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  Tuesday 2006-09-05 - Beijing, China

We really have a group visa!

I wake up a little past six: that means no more jet lag! For breakfast I have the cup of yoghurt I bought last night at the supermarket.

Yvon, our travel companion collects all the stuff that is not allowed in the DPRK. Meanwhile I deliver the powerstrip I borrowed yesterday and get my 100Ұ deposit back.

At the airport Yvon spots a sign “Group visa only” and resolutely walks past all the long rows behind the other counters to find a nearly deserted one. The young official behind the counter has a problem though: he does not recognize our fancy visa (a sheet with passport photographs, our names (in Korean) and lots of other info) as a group visa and shows an example: a computer printout with basically just a list of names. “No, that is a Chinese one,”, Yvon says. It takes teh help of a colleague official (and of course a little patience on our side) but finally te young man sticks up his thumb to signal it’s all right. Next, we sail through security without any problems.

posted: Friday 2006-09-15 07:50 UTC borders, travel, visa