Finally it snows but for long

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Geo: 55.6763, 12.5681

The only good thing about here was the snow & even that didn't materialise this winter. But stop the press it came today 8 days before "Spring" arrives, mind you it mightn't last too long, we'll see.

It's been a rainy old month so haven't being doing anything too interesting bar eating in restaurants but that's hardly interesting, have done a bit drinking even though it's Jan but in my defence I gave up the fags 22 days ago & counting .... And 3 different sets of friends have booked their flights to come and see us before March is out. And have been bugging out on Australian TV series 'Love my way' which was sent on dvd by our Syndey connection for a Christmas pressie to get us in the mood - on at home at 3am on RTE1 on Tuesdays apparently - and it's great. Also meself and himself had a bit of a 'barney' last week and he had booked a flight home and we only made up an hour before he was supposed to leave the house and then *and this is the amazing bit* the flight was cancelled! Spooky or what. So all is well again at chez od.

Have organised the "big trip" for April to August though, which was bloody hard work & then cause we have the cheek to be going somewhere else for 3 months before China, Mongolia & Russia there's a visa issue (how do other people do this?) as they only issue the visa for 3 months from day of issue & we will be on the road from 31st March but not leaving China til 5th July so if we get our visa's too early they will be expired and if we try getting them from India we may have problems being foreigners and the type of letter we have for the russian one is no good outside Europe or Oz & we had not factored in being in Sydney on any week day between 9am-12am to go to their embassies but that'd be too late anyway as if we get them any later than 28th Apr then as our passports will expire within 6 months from the date the visas expire (aka 28th Jul in this example & p'ports up 28 Jan 08) thus making the visas invalid, but if we renew our passports early then the will deface our Australian visas, so pain in the arse .

So the travel agent told me to ask the embassies in DK could we get a 6 month visa from Feb or a forward dated visa's for June, Mongolian embassy in Denmark were very nice will forward date it if we go to them in the last week of March, same with Russians in DK if we go on 30 Mar but Chinese embassy in DK horrible & won't do it as we are not Danes, they asked me did I know how hard it was for Chinese people to get Irish visas (I neglected to point out 60,000 of them have & their language is more widley spoken in Ireland now than gaeilge is! And that we didn't want to work illegally there just take a train trip for 10 days through it, but that would be petty) so I explained the timing problem we have & he said "apply in some other country" & I said "will they not say what you said then that "we are not real Indians or Australians" and he says "probably" and I says reeeaaalllyy nicely "so now what should I do sir" & he says (and I not exaggerating here) "Tough"! Then managed an "apply from your own country" so we will just have to take our chances with the embassy in Ireland on 5th June at 9am, 24 hours before we go to India, and hope same day service is available (their website says it is, but the dk-china one says they deal will foreigners for an extra fee and we know how that worked out, so who knows). It has put us off China a bit now so we may start our Trans Mongolian/Siberian trip in Vladivastock instead. We'll see, mind you we are not letting a bureaucratic dick like that ruin our plans. In the mean time it takes 5-11 working days to get the Indian visa from Dk - no same day service available- so need to time that well in March also. I know sympathy will be running low here (or it has to anyone I have mentioned this to) but I have just have 9 people tell me they are pregnant or just gave birth (which is of little intertest to me) so you know each to her own little world and this is travel blog so difficulties with visas count! 😉

So anyway if you are still there, the booked itinerary so far is -
31Mar07 Copenhagen-Dublin
6Apr07 Dublin-London-Mumbai-Goa (nice accom. booked week one http://www.royalresorts.com.au/resorts/royal_goan_beach_club _at_haathi_mahal.php)
Indian details yet to be nailed down we going to cover al ot of India though in 2 months
6Jun07 Mumbai-Sydney-Cairns arr 070607
*drive Port Douglas (nice accom. booked http://www.theregalportdouglas.com.au/)
15Jun07 PD-Cairns-Sydney
16Jun07 Sydney-Fiji
22Jun07 Fiji-Sydney (nice accom. booked http://www.thepearlsouthpacific.com/ )
24Jun07 Sydney-Shanghai
27Jun-28Jun Train Xian
29Jun Train Beijing
3Jul Trans Mongolian Express
5 Jul UlaanBaator Mongolia
9Jul Irtutsk Siberia
10 Jul Lake Baikal Siberia
14 Jul Moscow
18 Jul ST Petersburg

And To be confirmed-
20 Jul Tallinn
22 Jul Riga
24 Jul Vilnius
26 Jul Kiev ??
then train through Germany??
29 Jul Get euorstar from Brussels to London
29 Jul A night in The Ritz or other 5*
30 Jul Bristol ??
1 Aug Holyhead-Dublin
**Yes you read correctly the plan is Shanghai to Dublin by land and sea

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