The lads were stopped at the Indian customs border after leaving Nepal. The Indians require a document called a Carnet of Passage to accompany a foreign vehicle on a temporary visit to India. The document allows entry without paying import tax for the vehicle. The issuing body guarantees the import tax is paid if the vehicle does not leave the country within the allowed 1 year period. We didn't have the Carnet document so the van was impounded by Indian customs. The first country on the whole trip to require a Carnet.
We had two options. Empty all our belongings and ditch the van, then post all our belongings home. Or buy a Carnet from the RAC in the UK to release the vehicle. The Carnet could take up to 4 weeks to be processed which was too long, we had to meet the girls in Goa in 3.5 weeks. We were in a bit of a pickle. After pleading with the RAC to fast track our Carnet application, making spreadsheets to compare costs for both options and having some lengthy discussions we decided to pursue the Carnet option. Jessica at the RAC had assured us it will be at the front of the que. We took the gamble and sent off a fair whack of money for the Carnet. Within two days the Carnet was processed and with DHL on its way to our hostel in Delhi.
We had a few days to kill so we rode the three bikes up to Hardiwar, 200km North of Delhi. Two people on two bikes and one on the other. We had a tracking number for the document, we woke one morning with an update that it was in the air on the way to Delhi. That was our que to head back to the hostel. The Carnet arrived! The plan was coming together, we had the document which could release Big Sal. Me, Dunny and Stew booked onto a 14 hour night train that night for an extortionate £4.50 each! We played cards and bought a bottle of rum to help us sleep. The 14 hour journey turned into 20, apparently the fog had slowed progress. Next was a 4 hour bus journey to the border town. Because our train was delayed we arrived at the border too late to process the paperwork, even though they had confirmed by telephone we could get the van 24 hours 7 days a week,
