KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany - Well, the old 30th birthday is approaching and I can't afford a sports car, so I'm packing my tent and heading to Africa instead. Everything is set for the trip, or as set as we want it to be, and Connie and I fly to Dar Es Salaam on Feb. 3.
We'll wind our way through southern Africa, then through India and Nepal, and finally Southeast Asia by bus, rail, and thumb. This all sounds much more glamorous than "unemployed."
We've already run into what is sure to be just the first bureaucratic nightmare in the form of Frankfurt's Indian consulate or, I should say, the outsourced staff of the contractor that now handles visas (Yes it's true: In the irony of ironies India has outsourced it's visa processing). For a country that just rolled out an elaborate ad campaign touting their tourism, India seems hell-bent on making it as difficult (and expensive) as possible to get into the country.
Bureaucrat: "I'm afraid we need a letter from your employer giving you permission to go to India."
Connie: "I won't be working for my employer when I leave for India."
Bureaucrat: "Yes, but we need a letter from your employer."
It was easier to get into Afghanistan (really). With luck, India will be a more pleasant journey.
Anyway, with several months in the tropics looming I decided to play in the snow one last time (hence the photo) with everybody's favorite French cheesemaker/adventurer/questionableDecision-Maker, Guilhem. We managed 6,500 vertical feet of the Valée Blanche without falling into a crevasse or being run over by an English tourist, which I consider a good omen.
No comments:
Post a Comment