Advertisement
Published: June 17th 2013
Edit Blog Post
Ikelos' Paperwork
Man he has even more papers than I do. It takes a lot to get a dog into another country
So it has been a long process, but I have finally arrived. I wound up flying on Japan Airlines and I have to say to anybody who plans on flying with a dog, you should do the same. Not only were they ridiculously cheap ($175) but they were great with my dog and at making me feel better. I was very worried about Ikelos (my dog.) There are so many horror stories on the web about dogs dying while flying or getting out of the cage on the runway, etc.
When I arrived at the airport Ikelos got so much attention. Everybody wanted to take pictures of him and come pet him. Even the flight attendants wanted to take pictures of him. I was allowed to walk around inside the airport with ikelos too. I checked all my luggage and Ikelos' cage at the counter, then they let me take him downstairs and walk him for another 20 minutes.
I told every person on the airplane (on both flights) to let the captain know that my dog was in the cargo hold, but they all seemed to know already. The usual response from the JAL
Not too excited
maybe he just doesn't know employees was "oh thats your dog. Don't worry the captain knows and he has already controlled the temperature of the cargo area."
Our plane arrived late at Narita (Tokyo) so when I got off the plane there was a JAL employee waiting at the gate with a sign with my name on it. I guess because I was traveling with the dog they wanted to make sure I boarded the second leg of my journey. She told me we have to hurry so we ran down a large hallway probably a quarter mile or so. Not very easy with a 30lb backpack on and carrying a second smaller bag too. Then she brought me to the front of the security line. Once we got through she led me to a desk. The lady behind the desk goes over all of Ikelos' paperwork again to make sure everything is in order, checks my ticket and sends me off to my gate.
I arrive at my gate as the plane is boarding. As I am getting on the plane I mention to the new flight attendants that my dog is supposed to be on the plane.
Guilt Trip, Literally
I figured I could guilt the people moving his cage around into taking good care of him. I put this photo on his cage Once again they seem to already know and once I am seated the head flight attendant comes to my seat and tells me that Ikelos is on board and the temperature in the hold has been set.
When I arrive in Saigon I have begun to get nervous again. It feels like it has been so long since I left LAX. I am worried about how Ikelos is doing. I try and rush through Immigration so I can get down to see him. Once I arrive at my baggage claim area, there is already a JAL employee waiting for me with Ikelos on a cart. I was so happy to see him. He looked pretty good and I know he was happy to see me. He did not pee on himself or anything. I don't have any idea how he was able to hold it that long. Sometimes it seems like he can't even hold it for 4 or 5 hours. Go figure huh.
So now I have my luggage and I have Ikelos. Now what? I push both my carts (man I have way too much stuff with me) over to a sign
I see that says plant and animal quarantine. I walk up to the counter pushing Ikelos in this giant cage. The man behind the counter just looks at me so I hand him all of Ikelos' paperwork. He looks at it for about 10 seconds. Then he tries to take the international health certificate and give me back the packet. I tell him I need the certificate (i am still planning on crossing the border into Cambodia.) Instead I pull out a copy and give him the copy. He seems happy enough with that and then just waves me through. That was it. After that I was all done. I just walked out of the airport and the taxi from the hotel was waiting for me with a sign once again.
Once he saw Ikelos' cage he looked a bit annoyed. I was pretty sure I knew what he was thinking. "There's no way that is fitting into my taxi"
I put his mind at ease pretty quickly. I take Ikelos out of the cage. I rip all my paperwork and anything with my info off, then we just leave the cage at the airport. I
can see some airport employees gathering around it pretty quickly as we are walking away to bring Ikelos over to the bushes to pee. Nobody seems annoyed about me leaving the cage though. Instead it looks like they are deciding who gets to keep it. I think they are probably going to sell it for some money. I know it sure cost a lot.
So that was it the adventure was over. Uneventful, just like I was hoping. No problems at the hotel. All the hotel employees think Ikelos is so cute and a few have asked me to take a photo of them with him. A lot of people have also been taking pictures of him and staring at me when I walk him in the streets. I don’t think they have any dogs this big here, so he is definitely an unusual site round these parts.
I met up with my friend Kent the morning after I arrived. It was good to see her. It has been 3 years since I was last here. She seems to be doing well with her work, but is not happy personally. She has to work
Comfortable Ride
We figured he would be more comfortable with familiar faces in the cage 7 days a week with overtime. Coming here always reminds me how lucky I was to be born in the US. She told me that her Mom was very happy when she heard I was coming back to visit. In fact, it wasn’t in my plans but, we are going to try and see if they will let Ikelos on a bus today because her Mom wants me to come down to Kent’s hometown to visit the family. She has already booked a hotel for me and everything. To be honest though, after my long journey I really just want to get down to Sihanoukville and start setting up shop, but the offer is hard to refuse. They have always been so nice to me when I have been here in the past that I would hate to disappoint her.
Its funny when you think about it. The first time I went with Kent to her hometown her family was not very happy. Her Dad would not talk to me and her mom took a few days to open up a little. I think they wanted to know what this American guy wanted from their daughter. The
second time I went down there with Chuck and they were so nice. They took us out to eat and gave us some gifts when we arrived. Now that I am here a third time they are insisting I come to visit. I only wish I had a gift to bring. I will take the whole family out to dinner this time though. Last time they said I was young and the older people should pay. Well now I certainly feel a lot older so I will insist they let me pay. It is about time I return some of the hospitality.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.217s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 9; qc: 61; dbt: 0.1103s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
David
non-member comment
How awesome!
Thrilled for you, brother! Psyched that Ikelos gets to experience this adventure with you. When are you signing that book deal...