OIL CHEQUE

18 October 2001

The rush has started. I was warned by a fellow traveller - when I complained that the list of things to do never seemed to get any shorter - that towards departure date the list grows at an alarming rate while the number of "Done" items doesn't seem to grow at all.
But that isn't quite true. We've booked a place for Momma the Cat in quarantine kennels in the UK and are waiting for final confirmation of flight details and all that traumatic stuff. We've changed our route several times. We've even considered cancelling. We've got the movers coming in tomorrow to collect the paltry pile of precious bits and baubles we figured we couldn't live without once we get to Britain. We're a third of the way to getting the Carnet de Passage sorted out.
And this afternoon I serviced the truck! A major achievement for someone who spent their youth handing spanners, sockets, nuts and thingymajigs to his father as he lay, oil-stained and cursing, beneath some or other car. I resolved early on that working on cars was not a past time that fit into my idea of a nice world. And I hate having to scrub my hands every ten minutes so that I don't cover the repair manual in grease and gunk.

Check The Oil, Sir?
But I managed the service without too much trouble or resort to "persuasive language". Diesels, though, are much easier than petrol engines and Chugger now spews out much less smoke every time she moves.
We also had the driver's door fixed - no longer do I have a gale blowing up my leg from the gaps between the door and Chugger's bodywork. Sometime in the next week I'm off to see another mechanically-inclined friend to check out the gearbox and clutch and then the truck will be as ready as it's ever going to be.
After visiting the Saudi Arabian embassy to find out about a three- or seven-day transit visa and being given the third degree - very politely and helpfully, mind you - in terms of the information and documentation they need, we've relooked at our routes and come up other options.

Vi(s)able Options
Normally, in order to get a transit visa for Saudi, you need to have a visa for Jordan, to prove that you will be leaving the country within the stipulated period. But Jordanian visas are only valid for two months, we were told by the staff at the embassy in Pretoria. "But," the really helpful woman said, "there won't be a problem getting a visa at the border." So we won't struggle to get into Jordan, as long as we can get to Jordan!
After going back to the Web and doing some more searching we found several groups that had obtained Jordanian and Saudi visas in Khartoum without too much hassle. I've listed the sites on the Other Lines page.
We may, after all, find ourselves travelling through Sudan and Egypt after all. And after that we'll probably travel to the UK via Greece, Italy and France rather than Bulgaria, Rumania, Hungary, Austria, Germany and Belgium!

Just Go
The lesson we've learned in the last week or two is that there is only so much you can do before you go - for the rest, we'll worry about it once we're up there.
All this stress will end - the only question is when?
A footnote for those of tender tastes - during our searches we came across an American site (naturally) advertising the amazing "Bumper Dumper". Where once you attached trailers or bicycle racks to the towbar, the "Bumper Dumper" now allows you to hitch up a - wait for it! - toilet seat to the back of your vehicle, attaching either a bucket or plastic bag beneath the seat to catch the fall-out. They don't appear to offer any optional attachments (if that is the correct terminology) such as toilet roll holders, bidets or even a screen. I can only scratch my head in wonder!!!