Day 6: Wonders do cease

It's been a while since my last entry - I have been on the run since the 24th.

Gallipoli

It turned out to be a consıderably smaller event than 2005, apparently only about 7,000 attendees.  However, everything on the 24th was screwed up by security atrrangements for the VIP dignitaries such as NZ's Prıme Mınister and Australia's Governor General, and the Governor of Çanakkale.  Owing to the obvious risk of World War III breaking out should any of these stuffed shirts be injured, the entire Anzac area was locked down and the public were excluded from 10am to 5pm.  We wound up cooling our heels in Eceabat.  I thought these people were elected to wait on us, not we on them!  We are the ones who paıd to be there - and who also paıd for these politicians to be there.

Day 2: İstan bull

Didn't have an opportunity to blog yesterday – how humiliatıng!  However, I dıd make the followıng post on the Lonely Planet websıte:

Plastıc bags are charged for at Abu Dhabı too - 1 dırham each.

The observant will notice that the i's in the above paragraph are short a few dots. Here they are: ... It's been several years since I last used a Turkish keyboard.

Day 0: Take Off!

... But first I have a few last minute chores.

Day -1: Killing time

I was going to do all sorts of things today, but it turns out that my mail holding, which should have started tomorrow, is already in place; and the agents have not inspected my former flat so I can't complete the paperwork on that yet.  I have contacted the agents and they've assured me the inspection will be done tomorrow morning so I will drop in there to sign the forms after lunch tomorrow.

Day -2: Saying goodbye to melbourne

Had a nice wander today – down St Kilda Road to the Shrine, to St Kilda and along Acland Street and St Kilda beach, then back into town on the 112 tram.  I do something like this before each long trip, just sort of saying goodbye to home.  Last trip and this trip it is especially symbolic as both are long trips, not just a month or two.

Day -4: The happy moment

Bridge Rd

Every so often on any trip I experience moments of sublime happiness – when I am where I need to be, when I need to be there, with nothing that needs to be done immediately and plenty of time to simply enjoy the moment.

Day -7: On the doorstep

The third crisis has passed – this morning I was up bright and early for the plumber, and not long after he left (taking $165 with him) so did I. I called a taxi and, miraculously, they sent a station wagon instead of a sedan. My leftovers fitted neatly into the back.

Day -8: The Augean Stables

Gave the kitchen and bathroom floors a preliminary mop-out. I have been putting them off, but the hours are now ticking down – in less than 24 hours I shall be out of here – so all those yucky jobs finally have to be done.

Day -9: The second crisis

This morning the mini-skip was delivered about 9:30. Over the next couple of hours I moved the heavy stuff downstairs and into the skip. The washing machine was the first – and worst. Getting it downstairs was a minor triumph, but once it was beside the skip I had to get it up and over the sides. I had to demolish a cupboard in order to get some sturdy wooden boards to use as a ramp. Once the ramp was in place it was just a matter of tip, heave and push until the thing fell into the skip with a very satisfying bang. The concrete block in the bottom came loose and probably broke a few things – nobody will be using that washer again!

Day -10: Time to make Plan B back into Plan A

Strategy

OK, so I was thinking of changing things around and going from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan.

Plan A was Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan to Turkmenistan to Afghanistan to Tajikistan to Kyrgyzstan and through to China. But though simple in visa terms (single entry all the way) it meant a long haul up to the capital, Bishkek, only to turn around and backtrack come time to go to China.

So I demoted that to Plan B and made a new Plan A, which required a double-entry visa for Kyrgyzstan but meant I could see Bishkek from Almaty and then just sort of cut through the bottom right corner of the country to get to China. Much easier.

Now Kyrgyzstan is in revolt and the new Plan A is in peril.

A lot can happen between here and Almaty – but I will need to keep Plan B well polished, as it may become Plan A again if things don't settle down before I get there!

Day -12: Taking out the trash

Progress

Started moving the last heavy items out today.  The carpet cleaners come on Monday, as does a 2-metre rubbish skip for the aforesaid heavy items.  $49 for the former (plus about $10 for the passage), a breathless $190 for the latter.  The removalists cost me $330.  I am hemorrhaging money just trying to move out of my flat!

Day -13: The empty nest

The crisis has passed and my flat is ... not as empty as I'd like it to be. But at least the bulk of the stuff I want to keep has been seen safely into storage, although things did not go according to plan.

Time and motion

Here is my approximate route and schedule.  Expect both to change – this is not an itinerary, merely an indication for my own purposes of planning and budgeting.  Note that the "Enter" date doesn't necessarily align with the  number of days I expect to be in the country as I may take a side trip into a second country from the first country.

Day -16: You guessed it – more packing

Four days ago I had a flat, now I have a bombsite.  Boxes of books dominate one wall of the spare bedroom, and boxes of other stuff dominate one wall of the living room.  Bits of clothing and boxes of this and that are scattered everywhere.

Day -18: More packing

More boring packing stuff.  Feel very free to skip this one.

Finished the living room, except for a pile of paper, and did the kitchen too.  I might play some loud music tonight and get a head start on sorting the paper stack.  I seem to accumulate an inordinate amount of paper.

Day -19: Good Friday 2010

This is another boring progress report but as packing is an integral part of preparation for the trip it has to be reported.

I have passed my Good Friday in packing stuff into boxes.  My library is all packed – 21 boxes worth – and I have dismantled the four big bookshelves.  I have now begun packing other stuff (such as my souvenirs and video collection), emptying then dismantling a large set of shelves in the process.

Launch!

Although it's still three weeks to take-off, I have finished working and am now totally focused on the trip.  In a sense, today could be considered the official launch of the trip.

I have signed on the dotted line for my storage locker.  In fact I paid for 12 months in advance, to avoid a hassle in case my credit card gets lost on the road the way it did last time.

Aside from that and a pulled muscle from slinging boxes full of books around, things are on track.  How boring!