I managed to find the correct bus station for my bus to the Cambodian border but I still needed to find the right bus. First I was waiting in a wrong place but then a friendly tourist safety-officer dude asked me where I was heading and told showed me the right way. Well the officer himself wasn't that aware of the busses since he told me to board a totally wrong bus but luckily I asked the driver of the bus about the destination and managed to save myself from a disaster. There was a fellow westerner waiting for the bus to leave and after having had a chat with him it appeared that he was doing the same visa run and he had already done it once. I instantly decided to tag along with him. A personal guide is always a good thing to have and it was a wise decision indeed.
Three hours later we finally arrived to the border zone. I was told that the ride should take about 2 hours. So I had already "lost" two hours of my precious time to be back in Dalat for the daily gig (referring to part 1).
I have to be honest. I have never seen such a border before :D I'm so happy I had the French dude as a guide. First we stepped inside a big industrial hall just to find out that it was the actual border zone for leaving Vietnam. We would have missed it without the Vietnamese dudes trying to sell us the "fast lane"-service and hailing us to go in. Even the French dude was happily walking pass the place. I mean there's no signs what so ever to tell you what to do or where to go.
Then it started, "You want to go fast? You wait two hours or give me 5 USD and I take you fast". Hahahaa. Oh my god. Well we decided to wait. I'm trying not to support corruption. Maybe half an hour later we were done with the first queue. Then we walked couple of hundred metres to the Cambodian border and during that walk we were offered moto rides, Cambodia visas, sunglasses, ice cream, camels, coal mines, midget bowling and jet airplanes...
We got the the point where we have to fill a form for the Cambodian visa. There this over eager dude was trying to sell us a visa service. The service was actually him filling the form for us :D He tried to take our passports to fill the forms against some money. Oh boy, well we didn't use his services either. With the filled forms we approached the small window where you give your form, passport picture passport and money. There's a big sign saying tourist visa, 30 USD, but of course the actual price was 35 USD. *Pheeeew* Well I didn't want to start arguing about that, I just wanted my visa to be done with.
To the next building we went and there we needed to fill yet another form, this time it was the entry card. No money was luckily needed to do this. Fingerprint scans, a stamp onto passport and I was officially in Cambodia! Jiihaa.
50m around the building to get out of Cambodia aka next line to queue in. Passport, visa invitation letter, stamp, I was out of Cambodia. Thank you Cambodia, it was my pleasure.
200 meters backwards and it was time to get the Vietnam visa. Once again, no signs what to do or where to go. There was a small booth that I figured to be the one where you get your visa from. Some form filling, some waiting and US dollars to change ownership and I had my three month Vietnam visa nicely glued to my passport. There were actually Vietnamese officials just laughing at us since we didn't know what to do. What a place, what a place.
Then something miraculous happened! So we were waiting for the passports to get stamped and there was a long line queueing. We were showed to wait in a specific line. Just before my turn to give my passport to the official I noticed a Vietnamese couple on my right side making a big deal about counting their money visible. I was like, "Doh, so they are gonna be the next ones." But then it happened, as the couple were trying to give their passports to the official at my turn the official actually told the to get away. First the couple retreated behind me and in front of the French guy but the official snarled at them and they actually needed to go all the way to the end of the line. Right after that another Vietnamese guy threw his passport with money inside it to the counter but the official turned that down also. Whooaaaaaahhhh! So the myth and the stories are true. There is a non corrupted border official in Vietnam! I was amazed =)
One more checking point for the passport and I was done with the formalities. It took about two and half hours all together at the border. Back to bus stop and the first bus back to Saigon. This time it only took the two ours I was told about earlier. At this point it was already quite clear to me that I wasn't gonna make it in time back to Dalat for the gig.
I hadn't had anything to eat that day so far and it had been about 4-5 months of my last Mc Donalds meal so I fell for it in Saigon but the funny thing was that I met the French dude at the Donalds. We had said goodbyes at the bus station in Saigon but he told me that me talking about going to McD had convinced him to do the same =) Muahahhahaa. A French chef in Mc Donalds, Blasphemy! ;)
After a well deserved and tasty meal I headed to a bus ticket office. Like I said earlier, because of the changed regulations I had to get to a coach station to catch the actual bus. This time they didn't even offer me a shuttle. Only if I was ready to wait two hours they would take me to the bus station for free. Shiiit. Taxi it was then. Even though I knew I'm not gonna make it for the gig I really wanted to get back to Dalat as soon as possible.
After 8 hours of agony and torment on the back"seat" of an sleeper bus I arrived to Dalat at 23.45, about two and half hours too late for my gig. Well, at least I tried. One thing is for sure, it was the first and the last time for such a visa run. 19 hours in busses within 24 hours. Pheeeeew.
Almost forgot. I promised to tell something about my future. I have decided to play the last gig at the Escape bar on 30th of June. Bob plays his last gig at the same day so I figured it's a perfect time for me too to stop playing. I do have some ideas what to do after that but for that info you have to wait for some more time.
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