I arrived early at the embassy and things were going smoothly and quickly until I got up to the counter. The forms were fine - my photo however was not - the background wasn't white enough...! So a trip to the shop next door 250 rupees later and a not so good photo - and that was sorted. The next stage was to pay the fee - British passport holders seem to have to pay the most for whatever reason. Maybe India holds a grudge from back in the day?! Who knows! Once this non refundable fee is paid you have to wait five working days to go back to the embassy in the morning to be told I you have been granted a visa or not and how long for. This is what I am waiting for at the moment. We shall see what happens but it's just waiting for now.
Returning to kathmandu would be less than a simple process - turns out there is was a political strike going on so only tourist and private vehicles were allowed to travel. Staying in a village the buses were not stopping for us when we eventually went to get the bus that was. After a chai break it was time to try again and we managed to get a truck to stop for us which was transporting milk. It was pretty strange travelling - there was little to no vehicles on the roads which made the journey a lot easier and less dangerous than normal. There were however more children on the roads for us to dodge around. We did however eventually arrive in kathmandu and after paying the driver more than normal we were soon in Thamel.
I was to go to the embassy for the second time to hand in my reciept to find out if I had been granted my visa. Again I arrived early and still the waiting took some time. Although they did get through people fairly quickly. However when it was eventually my turn to go up the lady informed me I needed to wait for nearly an hour and be interviewed.
The interview consisted of three men asking me a few questions - the issue was from my previous visit to India. I unfortunantly did not register with the Forgein Registery Office within the specified time limit set out on my visa - which meant technically I had overstayed my visa... However I did register and pay a fine at the airport before I left. Which I thought would be the end of the issue but obviously not. Anyway I left and they said they would call me later that day.
Later that day came and went and I decided to go to the office again in the morning to find out what was happening. I got there and the lady at the counter 'said you had an interview yesterday' - 'never'.... Anyway I informed her that they had not phoned me like they said - and then she said 'take a seat'. This lady had been getting on my nerves a little throughout this process but I smiled and sat down. Nearly an hour later I was called up and she nicely informed me I had been granted my visa - yippee!! But not for as long as I had hoped for. Nevermind - plans can change. Well they will have to anyway! After handing my passport in again it was time to wait until the next evening to pick up my visa. Meaning more time and money wasted in kathmandu...
Picking up my passport was the easiest process as I just walked in and walked up to the counter and was given my passport. Not long at all - unlike the wait that I had to get it!
But visa stuff didn't finish there - seeing as this process had taken so long we had decided to extend my Nepalese visa not for too long but long enough to has time to do some practise before the competition. So it was another days wait as the government offices are not open on a Saturday....
Extending my Nepali visa however was fairly straight foreword unlike the walk there!! The walk was fairly long though lots of people but it was nice to see other areas of kathmandu rather than just the tourist area of Thamel. Once I got there it was time to hand over my piece of paper which I had to print after filling a form in online with photocopies - but they didn't want the photocopies - I then got asked to stand in another line so I could pay the fee - $30 for 15 days. Then once I had paid and been given a receipt I had to wait to get my passport back. That was it a whole 10 minute process no stress no hassle. The way that it should be!
So with all that done- it was time to head back to fishling with a couple of kayaks. So we could get back on the river and out of the city.
No comments:
Post a Comment