Radisson SAS Plaza Hotel Baku

... a "Bridge Fee" which was apparently for the privilege of using the loading ramp to get off the damn boat! Monies exchanged, the port officials became all smiles and handshakes and waved us on our way.

Out into nigh time Baku at about 11.30 in the evening, and it seemed like it was rush-hour in New York, with cars racing each other at stupid speeds through the heavy traffic. At this point, Tim ...

... to stop her sliding off the oily deck into the sea. Fantastic. I have met a Russian lorry driver called Alexander, who has taught me to play Kazio. He thinks the crossing will take 3 days. I hope he's wrong but he has apparently done this journey many times.

... lost on the metro, but eventually got back to the Gordons. They had a few friends over and we spent all evening outside chatting and barbequeing. It was fantastic and we will all be reluctant to leave the land of real food, showers and beds.

... Only Rob got a monster second serve. Decanted a couple of bottles of the Georgian wine, but no-one had a lot. Dessert of yoghurt with local honey only taken up by some. Jerri and Natalya managed to avoid washing most of the large quantity of oily pots, which left Murray to do them. The moon was almost full, so easy to find the way about without a torch. Fairly quiet, although could hear trains and trucks on the highway ...

... accompanied by a whole new wheel, and with a slightly larger sprocket to gear it down a little. My new hub and wheel arrived on midday Monday and I was still up till midnight trying to fit it. The new larger sprocket not fitting into my tight new chain. I'd thrown away the spare links and the chain's slightly too short to allow the new wheel to sit in the dropout slot properly. It's just barely sitting there. Clamped in place by the quick release skewers. I'm hoping the ...

... brotnar tetta myndstur upp af grasreitum en tar undir hvila their sem voru svo illa farnir ad thad tokst ekki ad rada saman likamsleifunum svo greftrun gaeti farid fram eins og venjulega. Sennilega eru engin lik thar undir. A long rod minningarskjalda ber adeins nafn og faedingardag, thau dou oll sama daginn, oll obreyttir borgarar sem letust i aras Russa. Myndi af ungum hjonunum vekur sterkar tilfinningar.

... take us, but we are hard negotiators insisting on 20 SRD each (which I thought Dara has told me is the going rate but find out later than it is typically more like 40). 1 Canadian dollar = 2.20 SRD. Finally a man with a red bandana looking very much like a pirate and his camoflaged side kick agree that they will take us for 20 each. But of course as soon as the boat is loaded, they inform us that they will go as soon as they have a little beer. So we wait for about 1 1/2 ...

... eager to continue moving. Unfortunately everything but the building of Turkmenbashi statues moves at the speed of sloth in this country so we were left to wait. There are no scheduled ferry services between Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan so people have to rock up and take their luck. There is also no way of knowing how many people will be allowed on board, though we had heard it between eight and eleven. The port consists of a waiting room with locked toilets and then customs ...

... around mountains.    Finally, a couple of dates for your diary: We'll be having some London leaving drinks on Thursday 11 November (venue to be confirmed). This will probably be the last time you find Mr & Mrs R in the same place in a pub in London for a wee while.   Details to follow for London dwellers soon. And then Mr R will be 30 in January.    To mourn the ...

... t believe that even the new airport with it's clean facade and professional looking entourage wanted a bribe. "No, 5$ ok?" I smiled as large as I could and cupped my hands in a praying position "Common please help, I have no money!" After 5 minutes of the routine run around, the officer finally stamped the visa and handed me my passport. Horah! The flight to Syria was a strange one. The plane, an old Soviet model seemed like something picked out of a trash heap. Azeris ...