In Argentina 22nd November - 5th December
The hotel was nice. Very nice. But there was a major problem that I discovered on the first week. The sequence of events was such. The taxi driver would pull into the enclosed forecourt drive and the uniformed commissioner would open the door for me. The driver, meanwhile, would get out and go around to the front drivers door and retrieve my bag. This he would give to the commissioner. The commissioner would then take this to the door and hand it to the door porter who would then take it into the hotel. After the first day he knew I was staying in the hotel and would hand it over to the room porter. I would then stop him actually taking it up to the room at this time. It was costing me a fortune in tips. So I persuaded the driver to stop just outside the entrance so I could go in and smile politely at all these grasping hands, keeping a tight hold of my bag.
The only time I actually managed to avoid all this when the taxi pulled into the enclosed road, was when the car in front of us. Unloaded 2 young females wearing skimpy tops and short (short) skirts. The commissioner was still handed my bag by my driver but unthinkingly gave it to me whilst looking at the girls. I made a run for the door before he realised I had not given him a tip.
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After loosing my bag (the same one as mentioned above), I went to the local police station to report the loss. This is needed not to recover the bag but to put it on any insurance claim form. As the man behind the counter opened up the glass window (he is called a Civilian Enquiry Officer, so not a real policeman), I noticed some loose change on the counter and drew his attention to them. He counted out the amount (all of 20p, about 32 cents) and then opened up a large book and wrote down the amount and where it was found.
"What's your name?", he asked, "you found it".
I gave him my name.
"And what would you like us to do with the money if it is not claimed?".
That's when I found that if the money, all of 20p, was not claimed in 3 weeks I could have it. It will go to charity instead. (All this for 20p).
Finally I was told that I needed to ring the police station responsible (the nearest one to the hotel where I had lost the bag). The number was wrong. When I did get a number they were so busy that they asked if they could ring me back, and asked me what it was about. I told them. Half an hour later the phone rang.
"Hayes police station can I speak to Mr Powell?".
"Speaking", I replied.
"I am ringing about your report of a missing pushbike".
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