GOTOCHINA08.COM  (Kambiz Taleghani, Leila Taleghani, and Adriana Vernon)

The quest for reaching China in time for 2008 Olympics.

by Kambiz Taleghani

This is the story of what happened to us after the Chinese cancelled/forbade all foreigners from entering china with their cars. 

Just as a reminder.  This all started four years ago when I promised my daughter I would take her to Chinese Olympic games if she learned some Chinese before the games.   She did.  So we headed to Beijing – by Car!

Some of the details appear under each country’s entries elsewhere on our website, www.gotochina08.com .  This is a chronological summary. 

We were well along our way driving towards China, when in T’blisi, Georgia (in Caucasia), we heard the bad news from China.

Immediately after we learned our entry into China was denied, we set out to find alternate solutions.  We could no longer cross Mongolia (our backup plan) because that route led us to the Chinese border as well.

One alternative was to drive north across Kazakhstan to Siberia, then cross Siberia all the way to Vladivostok, which is a Russian port on the Pacific Ocean.  Then ship the car from Vladivostok to the U.S. and fly into China – all in time to see the Olympics.    We ruled out that idea once we realized how long it took to reach Vladivostok  -- we would have missed the Olympics.   Also, there were numerous stories of robberies along our way, and theft at the harbor/ship.  In the end, Vladivostok was simply too far away.

While still in Georgia, we met someone from South Africa who is involved with providing gaming equipment to casinos.  He had a shipping agent in Helsinki whom he put us in touch with on a quick conference call.   Elias, the gentlemen in Finland, said he could ship the car across Russian railroad and then by ship from Northern Europe.   Elias’ plan sounded nice, but from that moment on we could not get any details from him.  Hard to find.  Did not return voice and email messages.  Broken promises, etc.  Very disheartening, especially because we were racing against the clock.

Another solution we started pursuing, was to drive to the last large city along our way before reaching China  (Almaty, Kazakhstan); and see if it made sense to ship the car from, Almaty to the U.S.; and then fly into China.   For this plan we needed a contact in Kazakhstan.   Easier said than done!   Most sites appearing on internet were non-responsive or simply not in existence any longer  (a short business life span there!).  Eventually, Lili, our resourceful shipping agent in Los Angeles found a company in Almaty who had experience in transporting cars.   The employees were mostly Kazakh/Russian.  Former Soviets were not known for their customer service!   Tatyana was introduced to us, but we never were able to talk to her.    It became routine to make 2-3 telephone calls each day and leave messages in addition to sending emails.   In response - nothing!   She was either out of the office or out to lunch.    None of her colleagues could help, and referred us back to her.    Since we were driving most days, we made it a routine to call the transportation companies every morning noon and afternoon from our satellite phone while enroute, and from a landline when available. The Kazakh lady would not answer her emails either.  By this time we had reached Baku, Azerbaijan and our time available was down to just a few days.  We had, by now, lost all the slack time which would have allowed us a leisurely pace to observe and absorb as we drove from country to country. 

In a desperate attempt, we sent out a group email to all those who might be in a position to help us and asked a question:  “Can we or can we not send our vehicle to U.S. from Almaty?”   If the answer was yes, then we could cross the Caspian on ship and continue the trip, working out the details of the transportation as we progressed.   Eventually a “yes” response would come through our resourceful U.S. agent, but it was very late.  The window of opportunity had almost closed on us.

In the meantime, while this was going on and we still had time, we arrived in Baku and realized that our Turkmenistan visa was about to expire.  We set out to find the Turkmenistan embassy to see if we could extend the visa.   

That proved to be a challenge by itself.  

Do you know that Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan has no phone directory?   What would have taken a few minutes in most parts of the world took 3½ days.  For 3 days we employed the hotel personnel, drivers, etc. to look for the Turkmen Embassy’s phone number and address.    We even tried the following:   Turkmen embassy in London.  Turkmen consulate in Istanbul. Turkmenistan Embassy in Ankara, U.S. Embassy in Baku (they even asked their driver, to no avail)   British embassy in Baku (their secretary and driver spent a considerable amount of time looking for the phone number or address with no result).   U.S. Embassy in Ashgabad.   Turkmen Foreign Ministry in Ashgabad (no one would pickup the phone – for days! No email address).  Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry and its website of Foreign Embassies. Turkmen Embassy in Tehran.  Iranian Embassy in Baku.  NONE of them had the phone number nor the address of the Turkmenistan Embassy in Baku.  Eventually, one person in the Turkmen Embassy in London suggested calling the Uzbekistan embassy in Baku as a possible source!   We did.  Lo-and-behold the Uzbek embassy had a phone number (which proved to be non-working number!)   and an approximate neighborhood.   That is when a taxi driver was presented with a 20 Manat (about $20 bill) and a challenge to find the embassy.   We eventually found it on the 4^th day, which meant our visa which we were trying to extend had by now expired!  Which meant we had to apply for a new visa – and that would have required waiting a month for the answer.

So how do you locate your destination in a City with no directory where most information was/is classified, secret, confidential, or simply not available?  Answer: Taxi drivers!   It took us a few taxi rides and drivers before learning how to utilize the resource.  In Baku taxi drivers congregate and specialize in neighbourhoods.   So, you get in a taxi and tell him what office you are trying to go.  The driver goes to where taxi stands are and begins his quest.   He asks the groups of drivers chatting next to their stations.  They talk and point to a direction.   The taxi driver repeats the routine numerous times.  Eventually, he (no women drivers were noted) narrows the search and finds the place.   Once we learned this, I noticed that there was a constant exchange between taxi drivers for addresses.   Some, it seemed, specialise in “their” territory. It is not unusual for a driver to stop 5-6 times and ask for directions before arriving at your desired destination.  After a while they internalize the information and collectively know where everything is and most notable people live!   To be fair, due to influx of oil money, Baku is growing/changing at an incredibly fast rate and it would be very difficult keeping track of constant change of addresses and new phone assignments at such a fast rate of change!

We had similar experience trying to renew our Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzistan, and Tajik visas in Baku.  

In the case of Tajikistan, we were told there was no Tajik embassy in Baku, and we would have to go to either Ashgabad (Turkmenistan) or Tehran (Iran).  Numerous calls, emails, messages to Tajik embassy in Ashgabad were unanswered.   Eventually we read on the internet that the Tajik ambassador to Turkmenistan was actually in the neighboring country, Uzbekistan.   Unfortunately, this was not an official source and it was difficult to verify.  Maybe that is why the phones kept ringing unanswered (ditto email enquiries). 

By this time we got word from our Tour operator in Turkmenistan that the ferry that was to take us across Caspian Sea was experiencing 5-7 day delays (on a 12-hour trip).   Apparently, when the ship eventually arrived at Turkmenbashi port (destination), it sometimes had to wait for days off the harbor until a dock could become available.  Hot. Humid. No air conditioning.  Rusting cabins. Unsanitary conditions? Questionable food.  … and now 5-day delays when we were trying to shave hours to meet our schedule. 

Our new Turkmenistan visa (which we got through my writing a personal hand-written plea to the Turkmen foreign ministry and the kindly staff of Baku embassy faxed it there asap) gave us 72 hours to cross the country.   We had to specify a starting date when the clock starts “ticking”.  That is when our 72-hour countdown would start regardless of whether we had entered the country or not.    So, it became critical to schedule our physical arrival by car as close to the start of the 72-hour countdown as possible. (Bemused, I was trying to enter one minute after midnight, but some borders close at sunset).  It normally takes 5 days with a guide/minder to cross the country!   Now, when the ship you are trying to take is experiencing a 5-day delays at the destination while you are holding a 72-hour visa…. Well that made the Crossing of the Caspian by ferry out of the question.   

Now… one option left … IRAN!

If we drove to Tehran, got our Tajik visa there in one day (there is a Tajik embassy in Tehran), then drove to Iran-Turkmen border (they share a border), there just was a slight chance that we could continue the trip.

Surprisingly, entering Iran proved to be fairly easy!   I called the Iranian embassy in Baku and explained to them in Persian and English (Leila and I speak Persian) that we are from the U.S., we have an American car, U.S. papers (title, registration, insurance, drivers license, actually I also had International D.L., etc.), we had no Carnet-de-Passage (required by the Iranian authorities).  This is like a financial bond which guarantees you will take your car back to the point of origin.   I also explained our dilemma:  that we are trying to go around the world and Iran is the only “bridge” left open to us.   I also said frankly we are a bit worried about going there (talk about killing your chances before you even begin!).   Surprise of all surprises:   The consular officer and embassy staff were sympathetic, friendly, and started calling their friends and contacts.   Within hours we had our answer:   We were welcome and here is the name of a special broker at the border who would issue us “transit” paper which would allow our car into the country.   My reaction:  “no way”.  This was too good to be true!  (I had posed the question to the Iranian Interest Section in Washington and was told a definite “NO” to entering the country with our car). Apparently this was a big deal.   As I learned later, diesel cars are not allowed to operate in Iran.  My guess is: something to do with shortage of fuel and almost-free price of fuel there.   Iran is short of diesel fuel!    They have not built new refineries to meet the increasing demand.  (See more under “surprise visit to Iran” tab of this website regarding the fuel situation there)

As we experienced later, most petrol stations were out of diesel fuel (or pretended to be, until you paid the attendants some extra money!).   Long lines of trucks waiting for fuel.   Fortunately, I had equipped the car with external fuel tanks which gave us over 900 mile (1300 km) range between refueling.  This saved us, later, from misery just before entering Turkey from Iran.

We entered Iran (see more under “Iran” section of our travelogue about our interesting experience there).  Drove to Tehran.  Went to the Tajik embassy… and found out that we really could not obtain a new Tajik visa.   We were not residents of Iran, and therefore would require a “letter of invitation” from Tajikistan (which would not be a problem for us to get), and a referral letter from the embassy of the country of our passports.  That meant American embassy.  … and guess what… there is no American embassy in Iran to write such a letter for us.

This is where we “THREW IN THE TOWEL”, gave up the rest of the driving trip, and started our long trek back to a shipping port to send our car back to the U.S.

The nearest port to ship the car back was Poti Georgia on Eastern coast of Black Sea.  We found an agent after 2-3 days of trying and scheduled to drop the car at Poti (110km north of Batumi / Turkish border).   Drove 3 days across Iran.  Left Iran (had to bribe one official there, at his delicate insistence.  Very clever scheme.  Had me cornered.  I could not get out and away from this dude!  See story under “surprise visit to Iran” section of this website).   Our plan was to drop-off the car at the Georgian port with all our belongings (“junk” to be more exact!) in it; except for the cameras and a bag for each of us.  Find some sort of ground transportation to the nearest commercial airport (about 1 day of driving).  Then, eventually make our way to China through larger cities with better air connections.

As our luck would have it, on the day (about one week ago, at the time of this writing) we were to drop off the car, RUSSIA STARTED BOMBING selected areas in Georgia.   Poti was one of them.   We heard news of Poti’s bombing by the Russians within hours prior to arrival there!  Boy, talk about a close call!  In addition to bombing, we heard that Russia had now blockaded the Georgian shipping ports (Didn’t really verify any of this. I know the bombing is true). 

So, yours truly, my patient wife, and our dear 12-year old daughter (by now worldly and battle-hardened!) turned our car and headed across Turkey!  Our next nearest port for shipment lay another 3-day drive to the West. 

Istanbul, here we come.

By the time we arrived in Istanbul we had covered 7000 miles (11000 km) and 11 countries in 5 weeks. 

Through a network of contacts which originated from our kind and resourceful landlord in Los Angeles, Bruce, we found an experienced broker in Istanbul and booked a container at exorbitant cost to finally ship the car back to Los Angeles.

So, last Friday, after spending two days the second of which included 12 hours at the port and shipyard myself; we loaded the car in a container and sighed a huge relief.

B U T,   wait ... 

This wouldn’t be Istanbul if everything went smoothly!   

At the last minute I received a disturbed phone call (by now I had my own Turkish mobile phone number) from Irkel, our resourceful freight forwarder and master of many talents.

We were not allowed to leave Turkey.  

“What do you mean by,  NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE TURKEY?      W H A T   T H E…@#$%!?”

Apparently when we entered Turkey, the customs officer at the land border mistyped our vehicle’s VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) in their computer by one character.    Now Turkish authorities showed an extra letter “J” in our 17-character VIN number which did not show on our Title, Registration, Insurance papers, and embedded on the car itself!

Instead of apologizing for their mistake, they had our passports; and we were now being investigated for document forgery!   (I don’t really know how true this is.  We were told this by a third party).  At any rate, we were stuck in Turkey, and could not leave the country!   We were told the process would have to go through its own pace.   It could take weeks or months to resolve the issue.  We discretely enquired whether this was a veiled request for a bribe, and was told no there was no bribe involved.  It really was the bureaucratic process itself.

Last Friday evening I paid for no less than 6 “agents” to work the case through Turkish Customs.   I personally befriended port, shipyard, trucking, agents, and field customs officers in the course of 5 days.

Finally on Monday, two days ago, I visited the regional headquarters of the Turkish customs office with, literally, two carloads worth of hired “agents”.   You should have seen us.  We went to the sixth floor.   The elevator did not have the capacity to carry all of us.  Some walked up the stairs.  I was introduced to a very polite and cordial manager who offered the chair next to him, with tea and water.   They were all “working on it” – except that they really were not.    One of the “agents” a young man had a father who worked at the Bulgarian border and who had the authority/contacts to initiate a change in the computer record.    Official letters and faxes were exchanged.   Everything was hand-carried by the “agents” from one department to another.  Some people were talking on two mobile phones simultaneously.  

The border office authorized the change to the computer record (essentially admitting their error).   Now all that remained was to correct the information on the screen  --- except that no one here knew how to operate the software!

Seven people (about 3 of “them” and 4 of “us”) were gathered around the computer screen trying to figure out how to remove that troublesome intruding letter “J” from the record.    The operator got frustrated, asked everyone to leave him alone… and went for a cup of tea and a cigarette to sooth his nerves.  It was getting near the closing time.  This was simply too much and too fast a pace.   Actually, there is truth in this, considering that it would otherwise have taken weeks or months for the rectification to work itself through the system.

Finally, a “conference” of some managers, and a handwritten note was entered in my passport, a stamp and signature officiated the handwritten note, and 20 minutes before closing I was handed our passports        --- FREE TO LEAVE TURKEY.   (I still don’t know if they finally figured how the software works).

A speedy return to Istanbul from the port at 140 Km/hr in a tiny Tata Indian car.   Adriana and Leila packed and ready at the hotel.  A 2-minute shower.   Taxi to the airport.  Cleared formalities.  Turkish Airlines flight 20 off on schedule on its way to Beijing with us in it.   Piece of cake.  Nothing to it.   A non-event.  -  Right!

I wish so much that there had been a way to record the audio, video, and pictures of what happened.  I have a few pictures, but they don’t serve the story well.

We were on our way to 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Yesterday, I  HATED  THE  LETTER   “J”!    I thought it should be eliminated from the alphabet!

The HAPPY ENDING:   As I write this in Beijing, it is 5:30 a.m. and my daughter Leila is asleep near me.  She made me promise to wake her up.  We are scheduled to see our first Olympic game in 4 hours.   I’ve kept my promise to her of 4 years ago!

Plus, I have tickets to the Football/Soccer finals.  This is going to be fun!

We made it!

Signed, yours truly,

 gotochina08

Kambiz Talelghani

On the overnight flight from Istanbul to Beijing. Looks like we are going to make it, after all!