Out of the way

I am not actually a very nervous traveller. I don't get frightened about having a pocket full of cash, or that someone will steal my passport. I am not scared of walking in a strange city, I will eat more or less anything that people put in front of me, and people I know in dodgy places no longer think that they can drink the water just because it didn't make me sick.

But I do get edgy about airlines and visas. They are odd - often more so than immigration authorities. On the occasions where I have turned up to a country without a visa when I was supposed to have one (Portugal and Brazil), there has been a way around the issue, although it has generally involved spending some time talking to immigration officials - it isn't quick, but it can be done. And it doesn't involve some dubious and immoral exchange of cash under the table. In Azerbaijan and Mozambique, both countries that do require visas, I simply got one on arrival at the airport, which is a normal procedure and easier than going to a consulate.

So I came to the whole Kazakhstan trip (for BarCamp KZ) thinking it would be reasonably straightforward. Although the information on the web is confusing, it seemed relatively simple to get a visa - and it can be done at major airports. Or not. Or maybe sometimes.

Adding to the complications for me were timing issues, as always. I generally cannot afford to leave my passport anywhere for more than a couple of days, and in places like Spain I pretty much cannot function without it for more than a day. On top of that, Easter is a time when some places (like Norway) pretty much close down entirely - but it was the time when I needed to be getting a visa.

Phone calls to consulates went unreturned. I was busy, and out of contact for several days. I was also, perhaps, over-confident. And finally it turned out that I couldn't do it in Norway (where I legally reside) or Spain (where I actually am) because I couldn't get it processed in time, nor in the UK because although they can process it overnight the combination of days they don't do visas and my availability meant that I wasn't going to get to Almaty in time for more than a closing speech.

Enter the "visa at the airport" again. This can be done - there are lots of countries where it is very common. But to do so in Almaty you need an invitation prepared in advance by a licensed Kazakh travel agent - a holdover from the Soviet days of having to say where you would be and who you would talk to before they would agree to consider letting you into the country - and something the US is getting increasingly fond of as time goes by.

The problem was finding out who could do this, how long it would take, and whether it was really like it said... Enter Yelena (BarCamp organiser) and Bell.Kz (a travel company in Kazakhstan). Despite acomedy of errors leading to further delays in giving them the information, meaning that they only got to submit the papers this morning in Almaty, when I am flying at noon today from Madrid, they have confirmation that the visa will be processed and ready for me. Tonight Kazakh time - i.e. between the time I leave Madrid and the time I arrive in Istanbul for a stopover.

So, having confirmed my ticket, I still have an hour or so to get dressed, packed, clean my desk so a friend can visit without being overly horrified, and get to the airport. Then all I have to do is the simple task of getting them to issue me a boarding pass to istanbul, where I can ensure that I will indeed be allowe entry.

(The other option is that I ask for a transit visa in Almaty. I will only be there for 69 hours, and a transit visa lasts for either 72 or 5 days. I do have an onward ticket. Maybe that would have been easier).

Hopefully the next post is from BarCampKZ...