Top of the World - a trip to the Andes

We came home, and life quickly went back to normal. Séamus was tracking the bikes and let us know when they'd be home.
They were flown to Germany and then came by truck to Ireland. But there was a truck strike that delayed them for a week or so.
Eventually, they were in Dublin Airport but we'd no idea where. Séamus rang around and found them about 4 days after they arrived. I was free to go out to clear them through customs but kev would have to come out with the van to actually collect them.
The storage guys were lovely, handed me the paperwork and pointed me in the duration of the customs office.
I had to get the paperwork stamped and drop it back to the warehouse so kev could pick up the crate.
I arrived to the customs office and handed in the papers. The woman had a look, asked some questions and said that the man who 'knew how to do this' wasn't there right now and I'd have to wait half an hour for him to get back. There was no one else waiting, no room full of officials working busily. One guy, in the whole of Dublin Airport, who 'knew how to do it'.
I sat down and waited, another woman came out and said that because I'd used an agent to ship them out, I'd have to have one to ship them back. Séamus had already talked to the agent who'd shipped the bikes out and he said there was no need to use him as it was a straightforward process! He said there was nothing for him to do.
I told her this, she looked confused and walked away.
Eventually, Pete came out. He was probably the rudest, most arrogant man I've met in a long time. Most unhelpful. But, because I was dealing with a civil servant and he could make it as easy or hard as he wanted, I didn't lose the head.
He said that he had to do a visual inspection, he wasn't sure when he'd do it, but that I could ring later and see if it was done, and if not then I could ring a little later again and see!
I went back down to the guys in the warehouse to tell them that I had no paperwork to drop in as customs wanted to do a visual inspection.
He threw his eyes up to heaven and said to his mates in the back that 'customs are at it again, delaying people because they can.'
It's outrageous really that we had trouble with customs bringing our own bikes into our own country. ☹️

The visual inspection was done and we got the green light to go pick the crate up

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Séamus and Jim came up that weekend to pick up their bikes.

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Til the next time guys

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An enjoyable read indeed. Very well done to all.

And, record apart, what really shone through this RR was that there are some bloddy nice people out there who are more than willing to put themselves out to help.
 
Last time I met Seamus he was doing this

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On this one I think

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With these

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Wow, Mide, what an adventure - and what a wonderful report! :clap

Thank you very much for taking the time to tell us about your trip, the challenges you faced, your camaraderie and your experiences in such an honest way; I thoroughly enjoyed your report. :)
 
Great to read the full write up Mide. Brings back a lot of memories. Its always difficult to explain to people who haven't been there how difficult it is doing ANYTHING at 6000 metres, let alone hauling bikes. I think you did that better than me.

So how high did Kev actually get? :)
 
Same happy smile on his face - no wonder.

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Great trip ye look to have had
 
What a brilliant photo journal Mide. Well done and congratulations on an amazing achievement. Bean maith duit féin.
 
Really enjoyed that Mide, cracking write up & photos :clap:clap

And well done with the record :thumb
 
Amazing adventure, congratulations.

Fantastic write-up, thanks for taking the time to do it.

Thank you;)

An enjoyable read indeed. Very well done to all.

And, record apart, what really shone through this RR was that there are some bloddy nice people out there who are more than willing to put themselves out to help.

Thanks:) the thing is, there are wonderful people everywhere:thumb (except in Dublin Airport customs office:p) I can't tell you how many people have helped us all over the world. Most travellers will tell you the same:clap

Great RR with wonderful photographs - what an adventure. Thanks for taking the time to prepare this.

:thumby:

Wow, Mide, what an adventure - and what a wonderful report! :clap

Thank you very much for taking the time to tell us about your trip, the challenges you faced, your camaraderie and your experiences in such an honest way; I thoroughly enjoyed your report. :)

Thanks Ella:thumb It's great to get positive feedback:bounce1

Great to read the full write up Mide. Brings back a lot of memories. Its always difficult to explain to people who haven't been there how difficult it is doing ANYTHING at 6000 metres, let alone hauling bikes. I think you did that better than me.

So how high did Kev actually get? :)

Thanks Walter:) I genuinely had no idea what high altitude would do to me, and I had researched it! The boys rode to 6030m:thumb2 They did some really hard stuff, much harder than I did:augie But sure you know all about it:thumb2

Same happy smile on his face - no wonder.

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Great trip ye look to have had

It was a super trip! :thumb2


Thanks Chris:)

What a brilliant photo journal Mide. Well done and congratulations on an amazing achievement. Bean maith duit féin.

Go raibh maith agat:aidan
 
I cant add anything further, Mide, great adventure well told and documented, brilliant. I really enjoyed following you and your boys

Thank you
:aidan:aidan:aidan
 
Thanks Oldrat


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Great report Mide. Really brought back memories for myself and Naomi. Especially the photos. Amazing scenery and fantastic achievement by everyone in the team. Looking forward to catching up at Enniskillen.
 
Fantastic Mide, what a trip! What an achievement!

Thanks for sharing.
 
Maith tú Míde. :clap:clap:clap

A fantastic achievement getting the record. And thank you for the report.
 
Go raibh maith agaibh Liam, Damien agus Aidan


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