... but sometimes...
A mobile was very handy when we got stuck between the Kazakh and the Uzbek border. The Kazakh stamped our Single Entry visa and wouldn't let us trough (we didn't give them 'present' so they returned the favour). The Uzbeks simply didn't had immigration police at that border post and couldn't let us trough.
So first we called the Uzbek consulate in Brussels. He would fix something in an hour or so. Phoning over and forth between the customs guys and somwhere in Tashkent started, but no go... . Next day we tried the French embassy in Tashkent. They where very concerned about us having food, a place to sleep and means to charge our phone. After three unsuccesfull days we got a phonecall from the Belgian embassy in Moscou (ooops,the french don't get us out here, but hey, at least foreign affairs know where we are), they would involve interpol, the Belgian consul in Astana and a guy in Almaty. Two days later we where escorted trough Kazakhstan to a different border post, and processed into Uzbekistan.
Not sure how long it would have taken without a phone... .
|