Turkey

The Moscow crowd - the six of us who travelled together for the entire 8 weeks, 

with Tony the Tour Leader.

From left:  Peter and Janette; Jane and Colin; Tony leaning forwards; Denyse and Jason; and me. I'd just like to draw attention to my bright orange watch and bright pink socks.

The overnight train to Istanbul was way hard core.  We were on it for almost 24hrs.  We got on at midday in Bucharest and got off at 1115am in Istanbul - we were early!!  AND Kim got off the tour in Bucharest so I had a cabin all to myself!  It was amazing.  I basically went in there and shut the door and didn't come out for six hours.

It ended up being quite good fun.  We were the only people in our carriage, aside from one other random person.  And he was weird.  He was travelling alone, and he told us all that he ran sold-out seminars for men on how to pick up women, all over Europe.  There was no way any of us believed him.  He was Canadian but he reckoned he'd been living in Bucharest for years.  He obviously thought he was the man.  None of the girls on the tour would've touched him with a ten-foot pole, and I didn't actually believe he'd been to half the places he said he had.  For instance, he was talking about how he'd spent heaps of time in Sofia, and it was just like Bucharest.

Not.  Even.  Close.

You may remember one of the stops on our tour was Sofia.  Sofia has wide cobblestoned streets and is beautiful and extremely well kept, there's no graffiti anywhere, there's no dirt anywhere, there are no buildings in any kind of disrepair.  And we've just discussed Bucharest.  Noisy.  Dirty.  I forgot to mention it, but they leave the ends of electrical wires dragging on the ground.  The buildings are half torn down and then abandoned.

Interesting.

Anyway, aside from that guy, everyone basically ended up standing in the corridor drinking together.  A lot of people had brought their own booze onto the train, and the conductor had something like four bottles of wine and six beers, and we ended up clearing him out as well.  Scandalous.

So we all eventually went to bed around 10pm (all the booze was long gone by 930pm).  We got woken up  crossing from Romania into Bulgaria, then again going out of Bulgaria, and then again going into Turkey.  A good time was had by all.  When we were going into Turkey, they made us all get off the train to get our passports stamped.  Everybody else on the tour had to buy their Turkish visas, which, depending which country they were from, cost from 15 euro up to 45 euro.  I didn't have to pay because I'm a New Zealander.  LOVE IT.  Some of the others were quite personally insulted that they had to pay and I didn't!  It was funny.  It was four o'clock in the morning and freezing cold, and they all had to go and line up (outside) to get their visa and then line up somewhere else to get stamped through.

We were staying right in the old part of Istanbul, close to the Grand Bazaar and the mosques.  We had a city walk that afternoon, then we really all just wanted to relax I think.  We had our final night dinner, but by then we'd already lost Peter and Janette, who were staying at a different hotel and joining a new tour (that's game).

On our city walk, we went to the spice markets and Grand Bazaar, which were awesome to take photos of.  The colours were amazing!  And so were the crowds!

The next day was my birthday!!  For my birthday, I'd decided that I should fly from one country to another, so I didn't have a lot of time.  But I spent the morning at Ayasofya, which is an old mosque that doesn't operate anymore and is preserved as a museum.  It was so busy.  I'm sure last time I was there (when I went to the Middle East with Tucan Travel two years ago) I had the place almost to myself.  However, I'm hoping I still got some good photos...

I was panicking about how I was so sure something was going to go wrong and I wasn't going to get to Athens, so I basically ran from Ayasofya back to the hotel, even though I was well early, to catch my transfer...  Which didn't show up!  More next time.....

Definitely the Right Decision

The more that happens around here, the more I'm sure I'm doing the right thing by moving on.  The number of pretty decent earthquakes that have happened in or very near to NZ is getting pretty spooky, and I'm currently living right on top of The Major Fault Line in Wellington (it literally runs right down our street) in a 100+ year old house.  I guess, since the house is that old, it's probably stood up to quite a lot.  But I don't really want to experience first hand how it handles a big earthquake.  That 6.5 on Tuesday that was centred just out of Taupo (so, like, 350km away) was enough of a rattle for me.  Our house was swaying, and I was upstairs.

Had a few more of those Achieving Things days this week.  Quite proud.  I finished sorting out my new credit card application (I already have a MasterCard but it was rather difficult to use in places like Jordan, so I am applying for a Visa); called MasterCard to get my card updated before I go, and to let them know I'm going to travel so they don't cut me off while I'm away; went to get my driver's licence updated and an international drivers licence, and discovered I need an eye exam because when they got me to do their eye test all the letters were crossing over and I couldn't read any of them; called the doctor and made an appointment to get that done; found a car wrecker in the central city that I can take my car to, instead of having to traipse out to the Hutt; finished my resignation letters to Karl and Christine and handed them out; and I booked flights from Athens to Vancouver...  with 3 days in New York City on the way!!!!  So excited!  I LOVE New York, as most people who've met me will know.  Oh yes, and I found what could potentially be a problem with my Russian visa, so it's back to the Embassy for me tomorrow morning.  Damn it!  At least the Embassy is reasonably close to wear I live (hahaha, "wear"!!  Didn't see that til I proofread...  I mean "where") (well, the Embassy's on the same side of town as my house, but it's not exactly a light stroll away).  It's likely that it's going to cost me money to get it fixed, since I didn't spot it when they asked me to check it over when I picked it up.

Now that I've told a whole lot of people that I'm going to live in Vancouver, I'm totally reconsidering.  It's still going to be Canada, don't misunderstand me, but who knows, Canada's a big place and maybe I'll go somewhere else.  I'll wait and see how I feel when I get there.  I was thinking Vancouver because I've been there before and I know I like the place, and it's easy to get home, and it's a big city so it's likely I'll be able to get reasonably cheap flights around the country when I want to, and I shouldn't have any problem meeting people.  But then I thought, there are other big cities in Canada.  There's Toronto.  There's Victoria, on Vancouver Island.  There's Winnipeg, if I really wanted to get cold over the winter.  And the other thing is, I don't have to stay in one place the whole time I'm there.  I could go and live in the north for a while, and see the whales and the icebergs and the polar bears.  My gut feeling is that since I'm going to be by myself, I'm going to want to base myself somewhere reasonably permanently, and then do weekend trips from there.  Unless I happen to find someone who wants to move around with me.  Who knows, it's a whole new world of opportunity (cheese!).

Today's the 10th of July...  Right on a month until I fly out.  Sorry Mum!!!  I couldn't not mention it, it's on my mind every day.  I still feel like I've got a lot to do, but I think it's more that I'm stressed out.  I've written list after list of what I need to accomplish, down to things like drop stuff off to the Sallies.  I've even written it all into a week by week timeline, so that I can plan out when I do things like start trying to sell my bed...  AND I ticked off everything I had on the list for last week, which was the busiest week.  Whenever I get something done I feel really relieved, but then a day or so later I'll be back to thinking "oh my god I've got so much to do before I go".  I am eating a LOT of chocolate lately!

CHARLEY TIME!

Less than a month until I finish at work.  And only 39 days until I fly out.  This shit just got real.

I got my Russian visa!  Woohooooo!!!  I picked it up on Thursday morning, and it was a much less intimidating experience than when I dropped it off.  Now I can stop worrying that I'm going to have to change my entire itinerary and all my flights because of that visa, and start worrying about the ash cloud.  What a relief! 

I thought about posting a photo of my brand new Russian Tourist Visa in my brand new passport, but I wasn't sure that either country would've been too happy about that.  So you'll just have to believe me that it's bright and shiny and red and mostly indecipherable.  Must start learning some Russian.  At least enough to get me through the airport on the small chance that they don't have at least a few staff who speak English.

Hugh is doing well, learning the ropes to take over from me when I leave.   He now has roster writing down to about a 5 hour mission, including the two of us looking at it together for an hour and a half.  I remember those days...  such frustration! 

So much still to do before I go overseas.  Every time I cross one thing off the list, I add something else to it!  I had a really big think and chose one of my staff who I know loves me to bits (she's the only one I've kept in touch with since she's left Kaffee Eis), and who's now studying management at Waikato, and asked her to write me a reference.  That was another one of those learning curves, figuring out how to explain to her how to write a reference without telling her what to say!  I know you usually get references from your superiors, and I'll do that as well, but if I was hiring a manager I'd be just as interested to know the thoughts of the staff who had reported to that person in the past.  And I've written my formal resignation letter to Karl, which is currently a page and a half long.  Might edit that a little before I give it to him!  When I thought back over the almost six years I've worked for him, I suddenly had plenty to say.  And I've drafted one for Christine, but I haven't got anywhere near finishing it yet.  I also got all the forms filled in to get my driver's licence renewed (it's due to expire in April of next year and I have to be in the country to do it); started the process to get a Visa card and now just have to collect ten tonne of paperwork to prove that I do currently earn money and have some idea of how to manage it; signed the letter from MasterCard offering me an extention on the limit on that card but am still deciding whether to return it; booked a flight to Greece from Istanbul to meet Charley for a week at the end of my tour!! (Charley is from the UK and came to NZ for six months on a work exchangey thing over summer, and rowed with my crew for the time she was here); photographed my stereo with the intention of listing it on TradeMe to sell it; and went to the travel agent to book accommodation in Hong Kong and a flight from Greece to Canada - but she wasn't in so I'll have to go back.

For those who don't know, my plans (dates are very vague at this stage) -

29 July - Finish at Kaffee Eis
30 July - Some kind of leaving do (will make details known when I figure out what I want to do!)
3 Aug - Goodbye Wellington   :-(
10 Aug - Goodbye NZ!!  Hello Hong Kong!
13 Aug - Midnight Flight Delight from Hong Kong to Moscow...  And TOUR DAY!!  You can see my tour itinerary on the company's website:  http://www.tucantravel.com/tour/overview/eastern-europe-discovery/eeed
8 Oct - My birthday!  Tour ends, fly to Greece, YAY CHARLEY TIME!
16 Oct - Fly to my new home in Caaaaanada.... 

I'm really excited!  And now I have to go and try to get to sleep.  I don't really see this working out for me.

Ruminations on Role Reassignment and Russian Visa Requests

Another 10 days closer to leaving.  It's starting to feel a little more real now.  Not a lot, but a little.

The staff meeting was definitely strange.  It all ended up being less dramatic than what I felt, of course, probably because for everyone else it's just the next order of business - although Karl did suddenly have more attention when he started talking about it!  For me it's more like the end of an era.  Karl announced it almost in one breath:  "As most of you will know by now the lovely Laura is leaving us, and the person who will be taking on her role is Hugh".  And then it was done.

So three or four days later, on Monday, Hugh was in the office with me, learning how to do the pay and the roster and how to find his way around the computer.  He's also been helping me to have individual meetings with all the staff, just to find out where they're all up to and to make sure they know how we feel about their work.  That's been a learning curve for everybody involved - me included.  Which is a good thing.  I've been supervising Hugh while helping him to run the meetings, and doing it without undermining him could be interesting if he happens to say something that I don't think is appropriate.  The staff need to see him as my equal right from now, so I don't want to correct him in front of them if I can avoid it.  I've also suddenly found myself working in the shops four or five days a week.  It's been a while since I worked in the shops, let alone had to be at work at 730am, so that was a bit of a shock to the system all round. 

When I received my insurance information on Saturday (thanks Dad!) I finally had everything I needed to apply for my Russian Tourist Visa.  They are tricky visas to obtain.  You have to show where you are going to be each day, where you're going to stay each night, and who's going to be hosting you while you're in the country, and you have to show that you have a confirmed medical insurance policy which is valid in Russia.  I paid the tour company to organise the pieces of paper I needed from inside Russia, because otherwise it would've meant chasing the Russian host tour company and hotels myself, which I was not keen on. 

Tuesday wound up being my day off, so having checked everything in the application pile umpteen times, I set off to the Russian Embassy.  I knew it was in Karori, and I had imagined some grandiose building with huge gates and scary looking guards, most likely with bullet- and stab-proof vests and machine guns, on a main street.  But when I Google mapped it, it was on a really suburban street.  I found my way there, and drove all the way up and all the way back down the road.  I saw a relatively grandiose building with big gates, so I naturally assumed that was it.  It was a retirement village.  I had by that stage parked and started walking, so I kept walking like that was what I planned all along.  I happened to see a totally non-descript place with a big white wall that had a small plaque on it, which turned out to be The Embassy of the Russian Confederation in New Zealand.  Not exactly what I was expecting.  The only security was a gate at street level that you had to be buzzed through.  I walked up the stairs and opened the door.  There was a swelteringly hot room with a window at the far end that looked through to the next room, a lot of signs in Russian on the walls, about six people sitting around, and one or two spare chairs.  Everybody in the room turned around and stared at me as I walked in.  I had no idea whether there was some kind of obscure queuing system going on, but one of the women behind the window immediately called me over.  Another woman was being served next to me at the window, and she was speaking rather loudly on her mobile in Russian.  The woman who was serving me was clearly Russian.  While she was looking over my application, the door opened and someone else came in.  They said something in Russian which everyone else in the room repeated (note to self:  Start Studying) and I finally worked out why everyone stared at me silently when I'd walked in.  I was the only person there who wasn't Russian.

The woman who was serving me spent a good few minutes reading over everything, comparing things on the various pieces of paper, and then reading things again while running her finger along underneath them.  Me being me, I was by that stage absolutely certain that I was going to be told I couldn't have a visa for some reason that they'd then refuse to tell me, and that I was going to have to rearrange all my flights and accommodation and tour dates.  But, total anticlimax, she just asked for payment, and said that everything looked fine and I should come back next Thursday to pick it up. 

So in the next 45 days, I only have to:  sell my car (which has now decided to grow a leak in the head gasket and render itself completely unsalvageable and unsaleable); sell my bed and stereo; decide what I'm going to keep and what I'm going to throw out, both at my flat and the pile of junk Dad's been storing for the past few years; pack a bag to travel with and maybe a box to have sent over to Canada when I get there; buy a flight from Athens to Vancouver and one out of Canada; organise accommodation in Hong Kong, Greece, and Vancouver; start learning Russian; and organise the written references I want.

Oh CRAP.