“Land of the Pharos” Turboguy & VWRW

[Kuna]

Turbo and vwrw...

Congratulations from downunder!  I wish you both all the best in the future.  I think you're both very lucky!

Now... what I want to know is what is the equivalent of a Bucks Party in RWD???

Do we all supply our own beer, sit around posting bawdy comments and log into a web cam with strippers???

Doesn't sound like much fun so I guess we've leave it to turbo's friends and loved ones to remind him how lucky he is to have found vwrw.

Kuna

[Photo Guy]

Turbo wrote: At the end of the trip I proposed.  She accepted and we have started the K-1 paperwork.   I have never been surer of anything in my life and I think she feels the same.  

Wow! I just read that and I'm happy for you both. Congratualtions, and be sure to stay in touch. Keep us updated about the K-1 and future developments. I look forward to someday meeting both of you in person. Best of luck! -doug

[Turboguy]

Thanks PG.  I hope it is soon and that you have the right woman for you with you at the time.   I appreciate the good wishes.

[PeeWee]

TG (and VWRW),

 Condradulations on your engagement!!! I wish the very best of luck with USCIS and hope to hear of a very long lasting and bright future for both of you!

Ken

P.S. That's right PeeVee... you're next...

Seems the power of the pyramids put the whammy on Turbo, and maybe me too! I am about to send turbo's entire report to Lena. I can feel the pressure of her response already.

Peewee

[PeeWee]

Raymond, did you proprose in Russian or American, that what we Americans call English? I hope to meet Lena in Jamaica come late January. I will say no more about it.

Peevee

[Turboguy]

English.  Who knows what I really would have said if I had tried it in Russian.  I might have asked her if she was in a merry mood and her yes would have had me excited over nothing.

[Muj]

Congratulation to both of you VWRW and Turboguy.  Great trip report.  Seems VWRW took the reins on the camel and the wheel at the boat .

[Turboguy]

Thank you Engaged.  Hopefully you are not suggesting I should have myself fitted for reins   

[PeeWee]

Congratulation to both of you VWRW and Turboguy.  Great trip report.  Seems VWRW took the reins on the camel and the wheel at the boat .

She is Russian! I will say no more.

Peevee

[Son of Clyde]

I have changed my avatar. I thought Clyde the camel would be jealous of the camel Turboguy and VWRW are riding.

Sounds from the trip report that many Egyptians speak enough English to try to get one over on unsuspecting tourists. I am glad you met some honest Egyptians too.

I never thought to visit Egypt but it seems like a fascinating place now.

[Turboguy]

It was a pretty cool place SOC.   There are lots of things to do and see and the prices there are pretty reasonable for the most part.  We hardly scratched the surface for things to do.   Actually we liked it better not doing too much because when you are doing things you are often not really together as much as if you are doing nothing. 

That does not sound like it makes sense to me so I will try to explain it more with an example.   One of the things we could have done was to go on an all day horse ride in the desert.  You go by horseback to some pyramids 3 hours away, have a picnic lunch there and ride back.  The cost is fairly reasonable.  Probably right around $ 50.00 for the day for two.  Of course if you are doing that she is on her horse and you are on yours and you can't spend much time talking about deep stuff that you really want to.  It was not how we wanted to spend our time.

[SANDRO43]

I never thought to visit Egypt but it seems like a fascinating place now.

Larry, if you are interested in antiquities, you should consider a package including the traditional Luxor-Aswan (or viceversa) Nile cruise. It takes about a week and you have a comfortable ride with daily stops for visits at sites along the way (Edfu, Kom Ombo, Valley of the Kings & Queens, etc.), dining on the upper deck and seeing the Nile scenery go by. They usually also throw in 2-3 days in Cairo for Gizah and Saqqara. I did it in mid-November years ago and it was quite enjoyable.

[PeeWee]

It was a pretty cool place SOC.   There are lots of things to do and see and the prices there are pretty reasonable for the most part.  We hardly scratched the surface for things to do.   Actually we liked it better not doing too much because when you are doing things you are often not really together as much as if you are doing nothing. 

That does not sound like it makes sense to me so I will try to explain it more with an example.   One of the things we could have done was to go on an all day horse ride in the desert.  You go by horseback to some pyramids 3 hours away, have a picnic lunch there and ride back.  The cost is fairly reasonable.  Probably right around $ 50.00 for the day for two.  Of course if you are doing that she is on her horse and you are on yours and you can't spend much time talking about deep stuff that you really want to.  It was not how we wanted to spend our time.

It is interesting for me to measure your approach to the trip with that of mine. Lena and I took a much different view of Cairo. While your visit seems slower in pace we tried to both see and do everything within the 10 days that we were there. It seemed that we still had time to talk about things, be it at breakfast or while swimming in the pool. As I recall it she did get a bit pissy just twice. Once when she missed breakfast because I was having a discussion with her and the other time when I promised her that we would go swimming in the afternoon but ended up looking a mummys for too long. I wonder if the resort setting of Jamaica will change our approach?

Good job, Turbodad. You are leading the way because I have not thought yet about K1 processes yet. Nor has she mentioned it.

Peevee

[Turboguy]

Yes, PeeVee.  I think we were probably a little odd in our approach to Cairo.   We sort of looked at the sightseeing as a distraction from what we really wanted to do which was talk.

VWRW has never gotten pissy at all in the time I have been with her.   The issue that we had that we probably could have had a fight about we ended up laughing for hours instead.  When I say laughing I am talking about the kind of laughing that brings tears to your eyes. 

Hopefully you will have a great time in Jamica.  If you get thinking about a K-1 you might want to spend some time with her in her city and meet her friends and family first.   Getting pissy is not a good sign but it is not that bad a sign either.   I am sure she was looking forward to those things.   I think you have a good girl and when the time is right it will happen.  You know I am rooting for you.

[PeeWee]

Yes, PeeVee.  I think we were probably a little odd in our approach to Cairo.   We sort of looked at the sightseeing as a distraction from what we really wanted to do which was talk.

VWRW has never gotten pissy at all in the time I have been with her.   The issue that we had that we probably could have had a fight about we ended up laughing for hours instead.  When I say laughing I am talking about the kind of laughing that brings tears to your eyes. 

Hopefully you will have a great time in Jamica.  If you get thinking about a K-1 you might want to spend some time with her in her city and meet her friends and family first.   Getting pissy is not a good sign but it is not that bad a sign either.   I am sure she was looking forward to those things.   I think you have a good girl and when the time is right it will happen.  You know I am rooting for you.

She was mad about the breakfast because, as you know, it was included in the price of the room. She thought that I had wasted my money that day by not getting to the breakfast on time. With regard to the swimming, as she explained it to me, we had made a plan to do something and she does not like it when plans get changed. I am the opposite. I can make a plan but I do not think about it if the plan gets changed and something else happens. She needs to learn to be more flexable and I need to learn to take the plan more seriously. In both cases I told her to try to get over it quickly otherwise she would miss a good time while she was stewing about things not so important.

This is a good idea for you, Turbo. You worked hard at this and it seems that you will now have your dream come true.

With regard to me traveling to her city to meet family and friends. She has no family and only one friend. I plan on the visit come spring, when the weather is between freezing cold and steaming hot. Astrakhan is not a place for me to be. I know that. So I will go there, declare that it was nice to visit a city that she will never live in again nor will I ever visit again, and be on my way.

Peevee

[Muj]

Thank you Engaged.  Hopefully you are not suggesting I should have myself fitted for reins   

Depends on who is controlling the reins, the destination and the size of the carrot .

[Muj]

Ken,   :hairraising:

Mir,  Thanks for the warning.  Sounds like I had better keep my pants on.  Well on second thought.........

Jinx,  Yes, my mind was on VWRW more than the gals I met on the tour and I had not even met her yet at that time.

Yannis,  Thanks.  I hope so too.  She is going to look beautiful in a wedding dress but she always looks beautiful anyway.  Even without makeup.  

Sandro,  Fortunately she likes Italian food!   The belly dancer on the boat looked more Russian than Egyptian.  I don't think she was though.  If she was she would have been better at it.

SOC,  Thanks and thanks to Pat as well.  We were as happy as we looked.  For me even a smile could not convey how happy I am when I am with her.  

DKMM,  Thanks.  I am sure we both would be happy where ever we go or where ever we are.   We didn't even need pyramids and sphinx's to be happy.  I am sure we will love Thailand.

TG,

Thailand is great, strongly recommend.  Some great deals on lodging and seafood. 

[Muj]

PW,

Seeing her in her city may help you better understand her experiences and points of view.

[Turboguy]

PeeVee,  RW can be very frugal.  I can understand her reasoning and I think the important thing is that she moved past it and did not let it ruin her vacation.  I think everyone needs to learn to adapt to each other and their differences.  Sometimes you don't know what you need to change until things happen.  You are aware of that difference so you will be fine and I think it is not a red flag in any way.   The plus thing is you talked about it and know.   Sometimes people just keep things in and stew and that is bad.

I am sure you will gain some perspective from visiting her city and it sounds like it is not a case where you will have to go back with her for visits a few times a year.  I am sure that will not disappoint you.

Engaged, I am looking forward to Thailand.   I am sure we will both enjoy it.  It looks like we will be in Bangkok for a day or two and out in the Phuket area for the rest of the time.  That seems to be the decision. 


 

[David1963]

Turbo,

Reading your trip reports and relationship with VWRW, it reminds me of Gators (Bucky) reports and relationship.

Keep up the reports.

[PeeWee]

PW,

Seeing her in her city may help you better understand her experiences and points of view.

Yes, I think so.

Peewee

[PeeWee]

PeeVee,  RW can be very frugal.  I can understand her reasoning and I think the important thing is that she moved past it and did not let it ruin her vacation.  I think everyone needs to learn to adapt to each other and their differences.  Sometimes you don't know what you need to change until things happen.  You are aware of that difference so you will be fine and I think it is not a red flag in any way.   The plus thing is you talked about it and know.   Sometimes people just keep things in and stew and that is bad.

I am sure you will gain some perspective from visiting her city and it sounds like it is not a case where you will have to go back with her for visits a few times a year.  I am sure that will not disappoint you.

Engaged, I am looking forward to Thailand.   I am sure we will both enjoy it.  It looks like we will be in Bangkok for a day or two and out in the Phuket area for the rest of the time.  That seems to be the decision. 


 

Turbo, did you happen to see any statue that did not happen to have its nose busted off? Or one with a leg or an arm that was not hacked off?

Are you going to take one or more trips now that you have filled for the K1?

Peevee

Peevee

[Turboguy]

PeeVee,

The next trip we plan is currently Thailand leaving sometime around January 31st returning the 8th or 9th.   I am having a very difficult time arranging the Russian part of it.  All the usual sites I use show nothing.  Some of the ones I can find say something like the name of the passenger must match the name on the credit card or the passanger will be turned away at the gate.   I tried a travel agent yesterday and she thought she had it all worked out and then found the airlines she was using would not allow an agent to book the ticket.  The travel agent gave me the flights and the address of that airline in Barnaul and I am going to see if VWRW can book it there and I will Western Union the money.   

Trips after that will depend on the progress of the K-1.  If I got as lucky as Groove did that could be the last visit.   I don't expect to get that lucky and since I had to do an IMBRA waver request it could slow things down a lot for administrative processing. 

Assuming things go as slowly as I expect I will likely go back to Barnaul for 2 weeks + the first part of April.   I will worry about beyond that point when it arrives.  My own choice if we have a big delay is to look for a monthly rental on an apartment and spend 2-3 weeks there and 2 weeks here until the visa came through but that may not be necessary and may not be feasible.

[PeeWee]

PeeVee,

The next trip we plan is currently Thailand leaving sometime around January 31st returning the 8th or 9th.   I am having a very difficult time arranging the Russian part of it.  All the usual sites I use show nothing.  Some of the ones I can find say something like the name of the passenger must match the name on the credit card or the passanger will be turned away at the gate.   I tried a travel agent yesterday and she thought she had it all worked out and then found the airlines she was using would not allow an agent to book the ticket.  The travel agent gave me the flights and the address of that airline in Barnaul and I am going to see if VWRW can book it there and I will Western Union the money.   

Trips after that will depend on the progress of the K-1.  If I got as lucky as Groove did that could be the last visit.   I don't expect to get that lucky and since I had to do an IMBRA waver request it could slow things down a lot for administrative processing. 

Assuming things go as slowly as I expect I will likely go back to Barnaul for 2 weeks + the first part of April.   I will worry about beyond that point when it arrives.  My own choice if we have a big delay is to look for a monthly rental on an apartment and spend 2-3 weeks there and 2 weeks here until the visa came through but that may not be necessary and may not be feasible.

I had thought about Thailand because I had heard it was easy for Russian citizen to travel there. Jamaica was a good choice, or so I thought, but the finding of a routing from Moscow to Kingston that does not transit the US is proving difficult. I do know that a route via Havana is possible but US travel agencys are not allowed to sell those flights. I have tried to communicate with Moscow based travel agency by phone and email but, apparently, they do not wish to do business with me. No one responds to my email.

I thought that perhaps I could book this travel via a Canadian agency. So I will try that. Anyway it sounds like we are traveling to somewhere at about the same time.

Peevee

[Gator]

T/G,

After beating you up a little in another thread, I wish to help you here.  VWRW lives in Barnaul which is near Novosibirsk. Siberia Air (S7) has a non-stop flight from Novosibirsk to Thailand.   This is their webpage and you can buy from them without an agent (I used them one time and it worked like a charm):

http://www.s7.ru/en/flight_info/index.html

They have a flight departing 28 Jan and returning 8 Feb for 33,000 rubles.  VWRW can go early and prepare herself for your arrival.  This price seems expensive, yet it is peak season.