This is so shameful, but like mother like daughter! Our procrastinating natures (as well as our surprise trip to Malta) prevented us from preparing our visas earlier in the year, and it’s been squeaky bum time ever since. After suffering through passport photos, answering multitudes of banal questions, and writing kindly-worded letters to request entry to {insert country here} so we can drive through, we are happy to announce that our visas are being processed!
Our infinite thanks go out to The Visa Machine team for their patience and guidance. Without them, we would be invariably lost. Major squinting at Russia for making their visa forms sneaky & tricksy, as well as at Kazakhstan for just being unnecessarily difficult. On the bright side, I did receive my Turkish e-visa in approximately 10 minutes! The “visa” feels a bit like a printed boarding pass, but if the Turkish Government considers it valid, then so do we.
Our quest for finding lodging along our route has been interesting. We’ve found some extremely quaint & adorable guesthouses in Central Asia, along with the major hotel chains that we honestly did not expect to see along the way. Who knew that there is a Ritz-Carlton in Almaty?? Obviously, we can’t exactly splurge on something like that, but we can dream I suppose!
Finally, we have been rolling in donations from friends and family, thank you! Your donations mean so much to us, but we still have a way to go to reach our $2,000 goal. Keep ’em coming!
Now, we’re just crossing our fingers and hoping that all goes well with our passports at the various embassies. Please please please issue our visas quickly!