We went to get our visas today...and you couldn't imagine a more hopeless system if you tried!!
Admittedly we (I say "we"...dearly beloved was meant to have sorted it ages ago) did leave it a bit late. We should really have left 2days, but the website does say they will do an "express service", so we went on the day of travel.
So, we turned up with everything mentioned on their website (which is like a "my first website" job) and were then told we had to go away and print out our flight details.
Off we went...in the rain.
After trawling the streets in the pissing rain we eventually found an internet cafe, got the docs and went back to the consulate.
We were then told that there was something wrong with our dates and that we could only get a 15day visa and not the required 30day one (I say "told"...no one at the consulate speaks English and it actually consisted of her yelling "bad dates", tapping the visa application form and then showing us a bit of paper which, from what we could pick out from the garbled English, said that they no longer issue 30day visas in England!!). We were then told to come back in an hour.
Off we went...in the rain..again.
After an hour we went back to the consulate, paid £55 (note £3.66 a day!!), got yelled at agin when I asked why they couldn't give us 30day visa when it says you can get one on the website and you can choose "30days" on the visa application form (apparently the consulate website isn't theirs???!) and then left..in the rain...again!!
So, at the moment we have 15days in Vietnam when we need 21. Apperently you can extend the visa once in Vietnam but this takes 3days...or 5days..or can be done on the same day..it seems it depends largely on who you ask and how much English they understand!!! So we may be making a detour to Loas!!
Anyway, we're currently at Kula Lumpa airport having a coffee so it not all bad...at least we're not being rained on...or yelled at by angry Vietnamese officials!!!
