Welcome to the mayhem!
Thanks for your patience, but it’s about time I got this blog started.
The title ‘Where to Next’ has been inspired by my mother. Over the years, as I flitted around the globe, I would call her when I could.
After I’d say hello, her first question was always ‘Where are you?’
So where am I? That’s what this blog is all about.
Once again, John (my husband, who from now on will be referred to as Poor John) and I have set out on a long-haul overland journey. The last expedition was in Africa in 2009 — but more about that later (I’ll weave in some of those tales as appropriate). This time, we’re tackling the hippie route of London to Sydney. Can everyone our age (or somewhat younger) have already done this trip? Every time I explain our plans to anyone over the age of 45, they say ‘oh I did that in the 1970s’. Where was I then, what was I doing, why did I miss it that time around?
Oh wait, I was in Nebraska. Later that decade I was in Egypt — studying at the University of Cairo, meeting Poor John, and travelling in the Middle East and Africa.
So now we’re catching up. We’ve started our travels in Germany. Not a logical choice — unless you realise that we can’t get some critical visas in Australia. In particular, we are on the hunt for five visas, especially those needed to enter the Stans — as in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan etc. We looked into having a British company obtain them, but that was going to cost about $1000, so we decided to spend that good money on a do-it-yourself approach in a place that we wanted to visit.
So far the visas are proving to be easy. Monday we arrived unannounced at the Kyrgyzstan Consulate in Frankfurt. Ten minutes later and only 110 euros poorer we left with visa-embellished passports. We had expected it to take up to seven days. First victory. Instead of buying a lottery ticket, we decided to try the Uzbekistan Consulate. We knew they wanted a Letter of Introduction (LOI), which we didn’t have yet, but we also knew that outlying consulates often — ahem — adjust the rules. The fellow at the counter took our passports and applications, and said he’d ask his Foreign Office if it would be okay.
‘Come back Monday,’ he said.
‘How sure are you that your Foreign Office will say okay?’ we asked.
‘Pretty sure.’ he replied with a pretty-sure smile, and followed by instructions on how we would have to deposit the visa fee at the bank and bring a receipt.
Soon now we’re travelling until Monday. Back soon with more news. As an aside, it’s been hard to get online here. Guess it’s the visa trade-off.
Where to next? 
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Hello LeggyPeggy,
This is the first time I am going to your blog, so will introduce myself. I, Sy Seltzer live in metro New York City (and all my life)…. at now a senior citizen age of XX (above 1 and below 99 yrs old) LOL. My ethnic background in Jewish American (2nd generation), so watch out… my sense of humor often shows up in messages.
I enjoy photography very much and use the latest Nikon DSLR camera and lens. My second most favorite thing is owning my wonderful Irish Terrier, male dog. His name is Laddy me Boy (irish) and almost 1 year old now. The best friend you can ever want… and you need a lot of patience in training a terrier… so my work is cut out for me.
My third favorite thing is cooking and I am active on RecipeZaar/Food (dot) com and have posted about 64 recipes… with many being Asian dishes.
Finally, I have had the chance way back in 1971 to travel around the world for one year….. so really enjoy talking to you LeggyPeggy and reading about your travels. Have a safe trip… as of today May 15th 2011 NY time.
Regards,
Sy
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Hi Sy — Thanks for the introduction and so good to know you are following the blog. I’m taking notes this trip, so hope to be able to share plenty of tales.
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Hello Peggy,
I am glad you are having a good time over there. I am sorry that I haven’t contacted to you for a while. I am horrible to keep in touch with people:( I will check your blog out often so we cankeep in touch more often:) Safe Trip!! oxoxox
Asami
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Hi Peggy,
I’ve just realised that I haven’t signed any of my other posts. Sorry about that. It sounds as if those consulates are very helpful indeed and not nearly as bureaucratic as you might have expected. That’s really good though given that you have a few visas to collect. Good luck with the rest of the collection. We’ve got rain at the moment which is good. It’s not quite as cold as it has been either; also good. Say ‘hello’ to Poor John for me. Stay safe and keep having a wonderful time. I’ll look forward to reading more.
Best wishes always
Louise
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