January 2, 2007
Rest Day in Battambang: Vietnamese Visa
Patrick is feeling a little better this morning, but not good enough to ride 104km. His headache and fever are less, but the sore throat is worse. We have cornflakes for breakfast and Patrick rests most of the day. Rachel heads out a couple of times to go to the market and succeeds in getting each of us a Vietnam visa at the consulate here in Battambang.
The visa might be more expensive here ($45USD) than in Phnom Penh, but with this delay today, we are scheduled to arrive in PP on Friday, and potentially have to wait until Monday to get the visa there. At about 1130 Rachel goes looking for the Vietnamese Consulate the first time. She walked several times up and down and around the street where it was supposed to be...and couldn't find it.
For lunch we go to a coffee shop a block from the hotel. We have a nice breakfast burrito with bacon and hash browns. We hear a conversation at the next table about where the consulate is located. Rachel decided to try again, walking the same streets only this time from the other direction and this time could see way up behind a tall wall the Vietnamese flag.... only she had to wait a half hour for the afternoon working hours.
The guard outside rang the buzzer, a dog barked and stuck its nose through a hole at knee level. A few minutes later Rachel is let in through the tall gate. In the "waiting area" Rachel fills out the paperwork sitting at a small table in front of the glass partition office that is empty. Paying $45 each, the consulate disappears upstairs then back with the passports and Vietnam Visas.
Dinner, we share a large table with a single Swede and a Swedish family.
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