....!
We are both devastated by Michaels death. Norman got to see him one last time before Michael died on 5th November. At the end of the day its Normans decision to come home. I am confident that he made the right decision. Its his choice, no one else can influence his final decision. I respect that.
We move on......
Back packers travel insurance allows you one visit home during the period covered for no longer than 14 days. We arrived home on 3rd November. This means we have to resume our travels by or on 16th November. Failure to do this results in the insurance being invalid. In other words `game over`. I am writing this on 9th November, so a week has passed already and we still don't have a funeral date! So, I am talking to our insurers and find I can buy an extension to the visit period. I can buy up to three 14 day extensions. So, do I buy one or two extensions? I dont want to buy more than we need in case we have another cause to come home (God forbid) before June 2019. So, we are waiting for the funeral date.
We can also claim back the cost of the flights home and the hotel accommodation that we had paid for but didnt use. To do this we need a copy of Michaels death certificate (can be purchased from the registrars office) and there is a form that Michaels doctor needs to complete. All this seems hard and callous. But the reason behind needing `evidence` is due to people fraudulently claiming for early termination of their holiday. A senario would be someone coming home early because they have fallen out with their travelling companion, run out of money, got homesick etc. Then they think `I know, I will say I had to get home early because granny died, and I will get money back from my travel insurance`. So, the result is I have some paperchasing to do. If the claim was small I wouldnt worry, but it is nearly £1,000, so I do need to do this.
Of course with time ticking away, our visas are also ticking away. The Turkish visas worry me in particular. We have 90 day visas and have used up 35 days already! So, I contact the Turkish visa office for advice. Good news! If we return to Turkey our 90 days start afresh. Result!!!! I double check that we have understood as it sounds too good to be true. But, it is confirmed. Hurrah.
Then we have an issue with the house. We can't keep messing Ruth (housesitter) around. We reneged on our deal. She has been fantastic, she collected us from Gatwick and gave us our room back. She has gone to such trouble for us. A true dear friend. But, we must give her her freedom to stay or go as she pleases. So, to satisfy the house insurance in case the house is empty, we have got an alarm fitted. Its a very sophisticated system, and I must say I feel happy that we have done this. We have talked about doing this in the past but never got round to it.
So, how to resume the travels? The plan is to fly to Bodrum or Marmaris then head east along the coast. We can visit Kas, Kekova, Antalaya and Kalcan then head north to the `gourmet triangle`, then north west to Cappadocia, then further north to Istanbul , then west to Canekkale. So, we would be completing our Turkish adventure in an anticlockwise direction. This would leave us nicely placed to travel onto into the parts of Europe we have not yet visited.
So, where will we be for Christmas? Could be Istanbul or Canakkale. We know that Christmas is not celebrated in Turkey, but to be honest we don't celebrate it much anyway. We usually just have a nice meal and drink some nicer wine than normal. I think the only thing I will miss is the Christmas tree and friends visiting, of course.
GOT TO SAY SOMETHING. I am so grateful for the wonderful words of support. I realy didn't realise how many people are on this journey with us. You are all welcome, come along, we will have a party. (I wont be carrying your bag though, you are on your own with that. Ha ha)