In early 2014, the African nations of Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda announced a multiple-entry visa that will allow free travel between those Borderless Borders partner nations. Called the East African Tourist Visa, it grants each holder unlimited crossings of the countries’ shared borders.
The visa costs $100 and has no restrictions on the applicant’s country of origin. It is valid for 90 days and cannot be extended. For info, visit www.visiteastafrica.org.
A deal struck between the US and Chinese governments on Nov. 12 extends from one year to 10 years the validity period of tourist and business visas for US citizens traveling to China. The application process and the visa fee of $140 remain the same. Any traveler continuing to Hong Kong or Macau must get a multiple-entry visa in order to reenter China.
Chinese citizens benefit from new, 10-year tourism and business visas to the US.
India’s electronic visa program now includes the US, for a total of 45 countries.
To apply for a 30-day Indian visa online, go to https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html and complete the application on the website. The cost is $60. You also must email a front-facing photo and a scan of the first page of your passport.
(Second of three parts)
Last month, I presented the first installment of my report on import duties charged on purchased items that travelers bring into the US. This month, I continue by covering the subject of import duties on items that do not accompany you to the US.
HOW TO SEND UNACCOMPANIED BAGGAGE BACK HOME
You can send unaccompanied baggage back home three different ways: by US mail, as express shipments and as freight.
A. US mail shipments
Visitors to Myanmar now can apply for eVisas online; visit http://evisa.moip.gov.mm. The eVisas, which cost $50 each, are available only to tourists, are valid for trips up to 28 days and are good for three months from the date of issue. Holders of eVisas are limited in their arrival destinations to Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw international airports.
North and South Korean militaries exchanged fire three times in October. In the first incident, ships from both countries fired warning shots after a North Korean vessel crossed a disputed maritime border.
On Oct. 10, North Korean soldiers fired at helium balloons carrying propaganda being sent across the border by South Korean activists.
On Oct. 19, South Korean soldiers fired at North Korean soldiers encroaching on the demilitarized zone, prompting the North Korean soldiers to return fire.
At least 55 people were killed and more than a hundred were injured by a suicide bomber on the Pakistani side of the Wagah border crossing with India after the evening border-closing ceremony on Nov. 2. The blast occurred outside a nearby restaurant. Three Pakistani terrorist organizations, including the Taliban, have each claimed responsibility for the attack.
Located in the town of Wagah, situated between Lahore, Pakistan, and Amritsar, India, the Wagah crossing is the only road crossing between the two nations.
With Sept. 9, 2014, as the departure date for a trip my husband and I were taking to France, it was on Sept. 1 (Labor Day) that I discovered that France requires a traveler’s passport to be valid for six months beyond the planned period of stay. This caused us considerable anxiety.
Dear Globetrotter:
Welcome to the 465th issue of your monthly foreign-travel magazine! You’re invited to subscribe, and subscribers are encouraged to submit trip reports telling both the positive and negative aspects of tours, hotels, museums, shops and whatever else they discovered and experienced outside of the US.
Your letters and articles make up the bulk of the magazine, and we fill in the spaces with other travel-related information, all wrapped around travel-related advertisements, many that you won’t see in other publications.
I read the letter “Turkmenistan – Dangers & Annoyances” (March ’14, pg. 23) about a subscriber’s trip to that country while on a “five ’Stans” tour. We were in Turkmenistan during an Oct. 15-Nov. 4, 2013, tour with MIR Corporation (Seattle, WA 98104; 206/624-7289, www.mircorp.com) but didn’t have the complications and annoyances that he had.
The name of our trip was “Journey Through Central Asia – the Five ’Stans.” There were 14 in our group.