Mongolia: Many weeks to get it, but worth it...

Our (very rough) itinerary has us taking about a month and a half biking from the western border of Mongolia to Ulaanbataar, the capital. Problem is, Canadians can typically only get 30-day visas, and then renew them in Ulaanbataar.

The only alternative is to get a letter of permission from Mongolia's Department of Foreign Affairs, to get a visa for up to 90 days. Many thanks to Idre from Idre's Guesthouse who helped us get our hands on one. For $25 each, she helped us get our application in, visited the folks at the government office many times to get them working on it and, after about two months of her helping us, we got it! Thanks Idre!!

Now we're able to take our time, wander through Mongolia on our bikes without having to hop a bus halfway to Ulaanbataar. And it means we've got all the visas we need until mid to late September, when we'll apply for our Chinese visa from Ulaanbataar.... now just gotta get the biking done! :)