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Published: November 30th -0001
Finally accepting that my train ticket had got lost in the post, I bought another ticket and got the train into London - such a nice easy route from Otford into Victoria. The weather was beautiful, and there was chaos outside Victoria as the Underground has just shut and there was plenty of flashing blue lights outside the station, so I thought it good to move away from the area - onto the bus, wasn't sure what my stop would look like, but found my way to Gloucester Road and up to the
Vietnamese Embassy for my tourist visa (£55 for an express visa, fax 2 days before, and pick up in person - no need to let go of your passport). Despite all the dire warnings about queues for visas, this was not a problem for the Vietnamese Embassy (although I've since seen LONG queues outside the
Chinese Embassy), and, after a heart-stopping moment in which I was told to take a seat (as the consular official looked rather puzzled just before this), 5 minutes later I was in possession of a lovely looking visa stamp in my passport, and was free to enjoy the rest of the day in London.
First aim was to arrange to meet Justine for lunch - however briefly that was, so I headed back towards Covent Garden, we managed to meet up, and then I had a wander round a few more shops, found the
Tintin shop which I didn't even know existed! I then headed for
Stanfords and saw an amazing amount of books there - just bought a
German Phrase Book ready for the Austrian trip which I knew I would be leading shortly, and, having looked in the some of the health guides, I think it was a Lonely Planet, which I associate with trying to help travellers SAVE money, and seeing such a strong recommendation for the Rabies Jab, I decided that I was would arrange to have that. Yes, it's £125 and only protects for 2 years, but if I don't have it and get bitten, it ruins any further travel plans should I manage to get treatment in time, and as I'm in some far-away places (i.e. the Inca Trail), I will!
By that point, I was tired and ready to head back to Kent, and try and relax/prepare some more before the trip to Spain!
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