Gone are the days where you could simply throw on a backpack and travel the world.
Yes, there are still places that you can simply fly into, get your visa at the airport, and be on your way. But seeing as Jess and I are planning to trek through at least eight different countries, we couldn’t risk being turned away for a lack of paperwork. So far, the planning process hadn’t been overly difficult, but we were still missing one essential Visa; the Indian Visa.
This was by far the most frustrating process I’ve ever had to endure for something as small as a signature. For normal people doing a normal trip in a normal timeframe, getting the Visa wouldn’t be difficult at all. But we were trying to get a Visa in a foreign country, at an embassy that we couldn’t readily visit, and far too early to be processed through the regular system.
The nuisances we encountered along the way were far too numerous to outline in a blog entry, so I’ll try my best to sum them up as concisely as possible.
1) The Indian Ambassador was one of the rudest people I’ve ever met.
2) The Indian Ambassador loved his “veto” power… a lot.
3) The Indian Ambassador was an asshole.
As you can see, most of our problems originated from a single source. As Satan’s Indian sidekick, he did a fantastic job of doing everything in his power to suck as much of our souls as possible in the time we were in his office.
He flat-out told us that he wouldn’t let us into “his country.” When asked why, he simply stated, “Go to a different embassy.” We had ALL of our proper documents in order, we followed all of the steps outlined on the embassy website (and cross-checked with the Visa Services Canada website), and his signature was the final step for approval. And boy, did he ever make us work for that signature.
I did everything short of getting on my knees and begging him for it. The whole time I was arguing with him, he didn’t once look in my direction. He just sat back in his chair, eyeing his solid gold watch, and basking in his “power.”
After what felt like an eternity, he reached out with one hand, signed the paper, and dismissed us from his office with a series of quick “shooing” movements.
We ran out and didn’t look back…
- Ken
He may have been waiting for you to hand him some money. My friend from India says that bribery is very common in high positions.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I never really thought of that. But you are so right...
ReplyDeleteI'll keep that in mind during our trek through India.
- Ken