Visas, Leaving Drinks and Iran Chats

We now have just under two weeks to go until we leave Manchester. The time we have left is going so fast that it seems hard to believe.

Yesterday, Oli and I met his colleague Atefeh and her husband Amir for a coffee. Both are from Iran and have given us lots of advice on the best places to go and things to see. I am now really hoping that I can get the visas (should be no problems for Oli as he has a Turkish passport) as it sounds amazing and should be a real highlight of the trip! When I have mentioned Iran to people they have been surprised that we would plan to go, but from what we have heard from other travellers / bloggers the people there are very friendly and welcoming, and the troubles are mainly between govenments. Really, the Indian roads will probably be far, far more dangerous!

Today, we have my sister Georgie, Craig, Emma and Sam staying with us in our little flat. It is pretty cosy but great to have everyone around. Currently they are all asleep in the lounge / dormitory and Oli and I are working out when is acceptable to go in and get breakfast. Geo has already been complaining about the standard of the “hotel” (they had to make their own beds, but on the plus side got wine and cheese on arrival). We're all out for farewell drinks later tonight with the Manchester gang. It will be great to see everyone but also sad, as we are really going to miss all the lovely people we have met whilst living here.

Later today Oli and I are going to pop to the Pakistani visa centre to collect our passports. There was some trouble in the application process so we don't actually know if we have have got the visas yet... fingers crossed and updates to follow!