About a week ago, our contact in China informed us that Beijing had assigned an entry date for us to cross the border. After trying to get into China for months and trying to do so without breaking the bank, we were extremely excited about this news and have literally been counting down the days.
Well, in true TWBR fashion things have changed a bit. We are still going to get into China, but we may have to wait a little longer. Our contact recently informed us that there is an official in a local government office who must sign and stamp some of our papers but unfortunately, he is out of town on a business trip. As a result, our entry has been delayed because as our contact put it; "without the signature and stamp from the man, we can’t get the rest of the processing going."
We have grown somewhat accustomed to such occurrences, but you never really get used to them. We are 3 hours from from the border, have our individual visas and everything else we need to go to China, but since we have our Toyotas, things always tend to be a little bit more complicated. Unfortunately, our fate in terms of staying on schedule and getting through a country with 1.5 billion people rests in the hands of one single person. So with our hands completely tied, we are forced to again play the waiting game. How long we will have to wait is unclear because according to our contact, "I can’t say how long exactly it will delay our plan, but from my experience, I assume we may have to delay the entry date for one week."
Stay tuned folks, it has been an adventure getting into China and I am sure there will be more surprises on the road ahead and along the trail of paperwork that will eventually lead us to Mongolia.
