Car trouble!

The next day the mechanic picked us up for a fee of course and replaced the radiator for another fee but it did not fix the car.

The mechanic spoke no English but Valeri translated that the mechanic believed now it was either the alternator or starter motor so I agreed to having these both replaced too if need be by the mechanic as it was to cost no more than a few hundred pounds including labour in total but if it was only the alternator then less. Not ideal but I wanted the car back on the road as soon as possible so it was a small price to pay!

After replacing the alternator, the car  was not working so I agreed that the mechanic should replace the starter motor too but he was not able to do this roadside so I agreed to pay for it to be recovered to his garage the following day again at a fee.

The evening before it was to be recovered however the car was broken into.. we arrived at the car to see the window had been broken, the door lock broken and damage had been done to the steering wheel column in an attempt to hot wire the car. On top of this my charger, CDs and many other belongings that were in the car had been stolen..

I just sat on the side of the road and cried!

I was starting to feel that I was never going to be able to get away from there and that I was being stopped and prevented from leaving at every opportunity by forces out of my control and a never ending run of bad luck!

The situation got worse as after replacing the starter motor the car was still not fixed.

The mechanic advised he would do a full analysis and test the car free of charge using a computerised diagnostic tool to locate the exact problem with the car. This however would take some time as he had to borrow the equipment to do so from a friend who was not in the country for a week.

Seeing as Valeri would not ring the garage who had fixed the car for me previously, who also spoke no English, I had no choice but to wait.

I had two weeks left on my passport before it expired..

I rang the British Embassy in secret who advised that I would be able to get an emergency passport to get home if I was unable to leave before it expired so long as the police agreed to it first which the Embassy did not see would be a problem given that I had not been charged with a crime yet and had stayed in the country for as long as I could pending blood test results and now I had a legitimate reason to return to the UK to renew my passport.

I was more relaxed about it all once the Embassy rang me back after speaking with the police who confirmed that this was acceptable to them..... until I was informed this was ok so long as I did not intend to drive myself back to the UK!