I am suffering from retail shock syndrome. This condition arises from bashing one’s credit card repeatedly against shop walls to pay for things you NEVER thought you’d be buying. Iodine tincture. 100% DEET. Diamox. Mooncup. Universal fit bath plugs. Packing compressors. Collapsable water basins. I didn’t even know what half of these things were a month ago, and now I am rejoicing at bargain hunting down these essentials – you’ve got to love Ebay.
Talking of mooncups, gentlemen … look away now.
One of the problems I had when considering packing (and I am not an overpacker, planning on taking 3 pairs of knickers for the year) was tampons. Apparently they are expensive in some places, and lets face it I am not going to be able to pop to Boots when stuck up the Amazon in Peru or in a treetop lodge in Sri Lanka.
Some of you know I am also a bit of a closest environmentalist. I keep, for example, trying to persuade the family that a 47 hour train trip to Lhasa in Tibet is MUCH more fun than a 2 hour flight from China. I know this trip is nothing short of a disaster environmentally, with all the flights, so am trying to use public transport wherever possible in between to ease my conscience. Anyways, digressing again. Tampons.
Tampons are a nightmare, environmentally, and the thought of packing a years’ supply was horrendous. So, I have invested in the incredibly environmentally-friendly mooncup -www.mooncup.co.uk if you truly want to find out more – and will let those of you who I know are interested (yes, you know who you are!) how I get on …
This has, all in all, been a very successful week. As well as having my universal bath plug and travel clothes line in hand:
- We have travellers cheques via Marks & Spencer online, highly recommended: the best rate I could find, no commission and free buy back.
- We have finally filled in reams of Chinese forms (online of course, no paper = no trees) to secure our places on the Trans Mongolian and Trans Sib Railways, complete with 3 nights in a Mongolian Ger/Yurt Camp, 2 nights on the amazing but highly radioactive Lake Baikal in some dodgy fisherman’s cottage, 1 night in Moscow and most importantly the visa support we need to get into Russia, which certainly doesn’t seem to be encouraging the casual tourist with its regulation and costs! Monkey Business, a Chinese firm www.monkeyshrine.com have saved us over £1000 against the offering of any UK firm.
- Most of all, we are full of eternal, ETERNAL gratitude to Ros & Guy who have ended a week of frustration with airasia.com … we have a fabulous week booked at Sepilok Jungle Resort in Borneo and even 1 night in a luxury hotel with two superior rooms (wow!! After all those hostels!!) in Kota Kinabalu. Borneo prices are ridiculously cheap.
However. We could not persuade Air Asia, a fabulously budget airline, that we do have some money and our lovely Sainsburys Bank Visa is a real credit card, honest. In short, we could not get the flight we needed from Singapore to Borneo and Sepilok looked a possible cancellation. 2 days and ten attempts by me, then a day on hold to Malaysia by Joe – who says you will be pleased to know the hold music in Malaysia is just as charming as our own – and we still could not get them to take our card. I looked at trains, obviously, but there is an inconvenient ocean-type thing in the way. Other airlines are 5 times the price. But, thank you thank you oh thank you, Ros and Guy stepped in with their entirely more trustworthy and grown-up credit card and now we have the flights! OK, its never that straightforward, as to get the budget price we do need to cross the border from Singapore to Johor Bahru, just across the causeway into Malaysia but apparently it can take 4 hours but, yes, there IS a train.
So roll on rolling stock.
And great relatives.
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