Alistair’s recollection of
events…..
After a break of a couple of
days, we headed for the airport,
where the check-in
arrangements start with passing
through customs first. I was too
glad that I’d cracked several
critical problems to worry
unduly that my luggage
triggered some noisy alarm,
although Mike (Michael Egan) went
sheet-white. Admittedly, the gleaming
metal tubes of the Bickerton were
perhaps not a good idea, but the officer
was not in the least bit interested in
tubes or fold-up bicycles. Nonetheless,
several staff from adjacent desks had
come over to see what was happening.
The second suitcase was then thrown
open, revealing the smaller case which
contained the radiation monitor.
“Crickey, what’s going to happen now”,
I thought uneasily, and noted that Mike
had gone even whiter than white.
At a dinner in Udomlya, it seemed
that our hosts were trying to test us
with an interminable sequence of
toasts - in vodka, washed down with
German beer.
Police car in Moscow, 1998
Russian Customs