We arrived in Savannaket, Laos where we have applied for a six month Vietnam visa.
It is a rather run down city with a few sights. However, we were lead to a hotel which has a large veranda overlooking the Mekong River. Sitting under the large trees planted by the former French occupants takes [...]
Archive for the 'Travel Experiences' Category
Jan
2009
6
Greetings from Savannaket, Laos
Published by The Alchemist? 14 hours, 20 minutes ago in Travel Experiences. 0 CommentsMerry Christmas to All!
It’s rather cool here today in the 60s. I’m just wearing a t-shirt but most of the Vietnamese are wearing jackets.
Megan is adjusting well — she has lots of neighborhood kids to play with and she is loving it. She still is being ‘home schooled’ 5 to 6 hours [...]
Sorry for not updating the blog for sometime, but things have been rather hectic over here.
As you can surmise, we arrived OK and with a few interesting stories to relate which I will write about during the next few days.
We will not be able to get internet at Mai’s mother’s house for a few weeks, [...]
Moved all the stuff from storage to Bonnie & Steve’s yesterday. Whew! That kept me busy from 9am until 7pm.
Now last minute tasks, like buying tarp for trailer, sending mail forwarding notices, etc.
And packing, weighing, rearranging, etc.
Well, we have the large things done, it’s now in those small details.
Nov
2008
28
Hip, Hip, Horray — We Received the 30-day Visas Today
Published by The Alchemist? 1 month, 1 week ago in Vietnam and Visa. ClosedYes, indeed, we finally received two 30-day visas for Megan and I.
So off to Vietnam we go — Wed, Dec 3rd at 8:30pm.
UPDATE: And we’ve now paid for the EVA tickets. Seems like we really are leaving soon.
We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!
This is our second turkey because we celebrated Thanksgiving last week because we didn’t think we would be here this week (we were originally scheduled to leave Mon, Nov 25th).
Hopefully we will receive our visa tomorrow, so we really can focus all our energies on packing and moving the RV [...]
Nov
2008
26
30-day Vietnam Visas Express Mailed to Us
Published by The Alchemist? 1 month, 1 week ago in Vietnam and Visa. ClosedI telephoned the Vietnamese Embassy at 11:45am PST and I received only an answer phone message, so I thought the embassy was closed for the afternoon before Thanksgiving.
Just ‘for the hell of it’, I telephoned again at 1:15pm PST, talked with a gentleman in the consulate section and he said that they mailed out the [...]
Nov
2008
25
Broken Printer, No Visa Exemption Visa and $58.00 More
Published by The Alchemist? 1 month, 1 week ago in Vietnam and Visa. ClosedTalked with a gentleman in the consulate section of the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington D.C. and he said their visa printer had broken last Friday and the part had to be sent back to Vietnam.
He also said that our visa exemption had been processed and we could obtain a copy when we came back from [...]
Nov
2008
24
Hard Dealing with Vietnam Embassy Staff
Published by The Alchemist? 1 month, 1 week ago in Vietnam and Visa. ClosedAt 2:26 pm, received this email confirmation that the Vietnam Embassy staff had read my email in the previous post.
This is a receipt for the mail you sent to
“‘Consular’” at 11/24/2008 12:26 PM
This receipt verifies that the message has been displayed on the recipient’s computer at 11/24/2008 3:41 PM
That’s it. No reply email [...]
Nov
2008
24
Emailed Vietnam Embassy — Where’s Our Passports?
Published by The Alchemist? 1 month, 1 week ago in Vietnam and Visa. ClosedTelephoned the two telephone numbers for the Consulate Section of the Vietnam Embassy in Washington D.C. this Monday morning at 8:12am. No one answered either number.
The Vietnam Embassy closes for lunch at 11:30am EST (8:30am PST) and reopens at 2:30pm EST (11:30am PST). So I guess they left early for lunch and cannot [...]
Nov
2008
21
Vietnam Visa Exemption Sequence-of-Events
Published by The Alchemist? 1 month, 2 weeks ago in Blog/Website, Ruby, Vietnam and Visa. ClosedI also sent Kenn an email with the outlining the following sequence of events with Vietnam Embassy [VNE] in Washington D.C. during Nov 2008:
08 - We USPS Express Mail passports & non-barcode applications to VNE.
10 - I express mailed only barcode applications to VNE with explaination.
11 - Veteran’s Day Holiday.
12 - Barcode applications mailed 11/10 [...]
Nov
2008
21
No Tickets, No Visa and Now No Passports
Published by The Alchemist? 1 month, 2 weeks ago in Vietnam and Visa. ClosedOur travel agent, Kenn, called and said that a Vietnamese woman, Anna, working at Universal Tours of Seattle with Kenn had repeatedly telephoned the Vietnam Embassy yesterday and left telephone messages.
This morning, Anna, again telephoned and was told by the Vietnamese Embassy that they had never received our passports.
According to the USPS:
Nov
2008
21
Five Days Before Departure with No Ticket and No Visa
Published by The Alchemist? 1 month, 2 weeks ago in Vietnam. ClosedIt’s Friday, Nov 21st and still we have no tickets and no Vietnam visa.
Yesterday I telephoned Kenn, our travel agent, and told him that Mai was overwhelmed with all everything and he needed to start looking for another flight for us later in the week. He seemed relieved.
Kenn said the travel agency had repeatedly [...]
Nov
2008
20
Another Amazon Refund ‘Error’ (?) Rectified
Published by The Alchemist? 1 month, 2 weeks ago in Vietnam. ClosedThe results of yesterday’s email to Amazon regarding 50% RESTOCKING FEES.
Refund date: November 13, 2008 - Refund Amount: $65.27
Refund date: November 19, 2008 - Refund Amount: $77.21
Refunds Total: $142.48
I’ve requested TWO refunds from Amazon — both which were within the 30 day refund timeframe.
RESULT: Two emails sent to Amazon contesting RESTOCKING FEES. Both [...]