Ze Visas

I'm currently filling out our visa applications. As you can imagine, this is great fun. Nothing like ending your day with a healthy dose of Uzbek bureaucracy. Russia really takes the cake, though. Among other things you need a so-called "Hotel Voucher". This is apparently some sort of document from the hotel you're planning to stay at. Of course we're not really planning to stay at a hotel, so we don't have a voucher. No voucher, no visa. Lovely.

Fortunately the market finds a way for these sort of problems, and you can purchase vouchers from Russian travel agencies, without actually booking a hotel. That'll be 50€, comrade.

Another favorite of mine is Kazakhstan's request that you write down the exact date at which you plan to leave the country again and the specific border crossing where you intend to do so.

How the hell should I know? I'm not even sure we'll make it this far at all! We'll probably have to do some creative guesstimating there.

The whole thing isn't made easier by the fact that I still need my passport in May for another trip and that the embassies generally take their sweet time processing the visas. Naturally, you can expedite the process by paying extra.

Applying for visas maybe a bit expensive and time-consuming, but you should really try it. It's fun for the whole family.