Well... if you have to wade through crotch-high, muddy flood water to try to fix your expired visa, that's how! This has to be the craziest thing I've done so far in Asia - and I already had some crazy things. In a mad rush to extend my expired visa, I visited the local immigration office in the city of Hue in central Vietnam. Unfortunately, it hasn't stopped raining since I arrived yesterday evening. The days of unrelenting rain has completely flooded the city. Imagine me helping push a motorbike through 3 feet deep water!! All the other bikes are stranded with water damage as well (but, apparently, this is quite normal for the inhabitants here).
I get to the immigration office to find all the workers there crouched and huddled on their desks with their pants rolled up because the water level is about a foot deep INSIDE the offices - and these are several steps up from the ground outside! Anyway, my visa is still screwed ... already expired; so they might throw me in jail. I'm taking the bus to Hanoi to try to rectify it.
In spite of this, I had a shockingly wonderful experience today with "uncle Bill", a former interpreter for the US marines during the Vietnam war, who works at the little guest house where I staid last night for $6 (again with satellite TV, AC, hot shower, etc). He's certainly got the foul mouth of a marine, I gotta say! He was kind enough to TRY to take me to see the ancient citadel and imperial tombs. Alas, those were flooded under water as well (I have pictures to prove it)... fearing for my own safety I canceled the remainder of the destinations. But what a great time to be on a motorbike in the pooring rain driving through 12" deep water with uncle Bill cursing off everything from his x-wife to the bad weather to the local corruption.
Well, I got a 13 hour bus ride through the night, sitting upright.
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