Ark of the Covenant

Felt a bit like Indiana Jones. Out crate arrived in Dubai from Sri Lanka with our wooden elephant and masks. The shipping company forgot to send me the documents. Eventually I got a copy of the Bill of Laden, so tootled off to Jebel Ali Free Port. I paid the shipping costs and handling charges for everyone in the port it seems. I then had to travel across Dubai to Port Rashid Customs to get a stamp on the documents.

After getting there they informed me that it was now done online and I would need a shipping agent. They also fined me 1000 Dirhams for not having the original documents. After forking out more money, I got the stamp and headed back to Jebel Ali. I then had to pay someone else 200 Dirhams to move the crate 10m. All total the cost was over 500 US Dollars to get the thing released, I would have been cheaper getting another seat on the plane, and taking it back with us.