Visa

Today was a hectic day on the road — especially compared with my past week of going nowhere and of lying on the beach. Last night, I finally said goodbye to Ko Tao, departing on the night ferry back to Chumphon. The ferry set sail at 11pm, and arrived on the mainland at 5am. It was a sleeper ferry, fitted with a deck-full of bunk beds — and miraculously, I slept like a log for the entire journey. From Chumphon, I immediately grabbed a minibus (pre-booked) west to the city of Ranong, from where I did a so-called "visa run" over the border to Burma (now called Myanmar), and then came straight back without hanging around. I didn't hang around in Ranong, either: from there, I caught a bus headed south; and by 4pm, I'd made it to the city of Krabi. Lots of bussing and boating to squeeze into one day — so much, in fact, that I had time for virtually nothing else.

When I got in to Puerto Iguazú today, my first order of business was getting myself a Brazilian visa. Everyone from Australia, USA, Canada, and a few other countries needs a visa in order to enter Brazil, even as a tourist (unlike with most countries in South America). I'd head that it's much easier to apply for a visa here in Puerto Iguazú, than it is in Buenos Aires. Well, I can certainly believe that, because it couldn't be much easier up here: the consulate gave me a visa virtually on-the-spot, within just one hour! Plus, they didn't bother to check all those annoying things such as an onward ticket, an address of residence in Brazil, evidence of sufficient funds, etc. So good on ya, guys: in Puerto Iguazú, they make your life easier.