Thursday 24 November 2011

All Iced Up and Nowhere to go.

Sunday November 20th
We have been stuck here for a week now. Happily the staff at Hungarian border vet service have been incredibly sympathetic and accommodating - I have to thank Dr Bertalan Halascz for looking after us all so well.
The horses have been moved into indoor stalls in their most impressive and well kept equestrian facilities which are totally pristine and hygenic - you could eat off the floors.
Here are Bolashak and little Zorbee in their cosy quarters - I have now removed Bolashak's rug.

The border vet service have also been providing them with excellent hay, so there has been no worries about feed supply, although we do have a couple of bales of hay and some horsehage on the lorry.
Everything is regularly cleaned and disinfected, and we have been provided with disinfectant pans for when we move to and from the lorry or the stables....

As far as paperwork is concerned it has just been a waiting game and I am waiting until office hours tomorrow to see whether our transit authority has been given the OK by Kiev. Matt has emailed a certificate from Kazakhstan, but as it is in Russian I cannot understand most of it.

Meanwhile we have been made relatively comfortable in the circumstances. I have been able to have a couple of piping hot showers in the border vet buildings, and they have provided us with an electricity cable to the lorry which means we have light and I can keep my laptop operational 24 hours a day. The Ukrainian dongle is not working too badly out here in the lorry, though unfortunately it will not work in the warmth of the vet offices, where we are allowed to sit if they are open.
Home, Sweet Home ....

The weather has been absolutely freezing, apparently unusually so for the time of year, and several mornings I have had to break through the ice on the washing up bowl in the living area.

However I am perfectly cosy at night in the luton with two sleeping bags and a double duvet, although the book I am reading below says it all .......
The other plus is that we can walk out into Hungary to have the occasional meal at a local restaurant, and to food shop. Moral boosting bottles of Hungarian wine seem to feature quite heavily on the shopping list at the moment.

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