Text messages (in Vietnamese, translated via Google Translate):
Chris [1:36pm]: I got my visa and a ticket on the night train to China!
Mrs. Do [1:38pm]: Come back and eat.
On a street in the Old Quarter of Hanoi:
Chris [pointing to a sign in Vietnamese]: Internet is 4,000 dong per hour, yes?
Cafe manager [pausing]: Foreigners 10,000 dong.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Saw This Coming A Mile Away
MONDAY:
Me: Will my Chinese visa be ready on Wednesday? The consulate was closed over the weekend for the New Year.
Travel Agent: Yes, it will.
TUESDAY:
Me: I know I checked yesterday, but will my Chinese visa be ready by tomorrow morning?
Travel Agent: Yes.
WEDNESDAY:
Me: I'm here to pick up my visa.
Travel Agent: It won't be ready until Friday. The consulate was closed over the weekend for the New Year.
Me: Will my Chinese visa be ready on Wednesday? The consulate was closed over the weekend for the New Year.
Travel Agent: Yes, it will.
TUESDAY:
Me: I know I checked yesterday, but will my Chinese visa be ready by tomorrow morning?
Travel Agent: Yes.
WEDNESDAY:
Me: I'm here to pick up my visa.
Travel Agent: It won't be ready until Friday. The consulate was closed over the weekend for the New Year.
Goodbye Hanoi (Hopefully)
After having my fill of black sticky rice shake, milk coffee, and fried dog, I think I'm ready to leave Hanoi tomorrow.
If all goes as planned, I should get my Chinese visa from the travel agency, then jump on a bus/train up to the border. Cross my fingers.
In completely unrelated news, I was pleasantly surprised today when a very old gentleman hopped on the bus and, when I volunteered to give him my seat, politely said no and thanked me. In flawless French.
A little bit of living history...
If all goes as planned, I should get my Chinese visa from the travel agency, then jump on a bus/train up to the border. Cross my fingers.
In completely unrelated news, I was pleasantly surprised today when a very old gentleman hopped on the bus and, when I volunteered to give him my seat, politely said no and thanked me. In flawless French.
A little bit of living history...
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Inexplicable
It's common in the US to sing Auld Land Syne at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. I remember last year listening to a radio contest in which participants were challenged to say the lyrics to the popular tune; none of them could. Can you?
Anyway, the same is definately not true for Vietnam. Auld Land Syne is an English folk song, so naturally, it probably wouldn't catch on in Vietnam.
But another English New Year's song has: Abba's "Happy New Year" (Youtube version here). Clubs, bars, cafes, etc. play the song incessantly on New Year's Eve day and New Year's day. And I do mean incessantly-- more than one have I caught them stopping the CD after the song is over, and then replaying it.
Does anyone know why this obscure song is so amazingly popular here? Because I honestly have no explanation.
Anyway, the same is definately not true for Vietnam. Auld Land Syne is an English folk song, so naturally, it probably wouldn't catch on in Vietnam.
But another English New Year's song has: Abba's "Happy New Year" (Youtube version here). Clubs, bars, cafes, etc. play the song incessantly on New Year's Eve day and New Year's day. And I do mean incessantly-- more than one have I caught them stopping the CD after the song is over, and then replaying it.
Does anyone know why this obscure song is so amazingly popular here? Because I honestly have no explanation.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
A Pyrrhic Victory
Well as a follow-up to my post a couple days ago, some bad news. It appears that outside of one's home country and Hong Kong, no Chinese consulate will grant the standard, 3-month visa.
Rather, they grant a one-month visa at the same price ($130 for Britains and Americans, $30 everyone else).
I returned to the Hanoi Embassy yesterday to beg and plead my case. I even got the Ho Chi Minh City consulate on the line to speak with them.
I quickly realized that the Hanoi and HCMC consulates had something of a rivalry going, and that trying to play one off the other was going to be a mug's game.
So after calculating the cost/benefit of a trip to Saigon, I decided that using a local travel agent in Hanoi to get the visa (for a whopping total of $150 for one month) was the cheapest option. I can then keep extending it in China for a smaller fee.
I should get it by next Wednesday, assuming all goes well. Still, it's a bitter, bitter pill to swallow.
Anyway, on a much happer note, it's the Western New Year's Eve! And even people here in Vietnam celebrate it (though obviously not as much as the lunar [Tet] New Year).
I'll be dutifully out celebrating tonight, and hopefully can post some pictures tomorrow.
Rather, they grant a one-month visa at the same price ($130 for Britains and Americans, $30 everyone else).
I returned to the Hanoi Embassy yesterday to beg and plead my case. I even got the Ho Chi Minh City consulate on the line to speak with them.
I quickly realized that the Hanoi and HCMC consulates had something of a rivalry going, and that trying to play one off the other was going to be a mug's game.
So after calculating the cost/benefit of a trip to Saigon, I decided that using a local travel agent in Hanoi to get the visa (for a whopping total of $150 for one month) was the cheapest option. I can then keep extending it in China for a smaller fee.
I should get it by next Wednesday, assuming all goes well. Still, it's a bitter, bitter pill to swallow.
Anyway, on a much happer note, it's the Western New Year's Eve! And even people here in Vietnam celebrate it (though obviously not as much as the lunar [Tet] New Year).
I'll be dutifully out celebrating tonight, and hopefully can post some pictures tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Chinese Bureaucracy
Is there anything more stimulating than bureaucratic ideosyncracies? Watch as I apply for my Chinese visa in Hanoi:
Me: I would like to apply for the standard 3-month tourist visa. I have been to China twice before, and can present copies of my previous visas if you would like them.
Hanoi Chinese Consulate: Not necessary. Due to new orders we are not allowed to issue visas to foreigners. Please go back to America to get a visa.
Me: Um, that's not possible. Is there any way I can pay an extra fee to have my visa processed here?
HCC: No.
Arguing continued for half an hour. Not just me, but all foreigners were turned away. I was really frusterated, but finally got a bit of information from them:
HCC: You can try the Chinese consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. Or go to Laos. Or Cambodia. Or Thailand. But I don't know if they'll give you one either.
Me: Great. That also makes no sense.
HCC: Sorry, we can't help you.
Later on that night, at a Hanoi travel agency:
Me: Can you get me a Chinese visa?
Travel agent: Yes.
Me: Really? They told me that no foreigners can get them in Hanoi.
Travel agent: They told you that. But we can get it. $160 for a one month visa.
Me: Woah. [Should be $130 for 3 months]
Flash forward to today, on the phone with the Chinese consulate in HCMC.
Me: Hello, I am an American citizen looking to apply for a standard 3-month tourist visa. Is this possible at your location.
HCMC Consulate: Of course. Bring it in and we'll process it very quickly.
Me: Is it possible for me to mail it to you?
HCMC: Unfortunately not. Where are you?
Me: Hanoi.
HCMC: Just go to the consulate in Hanoi.
Me: They said that they only give visas to Vietnamese residents.
HCMC: They shouldn't say that. Wait a minute. [Pause, speaking with someone else]. No, they should be able to get you a visa.
Me: Well they won't.
HCMC: OK. Fax us your information and we'll get back to you.
I plan to call them back tomorrow, but I have no idea what they can do. This would be a major headache if I have to travel top Saigon or Vientaine just to get the visa.
I'll update again tomorrow.
Me: I would like to apply for the standard 3-month tourist visa. I have been to China twice before, and can present copies of my previous visas if you would like them.
Hanoi Chinese Consulate: Not necessary. Due to new orders we are not allowed to issue visas to foreigners. Please go back to America to get a visa.
Me: Um, that's not possible. Is there any way I can pay an extra fee to have my visa processed here?
HCC: No.
Arguing continued for half an hour. Not just me, but all foreigners were turned away. I was really frusterated, but finally got a bit of information from them:
HCC: You can try the Chinese consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. Or go to Laos. Or Cambodia. Or Thailand. But I don't know if they'll give you one either.
Me: Great. That also makes no sense.
HCC: Sorry, we can't help you.
Later on that night, at a Hanoi travel agency:
Me: Can you get me a Chinese visa?
Travel agent: Yes.
Me: Really? They told me that no foreigners can get them in Hanoi.
Travel agent: They told you that. But we can get it. $160 for a one month visa.
Me: Woah. [Should be $130 for 3 months]
Flash forward to today, on the phone with the Chinese consulate in HCMC.
Me: Hello, I am an American citizen looking to apply for a standard 3-month tourist visa. Is this possible at your location.
HCMC Consulate: Of course. Bring it in and we'll process it very quickly.
Me: Is it possible for me to mail it to you?
HCMC: Unfortunately not. Where are you?
Me: Hanoi.
HCMC: Just go to the consulate in Hanoi.
Me: They said that they only give visas to Vietnamese residents.
HCMC: They shouldn't say that. Wait a minute. [Pause, speaking with someone else]. No, they should be able to get you a visa.
Me: Well they won't.
HCMC: OK. Fax us your information and we'll get back to you.
I plan to call them back tomorrow, but I have no idea what they can do. This would be a major headache if I have to travel top Saigon or Vientaine just to get the visa.
I'll update again tomorrow.
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