Today we got a bus over the Vietnamese/Cambodian border. When I entered Vietnam I was distracted by tiredness and an allergic reaction, so whilst I recognised the slowness of the immigration officer at the airport and irritably questioned his competence, the significance of this observation wasn’t obvious, but became very clear when I tried to leave the country. Long story short: I’m technically an illegal immigrant. Work Experience Immigration Guy had stamped my passport with the date of my entry but hadn’t marked my visa as ‘used’, ergo, I had entered without a visa (despite having one). The immigration staff at the border spoke about as much English as I do Vietnamese so it was a tricky one to resolve. I watched my friends walk over the no-mans land between the two countries and wondered what life would be like in a Vietnamese immigration centre. Luckily that thought didn’t become reality because I re-joined the back of the queue and found the equally lax colleague of Work Experience Immigration Guy, he stamped my invalid visa, and I went on my way to Phnom Penh - which I’m about to explore via tuk tuk.
Love Emily x
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