We applied for, and today got issued, 2nd US passports. It turns out it is not that difficult to get these, as long as you can give a good reason why you need it. I explained about the trip we are about to embark on and that a 2nd passport would help enormously with the visa applications en route. When applying at various Consulates you always have to leave your passport for a 'number' of days, which might also make it tricky to check-in to hotels, take out or change money, and what have you. I didn't even need to supply booked tickets; the officer looked at our planned itinerary and wished us good luck on our trip. The whole process took .... 2 days only! The 2nd passports are valid for 2 years only.
Tuesday, April 9
Picked up International Driving Permits from AAA. Very easy to get: 2 passport photos, US drivers licence (or copy of front and back when applying for someone else as well), filled in application form and US$15 each. The IDP is issued on the spot.
Monday, April 15
We got our Russian Visas today. We applied for and got granted 3-year multiple entry visas. Not only do we now have the White Sea covered (Leg 1: Europe) but also Leg 4: Russia. This means we shouldn't have too many issues getting back into Russia after Mongolia, and possibly after Kazakhstan. We used Go To Russia who made the application process very easy and painless. It helped that we had all the documents (voucher, invitation letter, detailed itinerary) for our first entry on June 3rd, 2013. Cost: USD 319 each.
Saturday, May 4
Today the Carnet de Passages en Douane for Sterlin arrived. This is equivalent to a passport for the car and allows us to temporarily import Sterlin into countries without having to pay import duty.
