Caravanistan

I was just planning our application for the Chinese visa at the embassy in Vientiane, and came across several recent comments (August/September 2019) that they ask now for a valid work permit in Laos if you want to apply - meaning that it's no longer possible for travellers!! Can anyone confirm that...

As mentioned above, it's possible & fairly easy to extend your visa in any provincial capital. Actually, I extended mine in Chitral, which is 'only' a district capital! Extensions can be done in ﹰChitral through the Deputy Commissioners Office (DCO), anyone in the city can tell you where it is. Theo...

Here's how I successfully applied for a one month tourist visa in August 2017 at the Pakistan embassy in Vienna (Austrian passport). I was already traveling in Central Asia so I sent my passport via DHL to a friend in Vienna (who applied for the Pakistan, China & India visa for me). It's seemed stra...

Hi Mike,
I've been there in March of this year, arriving in Kars by the "Dogu Ekspresi" from Ankara. Although I hitchhiked onwards, I remember seeing a Marshrutka at the Vale border saying "Kars-Borjomi-Tbilisi". And I think I read/heard somewhere that it's a daily service...

Hello guys, Thank you very much for your advice - I'm very sorry to hear your application was refused 😣 I saw your post when my passport was on the way already, so I went on with it - and last week I received the visa without further questions. I've been to Turkey and Iran for over 6 weeks each, it ...

I'm opening this thread after my SUCCESSFUL application for a single entry, 30-days individual tourist visa valid for 3 months in Vienna. I had posted my passport via DHL from Bishkek and a trusted friend went to the embassy with my documents. Since it's not all straightforward, and it took various ...

Sending the passport with DHL was straightforward, a bit pricy though, as expected. Location Bishkek: Kievskaya Street 107/1 (42.87532N 74.59431E - same building as GeoID in case you wanna buy trekking maps ;) Cost for sending documents (0-300grams) to Austria: 4.400 Som (~ € 55) They said it will t...

Hi Steven, I've been there yesterday (GeoID in Kievskaya Street 107 (42.87532N 74.59403E, same building as DHL). They have trekking maps (based on the Soviet military maps from the 80s, but with English town names, published in 2015 by Kyrgyzstan Trekking Union) in scale 1:200 000 for the following ...

Hi Clodo, I will arrive in Bishkek in a couple of days, planning on doing the same - send my passport via DHL to Austria to get Chinese, Pakistan and Indian visa in my home country. I am not worried about police checks and will travel with a copy only, in case they ask you can always say it is curre...

Update on Shiraz: I got the first extension there today, on my last day of the orginal 30-day visa. The office (located at 29.60554°N 52.56170°E) opened at 8am. I got there at 7.15, but there's not much point in being there that early - until 8 there were about 20-30 people, and once the door is ope...