Visa!

Visa 17.08.2011

Finally received my Russian Visa in the post today - good to have the wait finally over and have a stamp (of sorts) in my passport! They seem to have taken themselves very seriously and placed the visa on the page right in the middle of the passport, obviously couldn't put my first passport on my first page, could they, that just wouldn't be logical... I'm permitted to leave as of the 24 of August for a duration of 90 days, so will have to get the multi-entry long stay visa whilst I'm out there! I also, quite handily, also got returned the HIV test results, so wont need to have another blood test if I need one in any other country now!

University Travel Insurance

I've carried on looking at possibilities of traveling around Russia and Asia for the duration of my time there, and have limited the countries I may be going to, as, obviously, the more places I go, the more travel and visa costs I'll have to pay, and the more expensive it will gradually become! Hopefully I should be able to get by simply by couchsurfing, although with no references, it may be a bit trickier! I have, however, applied for insurance for Russia and some countries in Asia for about 9 months through the University insurance office.

I have also tried to call RBS to explain my situation to them, find out what the cost of cash withdrawals is out in Russia, and tell them not to freeze my account because of foreign cash withdrawals. However, i had no luck contacting the number I found on their website, so am going to have to go in to the local branch and try and sort it out face to face tomorrow. In addition to this it would probably be a good idea to get hold of some roubles or dollars for the time I'm out there, at least enough to get me started...

On top of all of this, I'm still sorting out how I'm getting to London in order to get my train. GF has told me that I'm welcome to stay over the night before and can then give me a lift to the airport, so I'll probably be leaving Exeter on the 30th and be doing just that..

Reed Hall - not exactly the Student Health Centre,
but near enough!

The day before yesterday I also returned to the Student Health Centre for the second of my rabies vaccinations which was quick and easy and relatively painless. The nurse told me that she'll be heading off to Kenya on Sunday, so wont be around for the third vaccination, which someone else will be giving me, and has changed the date of it from the 29th to the 26th, seeing as the 29th is a bank holiday and therefore the Student Health Centre will be closed. We ran through the list of diseases one more time - Cholera and TB she said she would be very surprised if I did get, but recommended I get vaccinated against encephalitis if possible whilst I'm out there, as its fairly widespread and can be deadly. We'll just have to wait and see what the medical facilities in Irkutsk are like! Likewise, she told me that taking anti-malarials would be important if traveling in South and South-East Asia.