A step forward

Finally, after FIVE nail biting days, the money has been delivered in PNG! Well, tomorrow, ie March 11, the visa approval papers will be logged and apparently, it will take 15-30 days to get an approval!

I suppose till that happens, its going to be quite a tensed month! But hey, now I know that money can be sent to PNG :-) Strangely, it was the first transaction to PNG from the exchange here!

Time ticks away

Oh boy, how quickly the time passes by and where am I? No training for last 3 days! THREE DAYS is too much time wasted, especially since I have about 84 days left!


But I have been busy pushing papers, well the visa papers atleast. Darn, it is a bit too tiresome, why cant it be a little easier? Spent a lot of money on international calls...and calling PNG isnt cheap either. See, am complaining a lot...this is what fast approaching deadlines do to you, coupled with the fear that the ruddy thing called the visa is still like the sword of Damocles, never knowing which way it will fall...

Anyway, back to training. Today even attempted to get back up on the CT but gave up 10 minutes before the set programme timed out. Well!

Goal in sight

With a goal in sight, how easy it is to convince your body to follow it up with an extra push on the cross trainer! Fortunattely my mind and body are in agreement on this and jumping from 20 to 30 minutes in one day was no big deal really. In fact it didnt feel any more strenuous or taxing and I think I can do this twice a day for a week before jumping to the 45 Minute Mark on the CT.

Hmmm, the begining, I feel strongly, has been well. with 90 days to go, I suppose it is about time I gaive that extra push needed to survive the jungle track under extreme humidity.

VISA VISA VISA. That;s all I can think of now...

Countdown begins...

Once again, the countdown begins...Oh I so love the ticking of the clock...tick tock...it goes, bringing with it so many hopes and joys...

Starting March 1, I have exactly 92 days left. If all goes well with my visa (touch wood, touch wood touch wood), I am going to be on that plane and wing it to Papua New Guinea for the dream trek (some may call it nightmarish, I know).

Training has begun and how!! Wish me luck people. I would need loads of it. If I pull this off successfully, there will be a great news waiting at the end of it...and not just a completion certificate!

Miracles do HAPPEN

Between Sept 2010 and Feb 2011, were 5 months in which I gave up all hopes of ever walking Kokoda Track. I did think about the track often but with a tinge of regret that I couldnt, despite my best efforts find a way to make it happen. Gave up hope and because of that gave up wanting to turn super fit as I had done for Kilimanjaro, allowing myself to go soft out of dejection.

Then something happened. My friend Indeever Kaul in Singapore, who had been on my case long after I gave up called me with a piece of news I could give up both my arms for: That a visa to PNG was possible and rather easily too, I only had to go to Delhi for a day, yes ONE DAY, and someone he knew there would grant me the visa. It came from the horses mouth.

Never look a gift horse n the mouth, I believe and I am not even going to wonder why and how, all I know is that if such a thing is going to happen, thenI damn well be on that Delhi flight, leg it to the PNG High Commission and have the visa...and wing it to Port Moresby ASAP.

Oh, ASAP means at least 3 months from now for I must absolutely get rid of all the fat around my tummy to begin with.

Yes, it feels like Kokoda Will be possible after all.

Thank you Indeevar!! Cant tell you what a boost to my sagging morale that has been...!!!

A Ray of Hope

A Ray of Hope gleams in the distance...I might, just might be able to procure a VISA to PNG and do the Kokoda afterall! This time round, the organisers of my trek will apply for the tourist visa and facilitate the process...just in case the PNG govt decides that I might 'settle' down there and hence refuse to give me a visit visa. To be honest, I dont care anymore how I get the visa, so long as I get it. I have set my mind on Kokoda Trail and I want to do it at all costs...

Tentatively, the trek dates are March 4-11, which means I leave my city on March 1st. Well, nearly five months to go, but the preparation promises to be more intense and tougher than Kilimanjaro. I have, well, begun the 'training' so to speak, but I see that I need to buck up and get a move on.

Few obstacles

I am in the mid of July and havent heard about any Visa. Looks like I will have to apply again and hope it will come, second time around. The trip, originally sheduled for September of 2010 will now be postponed to early 2011, for various reasons...Visa being one of them! Also, its a bit expensive trip and seeing that I am not doing this for any organisation or chairty anymore, I want do this at my pace.

But yes, Kokoda will happen. Sooner or later!