Come on down to the river, the Saigon river that is -

cruising down the river

serous ocean going tugs in ready

Saigons expanding skyline

Many river boats have eyes painted on, maybe to ward off danger
but looks kind of spokie

floating resturant

A visa is not a passport

Our passport arrived so we can get out of the USA but as always there's still one more thing to think about and that is a visa.

Our passport acts as a certified record of who we are, what we look like, citizen of what country and our past travel records. A visa is authorization from a foreign government to visit their country.

A visa can take many different forms, some countries have a form you too fill out prior to arrival and sometimes this is referred to a visa on arrival. Some countries may require you to apply for your visa in advance.

Thailand has many different types of visas but for most,a tourist visa allowing for up to a 30 day visit is available on arrival, the airlines will hand out forms prior to landing.  Cambodia, offers up to a 30 day visa on arrival $30.00 and a three month online e visa $37.00.  Lao also offers an on demand visa $35.00 for a 30 day duration.

Visa’s come in all different flavors: from a diplomatic visa to a tourist visa.   If you are entering a country for a special reason, it’s best to check out the consular affairs web site for the country you’re heading to or pull the phone number for the up to date info and costs.  For the most part a tourist visa is the norm but you still need to call and get the current costs.

I’m in Vietnam right now so I’ll use it as example:  Vietnam requires you apply andgain authorization in advance before you arrive.   Here are a couple links detailing the procedure for a visa.

http://www.vietnamconsulate-sf.org/en/consular-services/visas/   San Francisco, California 

http://vietnamembassy-usa.org/consular/visa-application-process Washington DC

At the time I applied in July, a one month and a three month tourist visa could be down.  A three month single entry visa, meaning enter and leave one time then a $130.00 and a multiple entry, leave and return as many times as you want for $180.00.  I can’t stress enough that Vietnamese visas are date sensitive, whatever date your visa starts on you can’t get in before that date and your visa period starts on the original date, no matter how much later than that you arrive .

Thanks for stopping by -   Doug

Junta states the Erawan Shrine bombing case is officially closed

We got em (Erawan Shrine) bombers,
case closed

   

Thailand’s Junta, has announced on August 17 the Erawan Shrine bombing case has been solved and is considered closed.  The Erawan Shrine blast killed 20 and wounded 120 people in the centre of Bangkok.  

The first arrest, few weeks after the bombing was Adern Karadak, also known as Bilal Mohamed, he was carrying a forged Polish passport and in searching his apartment bomb making equipment was found. 

The Erawan Shrine is a popular tourist attraction and because of this many of the dead and maimed were foreign nationals on holiday. Originally it was thought the bombing was in retaliation of the forced deportation of more than 100 ethnic Chinese Uighur back to China.   However, on closer observation the police discounted that theory and blamed it on their crackdown on human trafficking gangs.

Then came the number two arrest of Yusuf Mirabilis close to the Cambodian border or at the airport in Phnom Penh, seems to be some discussion here, though it is said in his pack was the yellow t shirt shown to be thought to be worn by the bomber. He was thought to be the bomb builder and passed the completed product to Karadk at the Hue Lumphong railroad station.

Both were turned over to the junta’s military for interrogation – in a rather shocking turn of events they both confessed to playing major roles in the bombing, they will be tried in a military court so will be unable to use their civilian rights. However, it is thought there were up to 17 other people  involved, so time will tell how this shakes out.

This event happened at an inopportune time for police Chief Somyat Poompunmuary who was set to retire.   At a press conference after the arrest of Karadk he displayed a block of money valued at $ 83,000 (US) as a reward for help in the closure of the case.  This week as he announced his retirement and the closing of the case and the $ 83,000 reward would be spread out among the officers working the case.  Good work if you can get it.

While the whole bombing, other than the deaths, destruction and maimed victims seem a bit murky.  Once the police get the suspects from the military things will start to fall in order, you think.  That's the word....

thanks for stopping by    Doug

                                                  

                                                                   

                                                           

Rain or is that the sky falling

Rain, tropical rain is the kind you hear before you feel.  You hear the hammering   of the impending rain as it strikes down from the sky. Not on you yet but moving toward you, the thought paseese through your mind that you could run along ahead of the storm and watch the impending action over your shoulder.  You could of course do this but it would probably mean a very wet shoulder in a short time.

The intensity and volume of water is what makes these rain squalls unique to the tropics.  The hammering sound amplified by the rains impact on the mostly tin roofed buildings, creating puddles the size of small lakes make one wonder if Henny Penny in “Chicken Little” was correct in saying the “sky was falling”. The sheer volume of water falling is like stepping into a shower stall with the shower heads being fed by multiple fire hoses. It seems to rain harder and harder, then abruptly it’s over, save for a couple drops here and there as a reminder of what just happened.

This isn’t just a one off deal either, as you poke your head out thinking it couldn’t rain any harder, it continues to mess with you  and rains harder. During the rainy season it can be a daily occurrence or even multiple episodes per day. The saving grace of all this is it hits hard for 20-30 minutes and then here comes the sun.

Thanks for stopping   Doug

Gotta get me a passport -

Myanmar immigrations officer with my passport

A passport, we all need one if traveling outside the USA. I remember  a few years ago, okay many years ago, showing up at Jamaican immigrations, my girlfriend  asking about what  ID I planned on using as proof of my citizenship. Quick thinking on my part had me fishing out my driver’s license just as we reached immigrations control. Meanwhile, she pulled  out a voter's registration card, a certified copy of her birth certificate, Mary Kay frequent buyers card (Mary kay card, what!) and ultimately her driver’s license as my new best friend Red Stripe I waited. 

Spin the world up to date  and the girlfriend was on the right track as now a days you need most of the documentation she brought to apply for a passport, Mary Kay card not required. A passport in reality is a, condensed, certified personal identification folder containing the stuff girlfriend brought for our trip to Jamaica, less the Mary Kay card, documenting your name, birthdate, gender, a photo, plus a record of your travels, along with containing immigration stamps verifying entry and exit dates of the countries you visited.   

Unlike our Jamaican trip of old, now a days you need  a passport with information certified by the stuff girlfriend brought to Jamaica.  Now, unlike days of old, before the rocking 70’s when visiting neighboring countries like Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean a driver's license did the trick. A passport is required to get you out of the USA as well as back in, let alone foreign countries.

So what do you think, metaphorically speaking, passports grow on trees, if so the government is our tree and if we nurture it with money,  worked it with dealing with red tape and our effort we get one of those little blue books  (passports).   The money  $110.00 for what is called normal processing, 4 – 6 weeks, but normal can take 10 weeks or more. Although, for an additional $60.00 you can get your application expedited to 2 -3 weeks because the tree loves the extra nourishment and will bear fruit quicker.  Though, according to the “(fort Lauderdale) Sun Sentinel”  the government in recent years is behind in it's processing due to the 2009 requirement to have a passport for Canada and Mexico travel and the old improving economy excuse. They also wrote September through December are slow for the government's processing centers, so more timely response times are possible during that period.

In order to apply for a passport the money part and waiting is the easiest .  The application part is not so easy as we are talking a DD form, original and duplicates copies of documentation, locating and applying in person at a Passport  Agency.  I’ll stop here and insert this link by the State Department Bureau of Consular affairs                       http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/first-time.html

A passport - needed to get out of the USA and to get back in, sort of like the notes your mom wrote (actually the neighbor Lonnie using the pen name of mom) to get you out of school and back in. However, once you have a passport, no more permissions are required visit the world except visa's, there is  always something, isn't there. Coming is a visa guide for asia to get on your way with the confidence of a true world traveler.

It's a big world outside the USA, all it needs is you..

                                                                                         

Thanks for stopping by   Doug