Week -2

I already love Turkmenistan. After the debacle with Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan visas, I wasn't holding out much hope for a swift resolution to the outstanding Turkmenistan visa question. Given that it is essentially a police state, I was rather gloomy about prospects of gaining a visa at all! 

After a quick trip to the embassy and 5 minutes with the very nice young lady handling applications in the absence of the consul, I was £50 lighter and had a promise of readiness within 24 hours. 24 hours later, visa approved and passport back in grubby mits. Lucky lucky little soldier that I am. Vive Le dictatorship. In the name of efficiency, I propose that all countries turn authoritarian (or constitutional monarchy of course). 

My social calendar has gone bonkers. I have a much larger social circle than I thought. I have already been out once this week and have plans for at least another social later this week. Crazy. 

Cash. The pound has fared very poorly against the dollar in the last few weeks. I've been waiting for a spectacular recovery but our American cousins refuse to collapse their economy just so I can get a better deal on the greenback. While frustrating on a personal level, I can appreciate there is a macro picture to consider. If anyone across the pond could just arrange a simple major crop failure, nothing devastating or long term you understand, just to help me out a bit, I'd be most grateful - although as I was less than generous about their mustard in my last post, I suspect I have a negative credit rating in that part of the world. 

Must remember not to offend entire nations, cultures or religions in future posts. Some peoples can be very sensitive. 

Bought a kindle as I've been worried about long train journeys with too little media support. Basic model, cheap (£59) but functional. If it gets lost or bust, no biggie. 

Chinese food. I forgot Chinese food in my list of things I'd miss. I don't mean the authentic Asian stuff that I love and will enjoy while on that part of my journey, I mean the home grown orangey stuff that satisfies late on a Saturday night and leaves an impossible to remove stain on anything it comes into contact with. I realise that this doesn't smell or taste the same as the truly authentic stuff but it is a part of my heritage and is as perfectly authentic as I need it to be. Stick steak and chips plus a Chinese somewhere in a weekend and you've got the basic ingredients of a great, if overindulgent short break from work. Oh, I might as well stick baked beans on the list while I'm at it.