2 Up Adventures

Dream it - Live it - Ride it

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Images
    • Photos
    • Video
  • Our Route
    • UK
    • Europe
    • The East
    • Asia and South East Asia
    • Border Crossings!
  • Our Bike
    • Specifications
    • Modifications
    • Luggage Systems
  • Our Equipment
    • Camping
    • Riding
    • Navigation & Communications
  • About Us
    • Vince – Rider
    • Karen – Pillion
    • Previous Overseas Rides
      • South Africa ride report – March 2014
  • Contact Us

The Indian Visa Escapade…..Annecy to Geneva 28th May

Posted by Karen on May 28, 2015
Posted in: France, Switzerland.

P5282449 P5282609 P5282591 P5282558 P5282550 P5282545 P5282542 P5282537 P5282504 P5282479 P5282462 P5282456 P5282455 P5282451 P5282337 P5282430 P5282429 P5282413 P5282401 P5282393 P5282356 P5282355 P5282354 P5282353 P5282352 P5282345 P5282341

After breakfast ….we organised the front desk, at the Ace Hotel, to print out the documents we needed for our India Visa Applications.

We headed off to Geneva (Switzerland) 40km away, and paid 3.80 Euro ($6.00) in toll to drive less than 6 km of motorway! Same on the return trip!

After negotiating our way through traffic in Geneva, avoiding the trams and riding down what we now think was a pedestrian mall, we arrived at the address for the India Visa Application Centre. We eventually figured out how to use the secret squirrel intercom system and got them to unlock the door. We proceeded up the dingy steps to the first floor and entered the offices. We were greeted by a young woman, who spoke English, but who was more interested in discussing her personal life on the telephone than actually being of any assistance. She only gave us the parroted information we could already access on the internet ourselves! She kept rabbiting on about Visas on Arrival and we tired multiple times to explain we were not arriving by plane, but riding our motorbike and we would be at a boarder crossing without any vista and our Pakistan Visa would have run out….so effectively we would be stuck in No Mans Land….. She eventually contacted someone in the India Consulate in Geneva by phone and he was no more helpful. The best suggestion they could offer is that we apply in Islamabad (Pakistan) ….not our idea of fun and not practical!

A little disheartened from the experience we pushed on to BMW ( Vince has been trying to organise a service and tyres for days with little luck as everywhere is booked out). When we eventually found the place it was 12.15pm and they close at 12.00pm until 13.30! Not our day today!

So we found a nearby place (the Merena Bar) to sit in the shade and have a drink while we waited! Once BMW opened we discovered they too could not fit us in for another 3 weeks….so we will got with plan B, move on to Switzerland and eventually get the service and tyres done in Austria in a few weeks time!

We had tolls again today…always my favourites …NOT! But I am now using the credit card rather than coins and that makes it easier…in fact I didn’t even need to get off the bike today! I worked it out and now we are back in France at our hotel we have crossed 13 borders so far….check the new page out under the Our Route Tab.

On the way home we stopped in at the “Old Town” in Annecy….the buildings reminded me of Venice. They were so close together that it sent the GPS into a spin and Vince ended up in a one way street ….going the wrong way! The locals alerted us but we could not turn around in the narrow street so just had to keep going until it widened….scary!  

We went back there in the evening for dinner and it was magical….so romantic and beautiful. I gave a homeless person, with two dogs, some money and later I sneaked a pic of him but his freaky friend saw me and went off her tree ….luckily I can’t speak or understand French…the man concerned spoke up to her and said it was ok…so she eventually went away, but it rattled me a bit…guess that’s the risk you take when you take spy shots!

We went for s walk around the lake after dinner, and we met a German lady, Marlese, with her little dog, Speedy. A six year old English Terrier who had not been so speedy that morning and was showing his battle scars from a dog who attacked him. We had a bit of a pat which provided us with a fur fix….as we miss Cebar…our own dog back in Australia.

 

Posts navigation

← Off Bike Day 27th May
Annecy to Chamonix →
  • Archives

    • February 2017
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • April 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • May 2014
    • March 2014
    • January 2014
  • Recent Posts

    • Big News …..the ANIMAL’S baby brother has arrived….BABYCAKES!
    • Horizons Unlimited Meeting 16th – 18th October 2016
    • 2upadventures presenting at HU Perth 2016 Meeting….Join Us!
    • Vince and Karen …The Real Riders
    • All Over Red Rover!
  • Recent Comments

    • Mark Morgan on All Over Red Rover!
    • Mark Morgan on So this is Christmas……..
    • Craig Field on Nong Khiaw to Vieng Thong
    • Craig Field on DHL, Zippers and Thai Massage in Chiang Mai
    • Craig Field on Shillong to Dimapur 24th and 25th Oct
  • Categories

    • Albania
    • Australia
    • Austria
    • Belgium
    • Bulgaria
    • Cambodia
    • Croatia
    • England
    • France
    • Germany
    • Greece
    • India
    • Iran
    • Ireland
    • Italy
    • Laos
    • Montenegro
    • Myanmar
    • Northern Ireland
    • Pakistan
    • Scotland
    • Slovenia
    • Switzerland
    • Thailand
    • Turkey
    • Uncategorized
    • Wales
  • Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org
Proudly powered by WordPress Theme: Parament by Automattic.