March 2012, Nearly Ready.

I have put up the tent in the garden a few times just to see if I could do so and how long it would take. On a nice sunny day it takes about ten minutes to put up but the test would be in the rain, and there is none of that round here at the moment. The sleeping bag seems to have plenty of room in it and is quite warm at the moment. The matress is thin so I hope that there will not be too many stones under it when it has to be used.

In the garden

In the garden

I did try to put up the mosquito net as well and even though it came out of a small bag it just went everywhere when it was opened up. I think that if I have to use it then I may probably end up just wrapping round myself! The tent and other sleeping bits all come in crush bags and I think that the worse thing so far is trying to get them back into the bags after being used. I can just imagine the packing having to be done in the rain! 

The list of kit I will take with me is as follows, especially added for one daughter who told me that it was to be included in the blog for her students to see.

Vango Banshee 200 tent
North Ridge Alpine Light mattress
Lifeventure Downlight 900 sleeping bag (to minus10C)
HiGear silk sleeping bag liner and blow-up pillow
Mosquito net
3 in 1 North Face jacket
Regatta wet weather lightweight trousers
3 short sleeve shirts
1 long sleeve shirt
6 Underwear
Lightweight sweater
2 sets thermal underclothes
Thermal hat, gloves and socks
3 each pair walking socks and liners
Swim suit
Merrell sandals
Scarper walking boots 
2 Craighopper trousers
1 pair shorts
Towel
Swiss Army knife
Earplugs
First Aid kit
World-Wide plug adaptor
Notebooks and pens
Pegless clothesline
Dirty washing bag
Sewing kit
Lock and seal bags
Crushbags and draw string bags of various sizes
Mosquito repellent, moisturiser, soap in dispenser, deodorant, 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner Toothbrush and toothpaste
Razor
Washing powder
Small locks, cable ties and string
Head mounted torch
One length of plastic tube (1000mm x 100mm) for protecting fragile purchases
Malaria tablets (doxycycline)
2 Cameras with spare batteries, photo cards and memory cards
Various battery chargers from the mains and from a car cigarette lighter for the camera and laptop
Worldwide plug
HP Mini laptop with a hard case
Guide books, reading books 
Kindle (if required, I am not taking one)
Travel insurance, vaccination certificates, visas and passport.
20 spare passport photographs for visas on the way

I have put one razor in the kit but having a full beard it is not really necessary. When I have my beard trimmed in the UK it is not possible to get the rest of the face and neck shaved in-case I get cut and claim against the hairdresser! Once I get to the eastern part of Europe the razor is used by the barber all the time and usually the barber pulls out a new blade to shave me. And that is even when I pay the huge amount of 10p for a haircut and shave in a village in Nepal.

We have been asked to sort out between ourselves what guide books to take as we will be travelling through 21 countries and it is not practical for each person to take all the guide books. Some of the group have joined a 'private' facebook page so that we can correspond and help each other with advice or problems that may occur. Using facebook we have agreed what guide books some will be taking and these will be shared by the whole group. The idea is that when we are travelling the books can be read and past round ready for when we stop and do the tourist bit. Some people will be using kindles which can be loaded with all the guide book information but I do not know how this will work in practise. I have bought a number of secondhand guide books for 1p on the internet with the postage as extra. There is hardly a mark on any of them and being a year or so old makes no difference to their use as I am only interested in the sights described in the books, which have not changed for at least hundreds of years, not the hotels or bus timetables that are also in them. They are very cheap as well!

It is now 23 March and it seems that seven of the people going on the trip have been refused a visa for Pakistan. I have a visa and with the others who have one as well there can be no guarantee that we will be allowed entry to Iran when we get to the border anyway.There are twelve of the group who have a visa so something will have to be sorted out. Also, the truck will have to get from Iran to India to continue the trip.

The tour group website has the following paragraph included - 'If there are any political problems during our expedition they are most likely to occur in Iran and Pakistan. If problems do arise we will take a more northerly route through Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to reach China. We will then continue with our expedition as normal. There are always alternatives along the route we travel and we will make it one way or another.'

Some of the group are considering flying from Iran to India to miss out Pakistan. It has been suggested that we wait until we are all together and near Iran to decide what is to be done.

Because the power points in the truck for charging laptops, kindles and batteries are mainly from a cigarette lighter type I have been testing mine to make sure that they work alright, which they do. The charger for the camera battery has been a problem but I was able to find a new one on the internet which fits the cigarette lighter. By using the internet for buying the tent and other bits for the trip has cut down the costs, in some cases by nearly 50% per item.

The paragraphs move when I go to post this so if it is wrong again then you will have to excuse me until I can sort this out.

All the logs and kindling have been cut and are ready for next winter! Trees have been pruned but the weeds are already growing. It is too late to do anything about the weeds now. Five days before I go to London to join the group and the truck.