Packing frenzy. Books and maps strewn all over my room. We're moving house this weekend, so I have to do my writing on top of everything else that's going on. Have a set number of pages/maps to do per day so that all the Chile and Peru work is finished by the end of the month. Have promised my editor that I'll get all the maps to him, ASAP, because I won't be able to make any alterations to them while on the road in Siberia.
My sister and Steve have been researching the train timetables and prices. The trans-Siberian jaunt is going to be more expensive than expected. My research trip's in danger of being hijacked. I haven't even booked my flight yet due to the fiasco with my passports; as of last year, I can only travel to Russia on a Russian passport, so I applied for it before I left for South America. The consulate informed me that it should take up to three months to be ready, so it technically should be ready by now, but unlike my sister, I've had no communication from the Russian embassy to let me know that that's the case. That doesn't mean that it's not ready, but the situation is still worrying. The additional problem is that I have a different name in my British passport, having changed it for professional reasons last year, so am not sure which name to book my flight under.
Explain my dilemma to the woman at Trailfinders. It's the first time she'd come across a situation like mine, so she calls the visa section and they tell her that I should book the ticket under my Russian name. The only thing is, I don't know how they've spelt it in my new passport (which may or may not be ready); just because they spelt my mother's surname (the same as my former one) a certain way is no guarantee that mine's been spelt the same. I'm stuck.
Apart from that, there are the visas to be obtained - the Mongolian, the Chinese and possibly the Vietnamese (if I have time to make a short excursion into Vietnam), and those should go in my British passport, though this, combined with my name change, will cause extra confusion at the borders, I'm sure.
We go sign our new house contract. Am devastated when I discover that my favourite restaurant's been replaced with a Chinese place. Stop by to see an old housemate, since Rough Guides still insist on sending the free copy of the guide I've been working on to my old address.
More packing, cleaning, planning. Up till 2am, working on my Peru maps.
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