With my inoculations all up to date and my itinerary vaguely sorted, it came time to sort out some Visas. If I hoped to travel on the Trans-Siberian Railway then I would need to apply to China, Mongolia and Russia and decided to do them in that order so that if the first one said NO I would not have wasted my time and money ... well not too much of it anyway!
China:
( I will endeavour to keep this short) Most sources say that you can only apply three months ahead of your visit and must apply in your home country. This was no good for me as I would be leaving the UK six months before visiting China. I visited the agent in Manchester (120 mile round trip) and found that, even though I only wanted to enter once, I could apply for a dual entry visa and that could be obtained six months in advance! However they were not able to hold on to my papers and process them when that date came around ... I would have to return ... and then return again five days later to collect it. But everyone was very friendly and helpful so my hopes are high. Their forms insist that I have booked my arrival and departure transport and my accommodation before I even get the visa, so this could be a very expensive exercise if it all goes wrong!
Mongolia:
(This is short), I can only apply three months in advance but can apply when I am in Singapore ... lets just hope they are correct in this ... I have it in writing so am hopeful and will jsut have to make sure I take everything with me.
Russia:
(Cannot be kept short I fear). I can apply six months in advance but must do so in my home country ... well they don't actually have an agent in wales, so I have to go to London or Edinburgh. I have to apply in person as they will collect bio-metric data - a finger print to you and me! The application from must be completed on line and then printed and taken to the agent; by paying extra I can collect it the next day. Again I have to book my transport arrangements for arriving and departing and my accommodation too, so let us just hope that i am granted the blasted Visas!
As time is running on, I have decided to go to Manchester on 6th and, supposing that they have granted my visa, then drive straight to Edinburgh to meet the Russians (I feel like a spy already!) And so for the on-line application for a Russian visa: I hi-tail it to the library where I can access the internet, fill in the form and print it off in a quiet and calm atmosphere. Unfortunately Denbighshire, in their wisdom, have blocked access to the Russian form - not the site - just the form. At home we have the internet, but no printer and it seems that despite increasingly anxious messages to friends and family ... no one else does either! What is more it is not possible to save the form onto a pen drive and take it to the library to print ... the Russians won't let it be saved anywhere apart form on their site! Will I be thwarted? Heck as like! So I walked up the road to a computer shop and asked to use their computer ... he said YES and I spent a happy 20 minutes filling in the form on-line before finding that I need an invitation number from my tour company,.. and dates and details of all my travels in the last ten years ... AND the name, address and telephone number of my College (which incidentally no longer exists). Anyway after an awful lot of faffing around ... I completed the form only to find that the Russian office is closed for Orthodox Christmas and will not open until 11th ... I am leaving the UK on 18th! So the 550 mile round trip to Edinburgh was postponed until the following week: the tip was uneventful - surprising for me really - and the staff at the agency very helpful. By paying a little extra I was able to pick up my passport 24 hours later complete with Russian visa! Fabulous!
So all in all the Trans Siberian Railway is proving to be a bit of a challenge and I just hope that I am not making any fundamental errors in my haste or I could yet get to a border and find that I am not admitted! Now that would be a rather expensive lesson to learn ... both in time and money!
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