Life takes visas.

I'm going to China in a few weeks, and it requires a visa. Unlike most countries, China sets the price of a visa depending on your country of citizenship, and it's most expensive for Americans (even those who are currently volunteering in the developing world). My travel plans were finalized the day before I left Cambodia, so I was in a bit of a rush, and rush processing + American passport = $93.

But it was worse than that. My passport was out of pages--I've been traveling around a lot, and Cambodia and Viet Nam visas fill a whole page. The travel agent explained that China requires two blank facing pages, one for the visa, one for the stamps. I asked if they could use my "amendments" page at the end, and she said they could try--for another $30.

Sure enough, I got my China visa in one day, and it's on the "amendments" page. She told me that they had to ask the Chinese Ambassador himself for permission, though I think that might have been a mistranslation, and also that it was the first time they had ever agreed to do it. I'm vaguely concerned that I'll have trouble when Chinese immigration discovers that they can't stamp facing my visa, but, well, watch for updates.