The civil registry strike completely disrupted our itinerary. Without the vehicle registration documents, my car couldn’t leave Chile. When one door closes, another opens, so we started planning Plan B. One day while browsing the internet, I spotted cheap flights from Santiago to Cuba. After thinking it over, I said to her, “Let’s go!” We had always intended to visit this distant and mysterious place when we first planned our South American trip. So we bought tickets to Cuba for a week later.
At that time, my knowledge of Cuba was limited to Buena Vista Social Club, classic cars, cigars, and, of course, Che Guevara. In the days after booking the tickets, searching online became a daily routine—I had to plan everything from booking homestays and attractions to arranging transportation between cities. Internet access in Cuba is extremely limited and very expensive.
Since Cuba and the U.S. are long-time adversaries, exchanging U.S. dollars incurs a 10% fee. Canadian dollars and euros are more widely accepted in Cuba. The problem? We only had U.S. dollars—talk about problems piling up every single day!!
Eventually, we figured out a solution: withdraw Chilean pesos from an ATM first, then exchange them for euros. Most ATMs in Chile have a withdrawal limit of CLP 200,000 per transaction. After searching for a while, we finally found one bank with a CLP 800,000 limit, which saved us quite a bit on fees.
During our few days in Santiago, besides researching and exchanging money, we also needed to find a parking spot to leave our car for three weeks. Our worst-case plan was to park at the airport, but the cost for three weeks was nearly CLP 160,000—and it was outdoors. We asked at many parking lots in downtown Santiago, but either the prices were too high or overnight parking wasn’t allowed. Just when we were about to give up, we found one that offered monthly rates—for CLP 110,000. Using our limited Spanish plus Google Translate, we managed to communicate with them.
“ Kuangenta mensual?”
“sí”
“
“Ciento diez mil”
The rest of the conversation relied entirely on the great Google Translate, and in the end we rented for three weeks for CLP80000.(Later, when we got to Easter Island, we found an even cheaper parking spot) Now everything is finally arranged.
The flight was at 12:35 AM, but we arrived at the airport a little after 8:00 AM. The airport was nearly empty, and at first we thought it was because there were fewer flights at night. Little did we know, the real surprise was yet to come....So the airport is on strike today!!!! I wanted to go on a trip to the UK, but the civil registry is on strike, so I’m not going. Now the airport is also on strike — are you messing with me or what!!
That night, the airport was extremely chaotic. Ground staff, immigration, and security were not working, and all passengers were crowded in front of the restricted area of the airport, waiting for them to resume work.We can only wait, lonely until the deep of night...It was not until after 11 o'clock that they finally started working, slowly allowing travelers to enter. But soon after, they closed the door again, and at this point, the travelers began to get anxious, fearing they might miss their flights. Some even started crying..We sensed that something was wrong, so we held hands and walked forward, feeling as if we were fleeing. We slowly pushed our way through the crowd, but the crowd separated us. I managed to squeeze into the restricted area, but she was still stuck in the crowd. The staff wouldn't let me go back, so I shouted at him, "She is coming with me!!"she is coming with me!!!" Then the staff member pushed her toward me.
It was not easy to get through customs, and by then it was already 12:15. We ran desperately toward the boarding gate and finally made it onto the plane. The plane was less than half full, so there must have been many people who didn't make it. Then the plane took off right on time...The trip to Cuba has begun.
To be continued....
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