Hassle's at the Border!!!
Trip Start
Mar 14, 2009
1
198
211
Trip End
Ongoing
Dong Ha, Vietnam
Thursday, August 12, 2010
At the bus station we met a rather interesting person kiwi/Scotsman and within 15 minutes we new his life story, but what was even more interesting was that he didn't have a visa to enter Vietnam. "What? No visa?" We looked at him as if he was mad.
"I'm sure I will get one on arrival."
Just to let you know YOU CAN NOT GET A VISA ON ARRIVAL IN VIETNAM. We told him this but still seemed rather optimistic.
The bus ride to the border went uneventfully by, that is until we hit the Laos border. From there it went down hill and down hill fast. Not only did our Kiwi/Scottish friend have problems, Dino was having a nightmare!
For those of you who don't know, Dino has 2 passports. A blessing you say, well maybe a curse. An Australian and a British one which he chops and changes according to which one is easiest to get a visa on and more importantly which one will get the cheapest visa. He tried using his Australian when he first entered Laos but the Laos border guards were having none of it, as his Chinese visa was in his British passport. What they cared, we don't know, but boy did they care. When applying for the Vietnamese visa Dino handed in his Australian passport. The Vietnamese authority questioned him about his Laos visa as it was not in the passport he handed in, but was satisfied when he produced his British passport with Laos visa in tow. But now all was coming back to haunt him.
The border officials in Laos would not stamp his passport to exit as it did not show the country he was going to.
"What I can't leave the country?" Dino couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Meanwhile Shona had already passed and was happily waiting in Vietnam.
The officials made a few phone calls, but nothing. It was still a no go. Dino was told that he would have to go back to Savannakhet and get the Vietnamese officials to put his Vietnamese visa next to his Laos one. Dino bluntly told them that he was not going back and started walking over to the Vietnamese border. He even by-passed the officials that checked you have exited the country.
Our Scottish/Kiwi friend was not faring any better and really was probably hindering the whole process for Dino. When Dino sneaked into Laos our new friend followed.
At the Vietnamese side it got even worse. They refused to let him in even though he had a visa because he was technically still in Laos.
"What?" Dino just couldn't believe what he was hearing.
The whole bus was now waiting on Dino and the bus driver was getting very antsy and was threatening to chuck our bags off the bus. Dino showed him his visa and so he consented to wait a little bit longer, while Dino raced back to the Laos border.
Still getting nowhere, he asked what he could do.
"You have to go back and get the visa replaced." said the official.
"But I'm not going back!" Stated Dino
"But you don't understand! We can't let you through!"
"But you don't understand! I'm not going back."
"But you don't understand we can't let you through because your Vietnamese visa is in a different passport. You have to go back and get the visa replaced."
"So what if it's in a different passport? I have the visa."
"It is a Laos rule. You will have to go back."
"So let me get this straight. You won't let me leave the country?
There was no reply from the official.
"Okay then," said Dino "I'll stay here until my visa runs out.So what happens then? Will you let me leave?"
The officials just looked at each other then one of them went to make another phone call with Dino hot on his heals.
By now Dino had held the bus up for over an hour, the assistant driver came looking for him. Somehow Dino convinced him to wait longer.
Meanwhile our Kiwi/Scotsman, after hindering Dino a bit more gave up hope and took his bags and himself back to Laos. Whatever happened to him we still don't know?
With the official hanging up the phone took Dino's passport and asked "Do you want to leave?"
"YES!!!" And so with that, the officials stamped him out.
While Shona was racing up to the Laos border to see what was happening she noticed Dino jump onto the back of a scooter driven by our assistant bus driver and wave to her as he passed. Shona started lumbering back to Vietnam.
We thought it was all done and dusted, but no once again they couldn't make up their minds. It took a further half an our, the passports being passed from one official to the next, a couple of extra forms and a few more explanations until hot and sweaty we ran to the bus. Our driver was in a hurry he had the engine revving and was on his way even before we were all on the bus.
Once in our seats the assistant bus driver pulled both of Dino's passports out of his hands and started a 10 minute explanation about what had been going on. Thankfully everyone was just laughing.
A couple of hours later we were dropped off along the side of a highway somewhere near Dong Ha. No station. No town. Nothing! We just stood there. 'What should we do?' we wondered. So we stayed for a couple more minutes until 2 guys on motorcycles rocked up.
"Where?" They asked.
"Hanoi."
"Okay." they said and motioned for us to get on.
"Ummm? No thank you." Hanoi was at least 12 hours away and the prospect of spending the night on the back of a moto didn't appeal to us.
"Train station? Bus Station?" We inquired.
They looked questioningly back at us. Dino went for a bit of a wander to see if he could figure out where we were. Meanwhile one of the moto drivers handed Shona a phone, "Where do you want to go?"
"Errr, Hanoi. But by bus or train."
"Okay you wait there. I be there in 10 minutes."
"Maybe." She replied
"You wait there. I be there 10 minutes"
Dino soon returned and Shona informed him of the call. We didn't plan on waiting for somebody we had never met to show up and be out knight in shinning armour, but really we had no where else to go so we just stood there.
It turned out that our knight was a guide at the local DMZ cafe, he informed us that if we waited on this stretch of road we were already waiting on, a sleeper bus would show up in about half and hour and take us to Hanoi.
"But we have no money."
"I'll lend you the money."
"NO, we can't do that."
"Sure I trust you." He said
"Thank you but no, we can't."
"Okay, my friend here on the moto take you to ATM and then you come back."
Dino was still umming and arrrhing, but time was now running out we now had little over 15 minutes until the bus came. So with a little bit of convincing Dino jumped on the back of the moto and zoomed off down the road. Shona was now left on her own by the side of the road with all the luggage and our new friend. But within a couple of minutes our new friend was waving down the bus to Hanoi.
'Oh crap!' Though Shona
"Quick. Quick."
Shona was very hesitant she had no money and no way of contacting Dino.
"What about my friend? What about my friend?" She kept asking.
"Don't worry! He will get on up the road at official stop, only 500m. Don't worry!" He helped her and our luggage across the road.
With a lot of hesitation she finally got on the bus and was perched on the edge of her seat studying every moto that passed. Just to let you know in Vietnam there are a lot of moto's. It seemed a lot further than 500m but the bus finally pulled over. Still no sign of Dino! But our knight was there again. Within minutes Dino pulled up with a quizzical look on his face and inquired as to where Shona was. Our new friend pointed to Shona waving happily from the bus. Dino thanked him profusely for his help, then paid the bus driver the fare (525 000 dong) and ended the day heading to Hanoi.
What a day!
"It's not the destination, but the journey that counts"
