money

This morning (Tuesday, 1 August) I went to the Chinese embassy and 1 hour and 85€ (about $115) later I had a Chinese visa. (There was a sole protester outside the embassy with signs showing pictures of tortured people to remind people how horrible the Chinese government is.) Same day service costs extra and so does being American; Finns get a Chinese visa for 22€ while it costs Americans 50€!! Of course I requested a 60-day visa and got a 30-day, but that is a minor point since I can get another Chinese visa when I'm in Hong Kong. So with that visa issue so easily (with money) taken care of I was left to toil with this issue of only being in Russia for 14 days. I decided to bite the bullet, spend the money, and reapply for the Russian visa. It should be ready tomorrow and is costing me an extra €155 that I shouldn't have had to spend. Yep that is $200+ down the drain. A complete waste of money so that I'm not hurried through Russia.

I can't put my frustration into words after how careful I've been with my money. I keep thinking how many days $200 would last me in Tibet, or Nepal, or China, or..... Hopefully I will soon forget about it and just be able to enjoy Russia. I think I'm less frustrated about the money than being hurried through Russia though, so I guess that means it was the right choice.

But I'm still not booking my train ticket to St. Petersburg until I have the visa in hand. The woman didn't think there would be a problem with me reapplying for a visa...... (I'm sweating over here)