and spend a day in Toronto to catch another flight tomorrow because the next flight from Toronto to Nashville at 5:30 pm was also overbooked and that I would not be able to get on it anyway. Not the most encouraging news but I thought positive and told her I will get on this flight and confidently headed straight to F98 to be the 1^st in line for the next available seat. Upon my arrival, F98 was being used by United to board their flight to Denver. The AC gate agent did not arrive until 8:35 am to board the 8:50 am flight, she was pushing it by time.  The white hair old lady did her job most efficiently. She boarded everybody with a boarding pass (with seat assigned) and told the 7 of us with GTE on our boarding passes to wait and not to worry, there were available seats.  A guy in shorts and flip-flops apparently was traveling to Nashville for some convention or on business because he was talking to 3 other (2 men, 1 woman) behind me, a middle-eastern looking guy was 2^nd in line, followed by some guy named Stahl rounded up at the very end. The flip-flop guy said he heard the ticket agent back at the terminal ticket counter said she counted 42 out of 50, so there should be 8 empty seats left to fill the plane, even though the flight was overbooked. I was slightly encouraged despite of the fact I felt otherwise, nevertheless, I was 1^st in the queue so I should get the 1^st available seat on the flight. I purchased the ticket back on 2/22/2015. I confirmed my flight 2 days ago. I showed up on time, even the 1^st in queue for seat assignment at F98. By all accounts, I should get a seat on this flight.

When senior citizen processed my boarding pass, she said “sorry, your name did not come up….next please”. I moved aside and let people behind me check-in and one by one, they got their boarding passes. I stood next to senior citizen looking at her computer screen, she typed in some code from each boarding pass and the computer displayed a name and printed the boarding pass, she was merely a user, an in-between to type in some code, if the name came up on the screen, a boarding pass with seat assignment was printed. The last guy, a young guy with no smile, named Stahl, got the last boarding pass, the 50^th passenger for the 50-seat flight and with that, senior citizen closed the gate and I WAS THE ONLY ONE LEFT BEHIND WITH NO SEAT assigned, standing in an empty terminal with gate F98 in front of me CLOSED. To say I was frustrated was an understatement. Senior citizen told me to return to the customer service station and that they already had alternative arrangements for me. She apologized for my inconvenience but what good did it do.

Well, I returned to the kind face lady at the AC customer service station, blessed her heart, she even paged me as I walked the long walk back to her station from F98. She said “I told you, you might not get on that flight, I was trying to prepare you for this outcome.” I told her I was frustrated, why me, I bought the ticket back in February, it was not like I bought it last night, obviously the seat assignment was NOT first come first serve, though I told her there must be a reason, I just have to get over it and I was trying to get over it but it sure was frustrating; basically, I got up at 2:45 am for NOTHING, should have just stayed in Nova Scotia for the chilly weather and forget about the hassle!!!

Had to give Air Canada some credits for being one-step-ahead. By the time I arrived at her AC customer service counter, she already had my alternate flight boarding passes ready. I was to fly from Toronto to Newark, with an hour and 20 minutes in-between flights, I would then fly from Newark to Nashville, even before the next AC flight from Toronto to Nashville landed.  She included a $10 meal voucher for use at any restaurants inside the terminal, so I could have breakfast before my 12:30 pm flight to Newark. 

As I was having a breakfast sandwich while sitting at an empty gate at Pearson, I looked at the package the AC customer service agent gave me and in the letter it stated AC will compensate me their maximum compensation $ for my inconvenience because instead of a 9:35 am arrival, I will not arrive at my intended destination until 5:30pm. Compensation was calculated based on the number of hours delayed. Obviously my delay had max-ed out their maximum compensation!!!

Did not know this until I got on the flight from Toronto to Newark that she also booked me in 1^st class for my 55-minute flight from Toronto to Newark. And this was the very 1^st time I traveled 1^st class after having visited 47 countries. The AC flight to Newark departed the gate on-time but was delayed for 20 minutes on the runaway due to traffic at Newark and upon arrival, we were delayed some more at Newark before we got to a gate, it shrink my connection time from 1:20 to under an hour. From Newark, I had to go from one terminal to another and thus, had to go through security check (take off shoes and all that…) but Thank God, the 3:27 pm flight from Newark to BNA was delayed, I ended up having time to spare except in Newark, each terminal is very small, confined to a circular structure; to walk around the circular terminal takes less than a minute, hence, walking to exercise, as opposed to long corridor like the Pearson terminal, was useless, plus the Newark terminal was over-packed, it was so crowded, it was like a mini city of its own.

As the gate agent scanned my Newark to BNA boarding pass, the alarm sounded and declared my boarding pass invalid. The very nice and well-spoken gate agent said the computer showed I did not have a valid seat on the flight. Thank God again I did not throw anything away….. my arrival terminal @ Newark was a JetBlue terminal so the TV only showed JetBlue arrivals/departures. I went to a United ticket counter and asked for the departure gate and they issued a new boarding pass for me and that was the boarding pass I used to board the Newark to BNA flight.  I immediately stuck my hand in my travel bag and out came the original boarding pass, stapled with my flight interruption coupon from AC. He explained without that flight interruption coupon, I would not be allowed to board the plane even though the new boarding pass was issued from an United ticket counter inside the Newark Airport….. and with that little coupon, everything was all good from that point and on.  Lesson learned…. DO NOT THROW AWAY any boarding passes until you get home.

Finally got on the BNA flight, arrived at 5:30 pm, except my luggage did not make the transfer from the Toronto flight to my Newark flight but it was on the next inbound Newark flight some 40 minutes later (landed at 6:30 pm). BNA was crowded, people everywhere. There appeared to be some issue with baggage handling this evening because the screen display of flight info did not match the luggage tags on the belt, lots of confusion among passengers.  I thought my luggage was lost but the United baggage claim guy told me it was on the next inbound Newark flight and when that display above the baggage claim was replaced by another flight info and the baggage gate came down and the light was turned off; I returned to the United baggage claim guy; pony-tailed (very helpful pony-tailed young guy) said the info was wrong, mismatched on the TV above the baggage belt, the Newark flight’s luggage had not been unloaded yet, should be another 10 minutes; so my luggage was not lost after all and sure enough, say 20 minutes later. Anyhow, it was 7:30 pm when I left the airport….

Recap…..

1. Flight delayed going to Canada
2. Missed connecting flight to Halifax
3. Missed pre-arranged airport pick-up, had to find my way in a new city at night.
4. Computer down….. Had no seat on flight from Canada back home
5. Being the only ONE not get picked to get on the flight (ticket purchased 4 months ago)
6. Got to fly 1^st class from Canada back to US (even though it was only 55 minutes)
7. Connecting flight in US was delayed
8. Almost did not get on the connecting flight due to INVALID boarding pass
9. Luggage did not make it on the same flight
10. Luggage belt TV screen showing flights that do not match the luggage tags on the belt

Oh well, despite of such mess, it was a great vacation, a true vacation, no sense of emergency, laid-back, great scenery, perfect weather/temperature, good food, good company, incredibly friendly and genuine Arcadians. It was a great vacation indeed; minus the To and From. 

Paranormal Turkey 

The tour was gathering at the hotel lobby for an early morning departure from Istanbul to Ankara.  It was a small local hotel located at the end of an alley in the Old City. Taxi will have to stop at the top of the alley for the tourists to drag their luggage down the alley to get to the hotel, but it is within walking distance to the Hippodrome area where the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, the Cistern were all located, minor inconvenience but friendly hotel staff and excellent location.

Back to our early morning departure……. I was standing with my super gigantic luggage by the front desk near the entrance and the electronic double doors kept opening and closing. Our tour guide suggested perhaps my luggage was too close to the sensor causing the door to repeatedly open and close.  No problem, we (my luggage and I) shall move further indoor so the front lobby glass doors won’t go crazy.

After “we” moved much further inside the hotel, nowhere near the front entrance, those glass doors open and close AGAIN on its own. This time I noticed nobody was near those doors and then I caught “it”. I saw a floating white mist flowing in waves from near the glass doors to the interior of the hotel.  I could not believe it so I blinked my eyes, STILL THERE, the snake like white mist floating from left to right in front of my very eyes, I blinked again and it disappeared, by then, the hair on my arms were standing up, though I do not feel any negativity nor fear, perhaps just an old employee coming to work his/her shift at the hotel…….

Fast forward several days……we left Cappadocia and flew to Izmir, rode an hour to arrive at Selcuk after midnight. Another local hotel, quaint, cozy, no elevator, my room was on the 3^rd floor. My room was basic but spacious, the window at the corner looked out to the castle at the Basilica of St. John. The old wooden closet caught my attention. I opened it to make sure it was empty and it was.  Too tired to care, I went to bed with the bathroom light on.

We spent the afternoon at a mountain town named Sirince, famous for its silk products because the silkworms ate the local pomegranate and produced high quality silk.  Our group attended a wine tasting event and I tasted the best mulberry wine, so I bought a bottle to take home.  While busy “contributing to the local economy” throughout the day, I brought back to the hotel 6 boxes of Turkish Delights for friends and family, several silk scarfs as Christmas presents and a bottle of mulberry wine. I carefully laid all 3 items on my bed next to the wall, placing the wine in between the 6 boxes of candies by the wall side of the bed and the silk scarfs on the other side with the bottle of wine in between.  I went to the bathroom to take off my makeup only to hear a LOUD BANG.  I thought may be it was fireworks outside because of the Sacrifice Feast national holiday.  I came out from the bathroom only to see a large puddle of water underneath my bed. I realized the water pipe must have burst and that it was not fireworks. I put on my tennis shoes and were about to go downstairs to the front desk and request a room change, before I realized the local water smelled awful GOOD, the local water smelled wonderful, the local water smelled familiar, the local water WAS MY BOTTLE OF MULBERRY WINE…

What happened? I looked under the bed and found the wine bottle between the bed and the wall, it rolled over the 6 boxes of candies, fell between the “not wide enough” space between my bed and the wall, fell off the bed and broke into pieces to release the fragrance. It certainly smelled great but I was puzzled as to how it happened, felt slightly uncomfortable, spirits can’t eat but spirits can smell and the wine certainly smelled good.

A Russian Affair

Russia was an interesting country to visit. Their museums were world class.

St. Petersburg is known as “the Venice of the North”. It was the former imperial capital of Russia. I went on an evening canal cruise after dinner and sailed along the Neva River and its canals. Our tour rented this private boat, it came with an accordion player dressed in Russian costumes while our local guide Natasha provided all the commentaries. Vodka, Champagne and orange juice were served. I braced the chill and went up on the deck to enjoy the surrounding scenery. After dark, I got to enjoy the same scenery illuminated. It was beautiful.  St. Petersburg is the former city of the Russian Tsars, lined with world class architecture. It looked very European, reminded me of Vienna, and nothing like a communist place. St. Petersburg was mesmerizing.

Daryl came introduced himself and sat down next to me. He told me he worked for the government and lived in Korea. Daryl told me he had 3 ex-wives and there would be a 4^th one. He was traveling with his sister on this trip.  I noticed his “sister” turned around briefly to look at us and she looked mad. She never said a word nor introduced herself on that cruise. (I introduced myself later after the cruise.) Someone offered me a shot glass of vodka+champagne drink. It took me a couple of minutes to swallow that mouthful. Vodka is a strong drink.

So what was the adventure in this encounter?  Well, one day when we were leaving the hotel for our morning sightseeing, someone mentioned the “brother-and-sister” was nowhere to be found, should we wait for them before we took off? Veronica, our tour director, looked puzzled. She asked what “brother-and-sister” we were referring to. She had no clue what we were talking about. It was then that we learned Daryl and Vicki were friends who met once a year outside the country; they were not brother and sister like they introduced themselves to the rest of the group. Well, that did it for us. The rest of the tour group started having these private jokes among ourselves like “yo, we spotted the brother and sister holding hands while shopping at the supermarket across the hotel”, etc. Daryl and Vicki continued to “pretend” they were siblings, not knowing we found out from our tour guide about their “sibling relationships”. Some people just like to make things complicated. Had they just introduced themselves as friends traveling together, nobody would have paid any attention and the tour must go on. Nevertheless it gave the rest of the tour group a good chuckle.  Morals of the story, don’t lie, it always backfire J

Serendipity

Allow me to share with you my case file of “You never know who you run into……..”

[Case File #1] You never know who you run into, especially in a foreign country…. I ran into the tour director from my 2006 tour to Finland and Russia, in Riga, Latvia during my 2012 visit to the Baltic. Veronica from The Hague, Netherlands, speaks Dutch, fluent Russian, fluent English and who knows what other languages she is fluent in.

A tour bus was pulling into our hotel as our tour bus was leaving for a Church Organ Concert at the Riga Dome Cathedral on a dark and stormy Wednesday evening. I noticed the logo on the incoming bus and saw the lady with the microphone speaking at the front of that bus and thought to myself, that looked exactly like Veronica from my 2006 Russian tour. No way, no how, it can't be.......I was in disbelief.......

I was hoping to run into Veronica since obviously we were staying at the same hotel in Riga. Well, if and only if all my wishes came true this easy.  I sat down for breakfast the next morning and guess who took the table next to mine?  I introduced myself and asked if she remembered me (yeah right, that was 6 years ago and several thousand tourists since !!!). Veronica stared at me for about 2 seconds, a big smile spread across her face, she said “I remembered the face and I remembered the voice….”.  We spent breakfast catching up!!! I reminded her of all the “questionable” characters on that Russian tour. We had a good laugh reminiscing.  It was incredible to run into the same tour guide so so far away from home. Just what are the chances, but it happened.

[Case File #2] You never know who you run into, especially in a foreign country….I met Osman back in 2002 during my visit to Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria. He was our tour director, young, tall, dark and handsome, spoke 5 languages. I was lucky to have met up with that group of tourists back in 2002. It was Thanksgiving time. Christmas markets were everywhere, Budapest, Prague, Munich, Nuremburg, Salzsburg, Vienna, the atmosphere was festive, it was magical. Everybody was so much fun, slightly crazy with great sense of humor, and all got along so well, despite of the constant showers and less-than-desirable temperature, we had a great time and named our memorable tour “Budapest 2002”, the best tour ever. Osman told us we were the best-est and the fun-est group of tourists he ever led. It was from Osman I learned of the country Slovenia, his home. Osman and I hit it off, we enjoyed each other’s companion, and we danced the night away in Budapest. But all good things come to an end. He had other tours to lead. I left Munich and came home for Christmas. We wrote a few times but life goes on, we move on.

Fast forward to 2011, 9 years later.  I went on a vacation to see Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia. I asked myself what are the chances of running into Osman at his home country? Sure, Slovenia only has 2 million residents; surely I will run into Osman on the streets, the shopping malls or the grocery stores (I am being sarcastic!). I stepped off the plane at Ljubljana Airport, walked through passport control and out the gate into the arrival lounge. I looked up and met his eyes. Standing 15 feet away in front of me was the one and only, Osman. He was the tour director for my Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia tour. He was there to pick us up. I was in disbelief. Osman said he recognized me immediately. We greeted each other with astonishment, just what were the chances of running into him at his home turf or anywhere on planet earth after 9 years of separation??? He did not know I was coming. I did not know he would be my tour guide once again. Osman told me he was not scheduled to lead this tour but the tour company made a last minute change and there he was, and that it was the last tour for his 2011 tour season. After this tour, he would return to be a ski instructor on the Julian Alps until the new tour season began the following spring. He was heavier than he was 9 years ago and I have certainly aged much since we last met but it was good to see him again, my old friend J

My Peruvian Mayhem : Adventure #4

Last but not least.  We were visiting the “Museo of Gold” in Lima when an earthquake hit. The ground floor of the museum displays armors and weaponry. The Inca gold and the mummies are stored in the basement. I was in the basement gift shop when the shaking began. I could see the glassware rocking on the shelves, the ground was rumbling, 2 locals took off running away from the gift shop. I stood still, waiting for the shaking to subside. It only lasted for a couple of seconds, but the experience was unforgettable. Nothing broke. No injury. No alarm was sounded. I carried on to finish my shopping. Life goes on as we know it.  After the hostage crisis, it takes a lot more to scare me. Though I am not sure if it is a good thing or not.......

Would I visit Peru again? Absolutely. If I can physically hike up 1,000 steps in 12,600’ above sea level, sure, why not? The Inca Moray and the salt fields in the village Maras were amazing. It is one of those moments unless you experience it first hand, all the readings, postcards, and TV programs would not do it justice. You have to experience it for yourself to truly appreciate the beauty of the earth. I enjoyed this trip as much as I did with my other travel, have no regrets and would encourage others to do the same.  I cannot predict when will I be in the wrong place or in the right place, might as well enjoy myself as much as I could J