Doing the necessary repairs.

My convoy team leader suggested I take the van back to Bristol. " Thank god" I thought "I took out a break down recovery policy". This meant there is a great possibility that I would miss the departure of the national convoy. The frustration and disappointment was almost unimaginable. Also, the thought that I would not be able to pick up the donations that were prmissed by the Iranian community in London - including dental repair equipment. But it had to be done! Called the break down services and got the van on the back of the truck - what a cowboy driver! Had a very scary drive back to near Membury services where I changed trucks - what a relief.

Back in Bristol I was so glad to see mechanics in Ali's Garage were waiting for me - Thanks to Sakir, our team leader who ad informed them. They immediately went into action and confirmed my worst fears. A part was needed and I had to wait till Monday for them to et the part. By now, I was feeling quite down but kept telling myself these are the sorts of hurdles that have to be faced on such a journey. However, I could not help but think that we should have spent more time in selections and preperation of vehicles.

The "support" team beck in Bristol was great. I contacted Ed whose whole manerism and attitude is calm and reassuring. I had calls from a few others to give practical help and moral support. Mohamed, as usual, had a few suggestions to turn a disappointing situation into a positive advantage. One of them was "we have time to graffiti the van and put donation information on it" Great! Shahid very kindly agreed to do this at short notice.

One of the advantages of the delayed departure was that I could spend the weekend with my family who were obviously very surprise to see me back at home! However, I am now getting a bit anxious about travelling on my own till I catch up with the convoy. I am hoping the garage will give the van a goodservice as well as fixint the broken gear linkage. At one point, there was a possibility that another driver who was left behind due to losing his passport would join me but no chance. Getting another passport, he said, would take more than a week at the very least.

So armed with advice from an expert mechanic about the tools to take for emergency maintenance, I am ready to face the road on my own!