Being South African...

So with 14 days until the start of the epic Rickshaw Run 2012, 2 out of 3 visas (and passports) are in the possession of their owners. The odd one out is me, of course. I notoriously leave most things until the last minute to organise, a habit that infuriates my girlfriend immensely, but I was quietly confident that I would be 100% ready for this trip before my good friend Chris Pedra, as he too tends to leave things until the eleventh hour to organise.

I received a text from him yesterday: ‘Visa sorted! Boom.’ I had completely neglected the fact that Ped travels on an Irish passport.

Now this is a bit concerning as there are only 10 more working days until I need to depart from Heathrow airport bound for New Dehli, leaving myself just 2 days for orientation before the ‘race’ begins. My passport arrived back from the German Embassy a week ago and I thought I could hold onto it for a few more days and visit the Berlin Christmas markets before I sent it to the Indian Embassy to apply for my Indian visa. After consulting the website, I thought it would take 5 days to be processed, 3 if I paid a little more. I was wrong. I strongly advise doing your homework thoroughly in these situations, and always reading the fine print on the websites. I am sure I am preaching to the converted as it is probably just me (and Ped) who applies for a visa 15 days before I need it. This trip has been booked for over a year after all.

Thank God I phoned the Indian embassy before I was scheduled to leave for Berlin (I much prefer, and find it more informative, speaking to people on the telephone) as I found out that one can only apply for a 3-5 day visa if you own a British passport or have been living in the UK for 2 years or more. I have only been here for 14 months so for the plebs like me it can take up to 15 working days. Needless to say, my sojourn to Berlin was cancelled.

I keep wondering why, if I was born and bred in Durban, which is home to the largest Indian population outside of India itself, do I even need a bloody visa but after a lot of stressful days, many trips into the heart of London to the Indian Embassy, lots of paperwork and sponsoring Vodafone I have been assured that my visa should have been processed and back in my possession before I need to leave. In the meantime, I have booked and paid for my flights, and am holding thumbs.

And after all, I have invested in a large hip flask and copious amounts of whiskey to keep the team warm at night and would prefer not to be consuming it on my own, in London.

Even though I have encountered endless hours of frustration, wasted umpteen hours in queues at many different Embassies and used innumerable ink cartridges printing form upon form to attest my identity, I would not substitute my Green Mamba (South African) passport, and heritage, for the world. I do look forward to getting back to The Republic in the near future...

We are all eagerly awaiting the start of this adventure together and again want to thank everyone enormously for their support and generosity in this endeavour.