The bad news...

...I went to Budapest on Tuesday and had an eye examination for lazer eye surgery. It appears I have the beggings of a cateract in my left eye! The second bit of bad news is, I have to change my route to Cyprus. I phoned the Cypriot Embassy in Budapest and was informed that I cannot legally enter Cyprus from a non-European country (Turkey is of course not in the European Union) unless I pay shit-loads of tax on my van and my motor-bike! I therefore have to either go by boat from Italy (Too expensive) or Greece! I now have to find a RORO ferry company who can take my van from Athens to Limassol. Some months before I was due to travel I emailed the Cypriot Embassy in London asking if they could clarify the legal aspect of the above and when I didn't get a reply I stupidly presumed there was no problem. Oh well, shit happens! :-)

And now for a few good points to come out of this. I've saved myself approximately £900 by not having lazer surgery. The route to Athens is approximately five hundred miles less than going via Istanbul, so there's a saving in fuel and other expenses along the journey which should cover the cost of going by sea. And as an extra bonus, the lazer surgery would have meant a delay to my jouney till at least the first or second week in July. Now I can set off as soon as I've sorted my boat passage :-) (Well within a reasonable time as my relatives noses would be put out of joint if I announced I'm leaving in the morning! Also I would like to get a few more pictures to put on the blog to show how beautiful Baja and it's surrounding countryside is)