Saturday, July 15, 2006

Visa Watch ! - Part 4 (Kazakhstan)

12 July: Find Kazakhstan embassy in Moscow, but consulate is round the back, eventually find it with a bunch of people hovering around a battered old looking blue door. Lots of queuing again, but people are coming in /out regularly, much more activity than at Russian consulate in Odessa. Again the 'kto poslednii?' (who's last?) seems to be going on here, so everyone knows their place in the queue and no pushing and shoving here. Couple of ladies start asking what I am doing and helpfully let me in ahead of them as apparently foreigners can jump the queue, I just did not understand that the guy had said this. They are intrigued that I want to travel in Kazakhstan and tell me a bit about Almaty where they are from. Anyway, get inside, guy at desk tells me I should have been there before 12:00 as he wants to go hoem now. I explain I had been outside waiting there since 9:15 but he doesn't get it. Have to fill in another form now and while I am about to do it, he closes and tells me to come back tomorrow. I still won't get visa until Monday either way.

13 July: back again at 8:30, an hour before they open and alreday there are a number of people, there is also I see a paper and pen on which people have written tehir names, so I add mine. Guy opens the door around 9:00 takes the list and re-appears a few minutes later and reads out my name. I get in first !! yeahhh ;) and before the 9:30 opening time on the sign. Have to go and pay for visa at the embasy cash desk, I go there, but it's not open until 10. Back at 10am, pay, back to consulate, noone queueing at all ! Buzz and get in straight away and within 10 minutes I'm out of there... Will collect hopefully sometime next week. Cost $ 45.

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