Trouble in Ica

(This is a rather crappy photo of Ica. With all of the Tuk-tuks it looks a bit like South Asia.)

For some this post may be an interesting (or not so interesting, I suppose) anecdote, for others it may be a public service.

I've been in Ica for the past few days (other posts coming about it). Yesterday, my plan was to catch the 10:30 bus to Nazca and then book a Cessna in Nazca. So, after grabbing a cafe con leche, I headed to the bus station; it was about 10:15am. The evening prior, I had gone to a bank machine because I needed some cash. I took out 400 soles, which came as three 100 sole bills and two 50 sole bills. When I arrived at the bus station, I decided to pay with one of my 100 sole bills, in order to break it; large bills can be a pain down here. So, I handed the attendent my bill and she started examining it. After a bit, she called a cop over who started examining it as well. Eventually, he claimed that it was"falsa" and asked me to follow him; it was very close to 10:30. I followed him for a while. I was asking him what we were doing and where we going, but it didn't take long to determine that my spanish speaking ability was inadequate. So, I asked the guy to stop while I called a translator. I called my friend Carlos (I am down here to attend his wedding). Carlos wrangled with him a while; eventually we determined that we should walk to the bank where I withdrew the putatively faulty money. Upon arrival, we found the bank manager and he also declared that the bill was false. He asked me if I have the withdrawl receipt from the bank machine. Of course, I don't; it has never occurred to me before to keep them. (The other bills were fine, in case you were wondering. So I was out a total of $33; not too bad as problems go.)

Ok. So, here's the breakdown. Even now, I don't know if that bill was really a counterfeit or not. In retrospect, I didn't have to sign anything about the incident and, I think, there is actually little reason, particularly without a receipt, for the bank manager to declare the bill real against the judgement of the cop. Maybe it was bad, but I don't know.

So, here are my steps for avoiding this problem in the future:
(1) Try to break large bills quickly in banks or otherwise trusted outlets.
(2) Save the stupid ATM receipt and mark the bills that come from the withdrawl so they can be correllated in the future.
(3) Pay with dollars in some locations. They are harder to fake, and easier to recognize, for me that is.