This blog has the very high likelihood of turning into a travel journal over the next few months as I go traipsing around SE Asia on my own - mother does not approve.
This is the plan so far, all hinging upon the benevolence of the China Embassy staff to approve my visa.
Sept 19 London - Bombay, by air
Sept 24 BOM - Delhi, by air
Sept 27 DEL - Bangkok, by air
Sept 30 BKK - Siem Reap, Cambodia, by train and Toyota Camry pick up trucks (apparently)
Oct 3 Siem Reap - Phnom Pehn, by bus
Oct 4 PP - Saigon HCMC, Vietnam, by bus
Oct 8 HCMC - Hanoi, by train (2 days - it looks spectacular!)
Oct 10 Hanoi - Nanning, China, by train
Oct 11 Nanning - Yangshou, by train and bus/car
Oct 16 Yangshou - Xi'an, by air
Oct 20 Xi'an - Beijing, by train
Oct 26 Beijing....TBD - any suggestions??
Currently I'm awaiting a visa for China that half of my journey depends on. Oh what an arduous application process that was!
The logistics are easy - make appointment online, fill out form online, print and take to the Visa processing centre (near Bank). Easy.
I was told that getting a visa if entering by air is the easiest as the Embassy team pay most attention to the port of entry and how that entry point will be met. If my case, explaining the plane/train/bus journey was all too complicated so I had to end up typing out a letter explaining the transit points and how I intended to meet them. The whole situation appears to be much more complex because I had th audacity to request a DOUBLE entre visa. WHOA! I had to "kindly request" this in my visa application for the reason that I might want to pop over into HK and then back into China for continuing my travel. Let's see how that plays out.
Also remember to take along proof of accommodation - I had to print out all hotel bookings and train, flights booking info. Handily the processing centre has set up a few PCs and a printing machine for people to use so clearly I'm not the only one suffering through this. Make sure you take enough lose change since every 4 pages of printing = 20p.
For a 10am appointment, I arrived at 9.50am and left just before 1.
Other visas:
Cambodia - e-visa online, very straightforward
Vietnam - in person visa including an option for next day express processing, very simple again.
Great sites to use for planning a trip like this:
http://www.talesofasia.com
http://www.travelfish.org
I've also bought GroovyMaps for each city I am heading to. Will have to check them on location but they come highly recommended as the best practical travelling companion by the independent travelling community. http://groovymap.com
Money: Biggest expense is of course accommodation since the train and bus journeys will run into a few tens of dollars. Flights courtesy of BA airmiles. Most hotels I can pay online in advance or by credit card on check out. I'll be replying on the Post Office travel card which works as a pre-loaded debit card - the 2012 version of travellers cheques I suppose. In terms of cash I'm only taking $ with a lot of singles, 5, 10s. Local currency for Baht, Dong and Yuan will be exchanged on arrival in each country. From what I have read $ is the de facto currency in Cambodia.
5 days to go.
This is the plan so far, all hinging upon the benevolence of the China Embassy staff to approve my visa.
Sept 19 London - Bombay, by air
Sept 24 BOM - Delhi, by air
Sept 27 DEL - Bangkok, by air
Sept 30 BKK - Siem Reap, Cambodia, by train and Toyota Camry pick up trucks (apparently)
Oct 3 Siem Reap - Phnom Pehn, by bus
Oct 4 PP - Saigon HCMC, Vietnam, by bus
Oct 8 HCMC - Hanoi, by train (2 days - it looks spectacular!)
Oct 10 Hanoi - Nanning, China, by train
Oct 11 Nanning - Yangshou, by train and bus/car
Oct 16 Yangshou - Xi'an, by air
Oct 20 Xi'an - Beijing, by train
Oct 26 Beijing....TBD - any suggestions??
Currently I'm awaiting a visa for China that half of my journey depends on. Oh what an arduous application process that was!
The logistics are easy - make appointment online, fill out form online, print and take to the Visa processing centre (near Bank). Easy.
I was told that getting a visa if entering by air is the easiest as the Embassy team pay most attention to the port of entry and how that entry point will be met. If my case, explaining the plane/train/bus journey was all too complicated so I had to end up typing out a letter explaining the transit points and how I intended to meet them. The whole situation appears to be much more complex because I had th audacity to request a DOUBLE entre visa. WHOA! I had to "kindly request" this in my visa application for the reason that I might want to pop over into HK and then back into China for continuing my travel. Let's see how that plays out.
Also remember to take along proof of accommodation - I had to print out all hotel bookings and train, flights booking info. Handily the processing centre has set up a few PCs and a printing machine for people to use so clearly I'm not the only one suffering through this. Make sure you take enough lose change since every 4 pages of printing = 20p.
For a 10am appointment, I arrived at 9.50am and left just before 1.
Other visas:
Cambodia - e-visa online, very straightforward
Vietnam - in person visa including an option for next day express processing, very simple again.
Great sites to use for planning a trip like this:
If there was just one resource needed, it would be this: http://www.seat61.com
http://www.talesofasia.com
http://www.travelfish.org
I've also bought GroovyMaps for each city I am heading to. Will have to check them on location but they come highly recommended as the best practical travelling companion by the independent travelling community. http://groovymap.com
Money: Biggest expense is of course accommodation since the train and bus journeys will run into a few tens of dollars. Flights courtesy of BA airmiles. Most hotels I can pay online in advance or by credit card on check out. I'll be replying on the Post Office travel card which works as a pre-loaded debit card - the 2012 version of travellers cheques I suppose. In terms of cash I'm only taking $ with a lot of singles, 5, 10s. Local currency for Baht, Dong and Yuan will be exchanged on arrival in each country. From what I have read $ is the de facto currency in Cambodia.
5 days to go.
No comments:
Post a Comment