Finally got my Uzbekistan visa in London today. What should have taken 5 days took over 2 weeks after all. I even had to supply an additional letter from my employer, stating that I'm going for "non-professional purposes".
After some further questioning at the embassy (with no sense of humour whatsoever), I finally managed to put a smile on the embassy official's face the moment I mentioned motorcycling: "By motorcycle? Are you part of the Mongol Rallye?" - "Only two of you? Wow!" - "Which motorcycle? Which route?"...
What used to be a dry and bureaucratic government official, became a very friendly and enthusiastic chap – and I'm now looking forward to visiting his country.
