Big Plans for the 25th

Feb 25th

Wonderful day yet again. Not a cloud in sight. Slept well but there were 2 things I had to do today and I feared one of them would be a big hassle. So I got up at 7 and began the fight on thing #1. My clothes.

The story of this one is simple. I had packed, quite cleverly I thought, only enough clothes for about 8 days. My plan had been to get the hotel to do a laundry run about ½ way through my adventure. Sure it would cost a bit of money but it would allow me to pack 15 books instead of 15 pairs of socks.

A great plan, eh?

So, on Monday, I bagged up everything in the resort laundry bag, filled out the official form (which was surprisingly long and detailed) and then phoned downstairs to ask them to please pick it up. Then off I went for food and blogging (my morning ritual in case I haven’t mentioned that yet). When I got back to my room at 10 to prepare for sun tanning, the bag was still there. I phoned again. No problemo, they would be up right away.

Cool. I went downstairs and came back after lunch. Bag was still there.

Politely, I phoned down and asked if there was a problem and, sure enough, I had not signed the damn thing (though, in my defence, there was one line that apparently was supposed to be signed by both the chambermaid and me – I only saw the chambermaid part). Anyway, it was too late for Monday so I asked them to send someone by to pick it up for tomorrow, then.

By 11pm, no one had come. Not a big surprise at this point to be honest.

So, next day, Tuesday, got up at 8 and phoned for a pick up. No problem. This time I made sure I signed the form. But did I trust them? No. Came back after breakfast and blogging and whoa, big shock, the bag was still there. Phoned again. We will be right there. Came back at noon and, oh yes, the bag was STILL there.

Phoned downstairs again, did I forget to sign something? Not sure the right ink? Not tick the little boxes with a big enough tick? No. Apparently no one had even come up though my room was made up so clearly someone had.

Please, I asked, por favor, send someone up in the next 5 min. No problem. 15 min later someone came. I was now down to my last unworn shirt and pair of socks and underwear. If I didn’t get it thurs morning , I would have to wear stinky second-days. Not my first choice.

Now it’s Thursday and no laundry had been delivered yesterday (which was not unexpected as the form listed a 48 hour turnaround). But I needed those clothes. Badly. So I phoned down at 7. Laundry not open but I would get a phonecall back.

Right.

8:15. No call. I phone down again. I need my clean clothes.
Oh, we will pick them up right away.
No. I dropped them off on Tuesday, they should be done today.
Oh, okay, I will phone you back.
10 min?
Yes.
9am, no call and I got dressed in stinkies and marched downstairs. I walked up to the service counter and said, “I need clothes.” The attendant looked at me with eyes wide like I had gone loco. “Sir?” “I need my clothes back. I put them in the laundry on Tuesday, I need them back now. I have no clean clothes.” “Ah, I will find out what happened. What room number are you?” “1836.” “I will phone you back.” “No, that hasn’t worked. I will wait here. Please phone now.”

And he did and I got my clothes back. Whoohooo. Being a spoiled Canadian I forgot how good clean clothes feel (compared to sweaty, dirty ones). I went downstairs, got a coffee and stopped by the guy who had helped me to thank him (it was something Margot always did, she rarely made a big effort to complain but she nearly always took the time to thank someone for helping her.)

Now for the big adventure. 9:50. The Huana Coa tour. Zip lines through the rugged Mexican hills and a tour of a tequila factory. Oh, my.

(picture is looking northish towards the next resort - to preserve good taste,there aren't any pictures of my dirty clothes)