Stage 1: Goa to Paris

After getting back from my training in Portsmouth and taking a week off to recover, the first thing I did was apply online for the South Africa and Uruguay visas. The South African visa was done within a week.

Uruguay however was a completely different story! It all started with a phone call to Harsh. The guy who was to have done the complete race, and couldn't. He helpfully forwarded an email from the Honorary Consul of Uruguay listing all the documents required and a link to the online application form. After quickly putting all of them together, with a lot of help from Clipper, I emailed the bunch to the Honorary Consul, as instructed. A few email exchanges later he okayed the documents and asked me to meet him for an interview in Bombay. After a long wait and a brief meeting, he emailed the papers to the Embassy in Delhi and asked me to courier all of them as well. For reasons best known to them they waited till they recieved the physical papers to email me with a list of changes or corrections. Clipper came to the rescue once again and sent me the new papers in double quick time. 10 days after receiving my papers the Embassy emailed a note  that they had begun orocessing my visa and that it could take upto 4 weeks. Meanwhile i was asked not to call or email them for any status updates. This after 5 weeks of back and forth and two weeks to departure. 

So i focused on my cross fit training and exercise routine to build up my stamina. I hope to be of some use on CV28 once I get on board.

The days raced by and folow up calls and emails to the Embassy drew a blank. I finally panicked on the evening of Sep 25th. I had just 2 days to go before I absolutely had to get on a flight. Besides i had told Clipper i would confirm participation latest by Sep 26th. So I made one last ditch attempt. 

My friend Param, India's Ambassador to Slovenia, came to my rescue. On hearing my story, he made one quick phone call and got things moving in a hurry. The Embassyof Uruguay called the very next morning, congratulating me on my visa approval!

Once again i realised how awesome it is to have this fabulous circle of family and friends that quickly comes together and sorts out my life. Well, atleast in this instance. I was getting carried away there for a bit. 

Vasu in Delhi organised for my passport to be picked up and given to a captain in Air India, a friend of my Uncle Sunil, whi brought it to Bombay. My sister Shalaka then picked it up and delivered it to Mum's so I Could pick it up on my way via Bombay to Paris.

I flew to Bombay on Sep 27 and after some quality time with the sister gang, got on an early morning flight to Montevideo, flying via Paris and Sao Paolo.  

On a 17 hour layover in Paris, its just about beginning to sink in that Im on my way to the Race of my Life

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