Your Visa, please...Madame — Travels with George

Thailand and Vietnam require visas so....We took a road trip to Los Angeles to get our METV 6 month visa from the Thai Consulate. Arriving early we quickly made friends with others in line.

George put the necessary papers together as per the on-line instructions—a bank statement to show we have enough money for a 180+-days stay, air-travel tickets, hotel reservations and a few extra passport photos. The on-line instructions forgot to mention that we needed photo copies of our passports. So George ran out the door and to a little copy center across the street. Others followed him because the on-line instructions omitted several other documents. This little mom and pop operation has a steady stream of people every morning. That was at 9 a.m. Pick-up to be between 3 and 4 that afternoon.

Hello, LA! Zoe took the day off from work and joined us and off we went to the Annenberg Space for Photography and The Broad Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Then back to the consulate to wait. 3 o’clock....3:10...3:15...3:20...3:25....3:30....of the dozen or so people waiting, no one was getting a visa. People were getting very nervous. I need to mention that we paid a $200/person non-refundable fee. That means no money back if we are turned down. And people talk when they are nervous. One fellow had saved for 5 years to get enough money for a long term Thai visa. Another fellow had fallen in love with a Thai woman and was moving to Thailand to run a B&B with his sweetie. I even met her via a live LINE video (it's like Whatsapp). 3:35...3:40... still no visas...3:45 ... 3:50...and finally the visas were distributed. Phew!

With the METV we have to leave Thailand every 60 days and the clock starts again when we re-enter Thailand. METV stands for "multiple entry Thai visa." And that’s why we also need visas for Vietnam. That was a little easier since we just had to go to downtown SF. We were 3rd in line and in/out in 10 minutes. The Vietnam visas cover a specified 30 day period so we are committed.

Blade Runner was filmed here, the Bradbury Building.