Saturday, July 14, 2007

CARNET plus 5

It feels good to be back in Arequipa again after spending 4 days in Lima waiting for my CARNET. On Thursday morning I had an 8am appointment at the Immigrations office. After the obligatory photo and fingerprinting, it was only a 2 hour wait for my Peruvian CARNET.

With CARNET in hand, I headed off to check on the status of my shipment which has been stuck in Lima for the last 6-7 weeks. I talked briefly with Nestor, the gentleman who is handling the shipment, and left him my Passport and CARNET as he was going to be presenting the paperwork to the Port Authority.
Later on that same afternoon I received a phone call informing me that it was illegal to bring my 2001 Suzuki dirt bike into Peru because it is more than 5 year old. YES, evidently there is a law against bringing cars or motorcycles into Peru that are more than 5 years old. I have no idea why, but it's a law.


Fortunately for me, Nestor said that the Port Authority might be able to work around it and "make an exception" just this one time. I was also told that there will be some "extra fees" for committing such a nefarious crime... All that to say, perhaps this next week my meager possessions (which I have paid for twice now in fees and duty) will be on their way to Pucallpa.

3 comments:

Ed said...

Hi David
I hope that I won't be guilty by association for writing this note to you. It sounds as if you are a heinous criminal afterall. Your parents are staying with us for a few days, and we have indentured them as our servants. Your Mom has been cooking and painting while your Dad has been helping us with woodworking projects and moving cardboard. Tonight they are showing us a movie (maybe just so we will let them off the hook for all these work bees. Hope all is going well in Peru for you, that you get that great yellow bike soon, and that you become fluent in Spanish sooner than expected so you can take to the sky! God Bless Tom Wigton

Ed said...

Hey Dave,
Congratulations on your CARNET. Big step in the legal side of things! I mailed a 2 lbs. package to Arequipa this past week for you. We'll see how long that takes!
Mom

Unknown said...

Dave, that bike it beautiful. I'm SO jealous.