First comes the Public Health guy, for whose services there is a charge. But of course, another hangover from British days, the officer cannot take cash and electronic payment is naturally impossible, so a bill is issued to be paid at the government cashier’s office the next morning (we checked in on a Sunday). On arrival there it turns out that they have absolutely no change so exact money must be paid (1427 rupees, with one rupee worth about 2p). But there is an island wide shortage of coins, so getting the change together is a challenge. When the bill is paid a receipt is issued, which is taken to the Public Health offices elsewhere in town and stamped so that we can prove payment when we try to leave. 

Then it’s Customs. Normally this is free, but we have to pay the Customs officer’s overtime (2000 rupees) for arriving on a Sunday. A veritable torrent of paper follows - fourteen separate multipage forms, often repetitively requiring passport numbers and dates of birth. This is the most paper on our journey so far. Here we are, making light work of it:

And the same again; not allowed to handle money, so a bill is issued to be paid the next day at the Revenue Service office in town (not the Cashier’s office). Luckily it’s a round number so bank notes discharge it without problem.

After Customs come the Police who do immigration. No charge, even for Sunday working. Don’t you just love the police? The charming police lady, a serious runner, showed us a picture of her beautiful six month old daughter while checking us all out conscientiously with Interpol on her mobile phone. Not so much paperwork, but much of it on identical forms to those already filled out for both Public Health and Customs. The crew cause problems by half of us requesting in writing a two week stay, and the other half three weeks. She straightens us out.