‘Well, are you still going then?’
You can relax and call me anytime, as long as it’s not in one of the countries I cant get reception…but I have two SIM cards that should work in 90% of where I’m going.
I’m very pleased by the simplicity of this.
It might be a little expensive, but still, understandable and simple: SIM4Travel and Planet Plus Global SIM.
Insurance seems positive for the moment - although I await to hear a price. I have personal insurance but I need thrid party liability and prefereably theft for most of the trip. After fretting for a while, I’m hopeful but its surrounded by a smell I hope will be caught by the next wind.
It seems insurance for India and Pakistan is not possible though.
And talking of which, the Indian visa has been returned today, and it’s wrong!
How? Visa validity is measured by the date its applied for not the date of the trip! ! !
Annoyed and at the end of my patience, I realised I had steak for lunch in the fridge, time to chill.
It seems the Visa is now useless to me and would need to be cancelled before I can pay them for another.
Time to give up on this and relax. Work it out on the way…
I’ve cashed my savings, spent as much as I should but not as much as I could and decided there is no turning back now.
So for those of you who keep asking…and I must say, the text below applies to a certain ‘type’ of question I’m recieving from some cynical people. In general the question is asked with a purity and an excitement thats just full of joy, wonder, helpful comments and kindness. That kind of question I want to hear every day.
A small handful of peolpe have a tenuous nature in their voice, they are asking because they hope I fail before I succeed, they doubt and suspect. You know the type. The parade around you with an atitude that makes you feel small and abashed for no real reason other than they look down their noses at you…they are few, but the mark they can leave is great if you dont think about the impact of these people and consider it so you might dismiss it for the rubbish that their views implant into your way, you might carry it with you for longer than you ought.
If you are suspicious of the truth in me or the factual basis of my ideas. If you suspect I’m proving a point by foolish endeavour or that I might be distracted and unusual in a more unusual way than normal, then you also realise that now I’m English and eccentric, but also driven by my desire to be different for a reason that’s very, very simple.
I dont want to be you, or him or her. I don’t want to be simply ‘around’, living a life thats predisposed upon me by the people we refer to as ‘them’.
Tin foil and oranges are part of your lunch time routine which will see you through to retirement. Not mine.
So next time you ask that question… wonder why you ask. It’s not because you doubt me. It’s because you doubt you. Face up to the nervous laughter that strays across those lips as you ask and realise that it’s not because I fall short of expectation but because you have never realised your own.
Stop waiting for me to fail and help me to succeed, every bit further I get is through help from everyone, you can join in as much or as little as you please, you can watch and just have kind thoughts or look on in wonder.
I have sent you an email cos I am so very cross I don’t want to write it here.
Ok things to do when you get to Karkow. Apparentley these are the best things and the must things for tourist type people, which you could be during the day.
What is a must-see in Krakow
Grand Square
Krakow’s central square, the largest of medieval European cities, is arguably one of the world’s most beautiful plazas. It boasts a plethora of landmarks and myriad restaurants, clubs, and cafes.
The Wieliczka Salt Mine
Millions of visitors, the crowned heads and such celebrities as Goethe and Sarah Bernhardt among them, have enthused over that subterranean world of labyrinthine passages, giant caverns, underground lakes and chapels with sculptures in the crystalline salt and rich ornamentation carved in the salt rock. The last 900 years, when the Wieliczka Salt Mine has been worked, produced 200 kilometers of passages as well as 2,040 caverns of varied size.
Prettiest Leonardo da Vinci
Krakow is one of just six places in the world that can boast a painting by Leonardo da Vinci. And of his three female portraits Krakow’s Lady with an ermine is arguably the most beautiful.
Kanonicza Street
Scenic Kanonicza Street used to constitute the last and most glorious part of the Royal Road, Krakow’s ceremonial route leading from the main city gate to the central square to the Royal Castle. Lined with stately, mostly Renaissance houses, it is arguably one of Europe’s finest streets.
Auschwitz
The site of the Nazi notorious Auschwitz death camp is an hour’s drive from Krakow. About one million men, women and children of many nations perished here between June 1941 and January 1945.
Ojcow National Park
With its mere 21.5 sq. km it may be the smallest of Poland’s twenty national parks, but the Ojcow National Park ranks among the most attractive recreational areas in Europe, and it is just a 15 minutes’ drive–i.e. 24 km–northwest of Krakow.
Window of awe
The world’s arguably greatest modern stained-glass window, the powerful depiction of the Creation, shines above the entrance to the basilica of St. Francis’ since 1900.
Wawel Hill
Mecca of every Pole and a must for foreign tourists, the Wawel Hill is a microcosm of Polish history and culture. From the 11th century on Poland’s monarchs took up their residence here in the Royal Castle. And they were both crowned and buried here in the Wawel Cathedral. The place overflows with art treasures, architectural beauties, relics of the past and curiosities. It is also full of glory, magic, history and fable.
World’s greatest medieval sculpture
The 42-foot-high and 36-foot-wide Veit Stoss’ magnum opus is the largest Gothic sculpture in the world. It consists of 200 fine limewood sculptures treated with color and gold foil. The central part, with huge lifelike statues of the saints, depicts dramatically the Virgin Mary’s Quietus among the Apostles.
Renaissance pearl
The gold-plated dome of the Sigismund Chapel crowns the best example of Renaissance art and architecture with no match without Italy and few equals within.
Kazimierz Town
Now in Krakow’s downtown, the ancient city of Kazimierz used to be its medieval rival. The area contains many landmarks and the former Kazimierz Jewish Quarter, one of the main centers of Diaspora in the past.
Signal trump
Every full hour a golden trumpet shows above Krakow’s central Grand Square in the west window just below the spire of the higher, municipal tower of the Basilica of the Virgin Mary’s.
Things to do on your day off.
http://www.globalgiving.co.uk/ac/browse.html
for if you want to look at projects on your way around.