Wednesday, September 15, 2004
xj Returns to Stone Age
One thing I have noticed about the Brazilians is that they really, really don't do internet.
I wasted the best part of a day trying to book a flight to the Iguacu Falls online, before giving up in disgust. Varig inisted on a ridiculous notice period of several days before flying, one of their two competitors doesn't do etickets and the other competitor had a functional website and did do online tickets but refused to accept that there are actually people in the world that don't have a Brazilian social security number. In the end I spent most of another day trying to find the travel agents listed in the Lonely Planet guide, none of whom actually exist.
You'll be pleased to hear that in the end, I found myself a nice package and I am going to the falls next Sunday. I even get to cross over into Argentina where I'm told the view is even better. (Slowly but surely, I'm colouring that map red...)
Anyway, what with that and having a life, I haven't blogged since Saturday. There's also the fact that Rio has not very many internet cafes and they all seem to close at ten in the evening. Therefore, expect blogging to be pretty light until I get back to London, which will be September 28th.
(And when I do get back I will have about twenty-four hours to rewrite my proposal for my Orgulous Business School Project. My supervisor just emailed me to say he is throwing out about half the proposal. Nao legal* as we say in Rio....)
*"Not nice"
Update: I, xj, am running on Rio, ie Atlantic, time. This blog is running on London, ie GMT+1hr, time. Hence the time of 1 am on the post where I complained that no internet cafes were open later than 10pm. Just so we're clear...
I wasted the best part of a day trying to book a flight to the Iguacu Falls online, before giving up in disgust. Varig inisted on a ridiculous notice period of several days before flying, one of their two competitors doesn't do etickets and the other competitor had a functional website and did do online tickets but refused to accept that there are actually people in the world that don't have a Brazilian social security number. In the end I spent most of another day trying to find the travel agents listed in the Lonely Planet guide, none of whom actually exist.
You'll be pleased to hear that in the end, I found myself a nice package and I am going to the falls next Sunday. I even get to cross over into Argentina where I'm told the view is even better. (Slowly but surely, I'm colouring that map red...)
Anyway, what with that and having a life, I haven't blogged since Saturday. There's also the fact that Rio has not very many internet cafes and they all seem to close at ten in the evening. Therefore, expect blogging to be pretty light until I get back to London, which will be September 28th.
(And when I do get back I will have about twenty-four hours to rewrite my proposal for my Orgulous Business School Project. My supervisor just emailed me to say he is throwing out about half the proposal. Nao legal* as we say in Rio....)
*"Not nice"
Update: I, xj, am running on Rio, ie Atlantic, time. This blog is running on London, ie GMT+1hr, time. Hence the time of 1 am on the post where I complained that no internet cafes were open later than 10pm. Just so we're clear...
