Indian Visa: check

So, who knows what went on but the dubious combination of a letter explaining an explicit overland route and £10 of travel agent provisional itinerary involving flying to and from Kathmandu has resulted in a double entry visa for India with the note "re-entry from Kathmandu." Hurrah!

Of course, I now fret that it says re-entry from Kathmandu rather than Nepal (as though I would have been flying direct from Kathmandu to India) however the nominal road distance from Kathmandu SSE to the border at Raxaul is 40-50 miles (albeit on an incredibly twisty-turney road) and I should be able to do that in half a day thus perpetuating the idea that I'm re-entering India from Kathmandu... Not that I have a Nepalese visa, yet, I think you can get them on the border. I hope so!

That's the good news. The bad news is that I now have to get up far too early tomorrow morning to stand in line at the Pakistan consulate in London again. Last time I did that I met B who saw through my Letter of Invitation (LOI) ruse that I was going to be holidaying near the Indian border as he had exactly the same LOI ruse from the same people. Given the success (for both of us), I have changed the dates and am resubmitting the same LOI!

All these upcoming bank holidays, whilst great for you working types, just adds to the delay in visa processing time for us holiday types. Think about me! They've also proven to be something of a pain for my attempts to shift my belongings out of here. But that's a small matter.

B, btw, has recently pitched up in New Delhi looking for somewhere to stow his bike for six months whilst he toddles off to Korea to teach English to earn some cash. Based on my experience there in 2003 the general population could do with some English teaching -- a difficult place to make your way given how few people do speak English.

Any other travel business? Not much to report. Kaulson, in New Delhi, are claiming that their supplier isn't talking to them so they don't know if they can get me any tyres.

I have seen fit to buy exactly the same scientific instrumentation (read temperature/humidity gauges) as I bought for part 1 of the trip. I dropped the humidity gauge on the ground in a layby in Iran thus losing the ability to report a number I don't really understand. The temperature gauge/battery voltage reporting device is a handy spare for the existing one that's seen some mileage. As it happens, the "outdoor" sensor (which I have next to the airbox snorkel) stopped working about a week into the trip. Snapped cable?

My camera sensor cleaning kit turned up and I attacked the camera with gusto. Curiously, wiping the sensor seemed to get rid of the original marks then leave enormous specks of dirt in their place. I tried several times with the (same, tsk, tsk) swab to get rib of them but all they did was shift about. I finally gave the sensor a blast with the rocket blower and, presto, the dust has gone. Well, OK, apart from some really faint spots that you have to ratchet down to f/22 or higher and point at a continuous bright object to see. Shouldn't be visible on my holiday snaps.

What was interesting was that swabbing and later PEC*PAD (tm) 'ing the mirror and underside of the viewfinder prism has almost precisely no effect whatsoever despite multiple attempts to shift the mess. I'm now thinking that somehow my original attempt to clean the mirror/viewfinder area has shot dust in behind the viewfinder prism and short of dismantling the camera there'll be no shifting it. There's been a mild reduction in the smudge from the rocket blower. I sense I shall be minded of my foolishness for the life of this camera.