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Published: September 18th 2009
Saying goodbye in Slovakia
The whole Sokol Family Went for a dip in the thermal spas
Jeden z poslednych dni stravenych na Slovensku - rodinka Sokolovych sa sla kupat do Vincovho Lesa PRE SLOVAKOV - PROSIM CITAJTE POD ANGLICKYM TEXTOM
ENGLISH
Jambo Jambo!! It's been ages since we last bored you all and so much has happened since then. We are physically in Africa now but it seems like it has taken a long time to get here. Well ... the last week in the UK flew by.
We'll take you through a thorough list of events leading up to the 12th September 2009 and how we went about getting to where we are, it hasn't been easy like falling off a log as one would have thought. It's been a very eventful yet sometimes stressful.
JOBS - I (Zuzana) took voluntary redundancy at work and finished on 21st July. It was very sad to leave as I did work with very nice people. But I knew that the things that were going to happen next will will be worth it, a million times over. So yeah I finished work and David and I went straight to Slovakia for 10 days to see the folks. Returning to the UK for David was a bit hard as he knew that I will be the one getting up at whatever time
I hope Mary Poppins is coming with us...
All this had to somehow squeeze in our 2 rucksacks
Toto vsetko sa muselo nejako vopchat do nasich 2 ruksakov I wanted while he had to go to work - hahaha I couldn't wait for that!! I spent the month of August going back and forth to Slovakia as I wanted to see as much of my family as possible. When I did spend some time time in the UK I would be getting everything ready for the big trip like visas, buying more equipment, getting to know more about countries, getting jabs and so on. Most of these things would start eating into our budget but i suppose that's the way it had to go. We just felt that we have to prepare as much as we could. David finished working on the 28th of August with a pair of pants for every month of the year. To remind him, the months of the year had been written in permanent pen on the ass cheeks.
JABS - this was the not so nice part of the preparation, especially for David... He had to lay down on the bed every time he had them (as he is a great big sissy girl!). We were turned into pin cushions.
So just to explain ... we've had these jabs in the
Saying goodbye in the UK
A small collection of the Lewis brood
Cela rodinka Lewisovych sa prisla rozlucit na letisko past 2 months:
1.tetanus/polio/typhoid
2.diphtheria
3.Zuzana Hep A/B, David Hep B (these were a course of 3 injections)
4.Rabies (again course of 3)
5.Meningitis
6.Japanese B Encephalitis (course of 3 injections)
7. ......AND YELLOW FEVER!!! (thanks Bean)
So.. 12 jabs later....we also had to decide which type of malaria tables we wanted to use. There are several which you can use for long term use - Larium, Doxycycline... but one of the best but also most expensive is Malarone. You can pay in a range of £2.10-£4.50 for each tablet. We went to see a doctor about these and he recommended Doxy as they would be the best and cheapest way for us. The downside of these is that you get photo sensitivity and sometimes other side effects. However, after a lengthy deliberation we decided to go for Malarone. Although, we've been taking Malarone for 5 days and David has had a few vivid dreams. One evening he woke abruptly and asked “What did you want to know about China?”, so they might not be 100% free of side effects... actually, thinking about it now.. that's just David - not Malarone! We ordered 220 tablets each at Boots.com and
Bloody tourists
All clean and washed - ready to go!
Cisti a umyti - pripraveny na cestu! paid £943 together. Bosh! What an expense... to reduce our travel costs we have shortened the 15mth tour to 15days but I'm sure it'll be worth the expense.
VISAS - I have been back and forth to various embassies and got visas for Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and India. David went once - to apply for the Tanzanian visas so is not entirely useless. For the African countries,the visas were very easy to get. You only needed a passport, filled in application form, an extra passport photograph, your itinerary and of course the fee. These fees were - Kenya £20p/p, Uganda £25p/p, Tanzania - £38 p/p and India £30 but you also have to pay different charges like for example admin charge and these came to about £15. Indian visa were also a bit more difficult to get especially for me, the Slovak. I had to prove that I have been living in the UK for more than one year and that I had enough money to last me the whole trip to India. For these bad boys I went to the Embassy on Tuesday and was hoping to have the visas ready by Friday as they say on there
PackSafe!!!!
Not even a terminator could get through this wirey mesh of hell!
Ani terminator sa cez toto nedostane!!!! website that it takes 3 working days. When I got there they actually told me that they can not guarantee to have them by then which would mean that we would not have our passports with us on the day of departure and possibility of not going that Saturday. It was a bit worrying!! In the end all worked out well and on Thursday when I saw on the internet that our passports were ready for collection, I dropped everything and caught the next train to London. Visas sorted!
EQUIPMENT - we had to buy more stuff for the journey including: water filter pump, money belts, clothes, cutlery, cups, mosquito net, repellent with 50% DEET, washing line, waterproof bags, bath plug, mosquito coils, etc etc. The image shows off our wears. We also invested in our very own drugs company what with the Malarone tablets at almost £1000!! We also decided to spend another £100 + on Boots offers. We can physically control our bowel movements for the next year, we'll never have another headache and the runs are soooo last year. We have everything, you name it we have it. We were also given another vast mixture of
Golden Tickets
BOSH!
BOSH! - a ide sa do sveta! pills from our friends with all the explanations and usage directions. Thank you Jules and the Urchin.
As I mentioned it's not all been plane sailing. Davids flat roof needed replacing at his house that he rents out to an Indian couple, Anurag and Charu (we have the honor of meeting them in India to go to their cousins wedding just outside Delhi WOW WOW WOW). It had deteriorated (the roof) over time so £1000 later and that was fixed. With this in mind he then decided to sell his car which he did very quickly and that made up some of the roof cost. Also, when we last flew to Slovakia to have a huge farewell party with the family, the airline we were flying with (SKYEurope) went pop and left us completely stranded. That cost us an extra £340 with Aer Lingus so even though it has been very very exciting, these things do bring you back to earth with a bang.
We let the apartment go that we were living in, in Berko. We packed everything in the flat on the last Wednesday, drove it over to Davids sisters on the Thursday (I went to town to get the Indian Visas) and on Friday we cleaned the place top to bottom, it took us 10hrs!! We left and briefly reflected on our little lives together so far and looked toward where our lives were heading. It was a bit emotional, again David cried like a sissy girl!
The last night was spent with Davids Sister, Elizabeth, we were absolutely shattered, no flat has ever been that clean.. EVER! On the day of departure we spent near on 5hrs packing. As you can see by the picture, it was a bloody tight squeeze. At one stage we thought we might have to leave one of us behind just to make space for equipment.
At 5pm we left for the airport... the entire Lewis family, all 75 of them! We said an emotional goodbye assuring everyone that we would be safe, change our socks, brush our teeth and yes of course we wont forget to lock to doors and shut all the windows.... of the tent!
And then we got on our Emirates flight and flew to Dubai......
SLOVENSKY
Jambo, Jambo! Ano uz sme v Afrike a chcela by som vas zobrat cez udalosti, ktore sa stali predtym, nez sme sa sem vlastne dostali, ze to nebolo take jednoduche ako si Hurvinek predstavuje valku a ze niekedy to bolo taktiez velmi stresujuce.
PRACA - Ja som prijala dobrovolne prepustenie s odstupnym a skoncila v KPMG 21st Jula - moj odchod bol dost smutny pretoze som fakt pracovala so super ludmi, ale vedela som, ze veci, ktore ma cakaju v priebehu dalsich 15 mesiacov budu stat milion krat za to. Hned ten isty den (21 Jula) sme leteli na 2 tyzdne na Slovensko. Navrat naspat do Anglicka bol pre Davida dost tazky, lebo vedel ze ja si budem moct vstavat, kedy sa mi len zachce, zatial co on budev ten zarabajuci.
Mesiac August som stravila lietanim na Slovensko a spat, lebo som chcela stravit co najviac casu s rodinkou. Ked som ale bola v Anglicku, tak som pripravovala vsetko mozne aj nemozne na nasu cestu ako viza, kupovanie rozneho vybavenia, zdokonalovanie vedomosti o krajinach do ktorych pojdeme, dostavanie injekcii a pod. David medzitym skoncil pracu 28 Augusta s parami trenirok na kazdy mesiac v roku. ktore dostal od kolegovcov. Aby nezabudol, tak mu na zadku napisali mesiace v roku permanentnou fixkou.
INJEKCIE - ani by ste neuverili kolko injekcii sme dostali, len aby sme boli ochraneni na dalsich 15 mesiacov... boli sme dopichani ako od vciel. David ich nemal az tak rad, ze si lahol kazdy krat ked mu ich sestricka pichala.
Tak keby ste boli zvedavi, tak vam ich tu pekne nalistujem:
1.tetanus/detska obrna/typhoid
2.diphtheria
3.Zuzana - zltacka typy A/B, David - zltacka typu B (3 injekcie v prebehu 1 mesiaca)
4.Besnota (3 injekcie v prebehu 1 mesiaca)
5.Meningitida
6.Japonska Encifalitida (tiez 3 injekcie v priebehu 1 mesiaca)
7.Zlta horucka
Taktiez sme sa museli rozhodnut, ktory typ tabletiek proti Malarii chceme uzivat. Je niekolko typov, ktore su na dlhu dobu uzivania - Larium, Doxycycline,... ale jedna z najlepsich, ale aj najdrahsich je Malarone. Jedna tabletka stoji v rozhranni 73,50Sk - 150Sk. Tak sme sli k doktorovi a on doporucil Doxycycline pretoze by to bola pre nas ta najlepsia a aj najlacnejsia cesta. Nevyhodou tychto tabletiek vsak je, ze vasa pokozka moze byt ovela viac citlivejsia k slnecnemu ziareniu co znamema, ze sa mozete spalit ovela rychlejsie ako normalne. Doxycycline moze mat aj dalsie vedlajsie ucinky. Takze po vahovom diskutovani sme sa rozhodli pre Malarone. Po piatich dnoch uzivania Malaronu David sa ma raz zo sna opytal: “Co si chcela vediet o Cine?” Takze Malarone tiez asi nie je bez vedlajsich ucinkov...... ale ked tak nad tym teraz rozmyslam, tak to je taky David, nie Malarone. Objednali sme 220 kusov tabletiek z Boots.com a zaplatili sme dokopy £943. Paaani, to bola ale polozka!!!! Museli sme sice skratit nasu turu z 15 mesiacov na 15 dni, ale som si ista, ze to bude za tu cenu stat.
VIZA - Ja som chodila do viacerych Ambasad ako pre Kenyu, Ugandu, Tanzaniu a Indiu. David isiel len raz a to zaniest pasy do Tanzanskej Ambasady, takze nebol az tak nanic. Viza pre Africke krajiny sme dostali celkom lahko... len sme potrebovali pasy, vyplnene uradne formy, jednu pasovu fotografiu a kopiu nasich kupenych letov a samozrejme poplatky. Tieto poplatky boli - Kenya kazdy £20, Uganda kazdy £25, Tanzania kazdy £38 a India kazdy £30 ale tam sme taktiez museli naviac zaplatit administrativne poplatky, co bolo este £15 naviac. Indicke viza bolo tiez tazsie dostat, specialne pre mna ako Slovacku. Musela som im zdokaznit, ze byvam v Anglicku viac ako rok a ze mam dostatocne vela financii na cely pobyt v Indii. Pre tieto viza som isla so vsetkymi papierami na Ambasadu v utorok a dufala som, ze pasy s vizami budeme naspat do piatku. Ved tak ako to ich internetova stranka hovori - “3 pracovne dni”. Lenze ked som tam prisla tak som najprv musela vyckat dlhu radu a potom zenska za okienkom mi povedala, ze mi nedokaze zarucit, ze my budeme mat viza hotove do piatku a ze je tam pravdepodobnost, ze v sobotu neodletime. Tak som sa jej spytala, ze aj ked viza nebudu hotove, ci si aspon mozeme v piatok mozeme vyzdvihnut nase pasy a ona na to ze “nie”. Skore vyzdvihnutie pasu nie je dovolene. Tak som teda trpla, ci vlastne budeme moct tu sobotu odletiet. No ale nastastie ked som vo stvrtok skontrolovala internet, videla som, ze mame viza a pripravene na vyzdvihnutie. Tak som nemarnila cas a nasadla na prvy vlak do Londyna. Viza vybavene!!!
VYBAVA - museli sme na cestu podokupovat rozne veci do vybavy. Tu je niekolko prikladov: vodna filtrova pumpicka, opasky na peniaze a dolezite dokumenty, saty, pribory, hrnky, sietku proti komarom, repelent s 50%!D(MISSING)EET, snuru na vesanie pradla, nepremokave tasky roznych velkosti, stupel do vane, mydlo na pranie a ovela viac. Od nasich som zobrala aj rychlovarnu kanvicu, ktora neprestane vriet dokial ju niekto nevypne. Toto budeme potrebovat na prevaranie nepitnej vody, kedze ideme do krajin, kde voda z vodovodu pre nas zapadniarov nie je pitna. Takziez sme museli investovat do liekov prvej pomoci. Zaplatili sme viac ako £100 na roznych medicinach ako ibuprofen, lieky proti hnacke, krem proti spaleniu, rozne naplasti, obvazy, ihly so striekackami, mast na stipance, hydratacne sacky, sprej na odreniny proti zapalu, kinedril a vela, vela ineho. Aj by sme si mohli so vsetkymi liekami otvorit lekaren. My mame vsetko, by si povedzte a my to mame!!
Uz som v uvode spominala, ze to nebolo vsetko len take jednoduche. Strecha na Davidovom dome ktory prenajima Indickej dvojici Anurag a Charu, (ktory idu do Indie na bratrancovu svadbu a zoberu nas so sebou Wooow, Wooow, Woooow) potrebovala vymenit. Po rokoch zacala hnit a po velkom dazdi zacala pretekat. Po zaplateni £1000 to bolo opravene. S tymto namysli, sme sa rozhodli predat Davidove auto aby sme si tak trosku privyrobili. Taktiez, ked sme sa naposledy leteli rozlucit na Slovensko, aerolinie Sky Europe zbankrotovali a tymto sme zostali visiet doma bez spiatocneho letu do UK. Museli sme si kupit nahradnu letenku, ktora nas vysla dokopy £340. Takze aj napriek tomu, ze sme boli vsetkym tym pripravovanim nadseny, taketo veci nas rychlo priviedli naspat do reality.
Z apartmanu, v ktorom sme byvali sme sa vystahovali. Vsetko sme spakovali poslednu stredu pred nasim odletom, vo strvtok sme vsetko nalozili do velkeho transitu a zaviezli k Davidovej sestre a v piatok sme apartment vyupratovali od hlavy az po paty. Zobralo nam to celych 10 hodin!!!! Ked sme skoncili, tak sme si pospominali na nas zivot, ktory sme tam prezili a taktiez na zivot, ktory nas v blizkej buducnosti caka. Bolo to trosku dojemne a David plakal ako male dievca. Typicke!!!!
Poslednu noc sme stravili u jeho starsej sestry Elizabeth a ten vecer sme boli uplne hotovi od unavy. Ziadny byt nebol nikdy v zivote taky cisty, ako ten, z ktoreho sme odisli.
V den odchodu sme stravili skoro 5 hodin balenim. Ako vidite na fotke - bola to pekna tlacenica. V jednu chvilu sme si mysleli, ze jeden z nas bude musiet zostat doma, len aby sa urobilo miesto pre vybavu. O 5 poobede sme vyrazili na letisko... cela Lewisova rodina - vsetkych 75 clenov. Na letisku sme sa s placom rozluclili a slubili sme im, ze si budeme menit ponozky, ubyvat zuby a samozrejme budeme zamkynat nase dvere a okna na nasom stane.
A potom sme sa nalozili na Emirates let a leteli do Dubaia.....
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Charlotte Spicer
non-member comment
We have been waiting for an update
Hey you guys!!! Debs and I have been waiting for an update. You two look so excited in your pics and i hope you are having a fantastic time!!!!!! Say hi to Philip Marewood in Dubai Zuuuu!!! Look forward to reading more about your adventures of the big world wide. Have to go some of us have work to do ;-) xxxxxxxxxxxxx