Back in Slovakia

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EN: So we are back from Slovakia since 3rd of July. Since then we did not have enough time to relax. There were lots of things to do, arrange, some paperwork, go to bank, meet friends, families - all this in different places.
I had a nice experience explaining in my bank that I need 4 digit code that was sent by PayPal to my newly created Slovak PayPal account (to confirm my registered Debit card and thus verify my account). In the first branch I visited the lady had to call some guy. I had to interrupt the guy when he started with: "PayPal is an online....." :D Now there were 2 to whom I had to explain what I need. Surprisingly, they did not see the 4 digit code I needed with the transaction - they even let me to take a look on their screen 😊 Only their customer service knew what I'm talking about. But to get the code on the phone I needed to tell them some password that I do not remember that I ever set up. Well, they told me I can get it only in the branch where I asked for my bank account. It was in Bratislava. There, again, I was explaining what I need, again they did not know what I'm talking about, but at least I got the password. The customer service on the phone finally gave me the code. And told me they have access to different systems than the ordinary employees in branches do. Interesting.

Our travel plans .... erm, we went to the doctor - some specialist for exotic diseases etc. That was probably a mistake 😊 He was giving us examples of people, who caught this disease and that one, in this country and that one, this guy had died, that one had serious problems....
Some other guy who spent some time in SE Asia, was discouraging us from visiting it in August, September, as it is the monsoon season (damn it, good point - people there have their houses some 2metres above the ground for a reason). And said that he himself paid for all the vaccinations about 600 Euro (!!!).
Well, we have to think about some alternatives. Seems that we would underestimate the monsoon season.

We are still ok with the plan to go with the Transiberian railway, as we also already asked for the russian visa.
Nothing complicated, as long as you have all the supporting documents (http://waytorussia.net/ recommended). No security checks at the embassy, the form that needs to be filled in is brief, no extra questions asked (questions like: are you a member of some terrorist group ? ... 😊
And we showed up even after hours there, second time. As we forgot some of our documents on the table 😊 . We rang the bell, Vladimir (I think his name was Vladimir) already knew what we are looking for, opened the door and gave them to us.
So hopefully we made a good impression and next week we can go and collect the visa.

SK: Tak sme naspat na Slovensku, uz od 3. jula. Ani sme si odvtedy poriadne neoddychli. Mali sme dost vybavovaciek, ist do banky, do poistovni, navstevit znamych, rodiny - a to vsetko na roznych miestach.
Mal som peknu skusenost ked som vysvetloval v mojej banke ze potrebujem 4miestny kod ktory bol zaslany PayPalom, na novovytvoreny slovensky PayPal ucet (aby som si potvrdil debitku a tym aj verifikoval paypal ucet). V prvej pobocke co som navstivil pani za priecinkom si musela zavolat aj nejakeho chlapika na pomoc. Musel som dotycneho prerusit ked zacal s tym ze: "PayPal je online platobny system ... " Takze teraz uz boli dvaja komu som mohol vysvetlovat ze co chcem. Na pocudovanie, nevedeli mi dat ten kod ktory chodi spolu s tou transakciou - dokonca mi aj natocili obrazovku nech sa sam presvedcim.😊 Iba ich customer service vedel ze o com tocim. Ale dostat ten kod od nich po telefone to som zase potreboval nejake heslo, co som si zase nespominal ze by som nejake niekedy zadaval. A to heslo udajne mozem dostat len tam kde som si zakladal ucet - v Bratislave. Tam som znova vysvetloval co PayPal je a co potrebujem, znova nevedeli o com tocim, ale aspon mi dali to heslo. A ich zakaznicky servis na telefone mi nakoniec dal ten kod. A este mi povedali ze maju pristup do inych systemov ako obycajni pracovnici na pobockach. Zaujimave.

Nase cestovatelske plany .....hmmm, zasli sme za doktorom - taky specialista na exoticke choroby. To sme asi spravili chybu 😊 Daval nam priklady ludi co chytili tu a tu chorobu, v tej a v tej krajine, ten typek zomrel, ten zase mal seriozne problemy ...
Jeden iny typek co stravil nejaky cas v JV Azii nas odhovaral od navstevy Azie v Auguste, Septembri, kedze je tam to monzunove obdobie (dobra poznamka ..... asi tam tie domce pre nic za nic nemaju na tych koloch 2 metre nad zemou).
Este vravel ze on sam daval na ockovania asi 600 euro (!!!).
Vyzera to ze budeme musiet pouvazovat nad nejakymi alternativami. Asi by sme podcenili to monzunove obdobie.

Stale ale plati plan ist tou transibirskou, uz sme aj zaziadali o ruske viza.
Nic zlozite pokial mate vsetky dokumenty (http://waytorussia.net/ odporucame). Ziadne bezpecnostne kontroly na ambasade, formular co sme vyplnali bol strucny, ziadne zbytocne otazky (otazky typu: ste clenom nejakej teroristickej organizacie ? ... 😊
A dokonca sme sa tam ukazali este aj po strankovych hodinach, teda druhy raz. Nakolko sme zabudli tam nejake dokumenty na stole. Zazvonili sme, Vladimir (myslim ze sa volal Vladimir) uz vedel ze o koho ide a co hladame, otvoril a dal nam ich.
Tak dufajme ze sme spravili dojem a buduci tyzden si tie viza mozme vyzdvihnut.

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