A Caspian Cruise- aka. A Diabolical delay

This was an experience never - hopefully -to be repeated.
I remained bouyant and positive after 2 nights of camping on the dock amidst the squalor and wild cats on Baku dock. The third day dawned and there simply as no action. Finally at midday a train and its wagons appeared and were loaded. Still no official word.
The sun started its downward track and suddenly we had to get everything on the ferry. Much exchange and scrutiny of passports and luggage - and then once on board a Russian woman from hell, kept up a tirade and again our passports disappeared from sight.
We were hearded into the cabins but soon realised that if we were to survive the night - sleeping on deck was the only option. My problem, was that in the scramble to board- I had only managed to extricate my sleeping sheet and Thermarest - so with the wind around my ears but the magnificent stars above my head, I spent a night to remember- slightly chilled but vey invigourating.
We awoke to a magnificent dawn - but no sound from the engine rooms. And there, anchored in the middle of the Caspian sea - we sat for another 24 hours.
There was almost no food or fresh water on board- and a few folks had major sense of humour failures. We managed to get the odd pot of tea and 2 glasses and lots of sugar lumps from the galley- so with playing Gin Rummy reading and sleeping - and not listening to our overactive stomaches- we made it to the night. Ater endless negotiations with obstuctionistic Russians we were allowed into the hold - so my second night was with a sleeping bag and I thrilled at the number of comets and sattelites and shooting stars visible in this unfamiliar Northern Hemishere sky.
And the engines were spewing black smoke as we awoke- so there was hope.
The proximity of land was no clue. We had seen it for the past day as we allowed at anchor.
What I did observe was the paucity of sea birds and the rather dead feeling of the ocean. It is heavily polluted and very shallow and soon the famous Sturgeon, which can grow to the size of a Tuna in its 50+ year life- will be extinct. It is on the endangered list - but Tukmenistan totally disregards this fact.

We docked at 8.00am.
We disembarked at 11.00am
We sat in the sun- attempting to duck under derelict railway carrriages- at the customs of Turkmenistan until 4.00pm when they took pity on us and allowed us to enter the building.
We were finally all processed by 6.00pm. - and all many dollars poorer.

Can you believe a worse waste of an entire day?