mpkz

http://www.amcharts.com/visited_countries/#

It's a decent one because you can save the URL for your previous map so you don't need to add every country again.

Thanks for the offer. I might take you up on it for Ethiopia. Ukraine looking less and less likely since I might visit Tokyo earlier in October to fly the Finnair A359 on a shorthaul and having two trips within 2 weeks would be a bit much for someone rushing to complete a paper

DanielW

Another article on Gunnar Garfors:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...y-in-the-world

mpkz

Putting this here:

Update on how to get a Somaliland visa / find the Somaliland embassy / permanent liaison office in Addis Ababa. This is probably the most convenient place for travelers to get the visa as overlanding from Addis (via Harar, Jijiga and Tog Wajaale) is easy and takes maybe 1-2 days, though Harar is worth stopping at properly. You can get the visa from London, Washington and possibly some other places as well. Posting because the 2013 Lonely Planet has the old location and most internet updates with the "new" location also have an old location (it has moved twice and may still move)

The office is off Namibia Avenue, which is incorrectly marked in the Lonely Planet as Cameroon St (Cameroon St becomes Namibia Avenue though). Coming from the direction of the airport, walk about 100 meters past the roundabout near Edna Mall (down Namibia Av) and you will see Sheger Building on your left and Helzer Mall (or building, can't remember) on your right. You turn right there. There is a sign at the beginning of this street. Keep walking down the street until you find another sign pointing you to the embassy. Then, knock on the gate as it's unlikely to be open.

To get a visa, you need a copy of your passport (luckily, there are 3 internet cafes that do copies for 1 birr in Sheger Bldg, Helzer Mall and in a shack on the corner on Namibia Av where you turn to get to the embassy), one passport photo and $70. I went there at 9:10 and was told that the ambassador would be in in 20 minutes. Had breakfast and came back at 10 and was issued a visa in about 30 minutes. There was no point to going any earlier because the people who got there before me got their visas at the same time as me (4 people applying that day plus someone negotiating with the ambassador about something)

For those people using the 2013 Lonely Planet, Edna Mall is not marked by itself but "Matti Cineplex" and "Farenheit" club are both in the mall, so you can find them. It's walkable from the airport (about 2km)

hauteboy

Crossed overland from Conakry, Guinea to Freetown, Sierra Leone today. That puts me at #191/197 and only two more remaing countries in Africa, which I will be visiting this week (Liberia & South Sudan).

ironmanjt

Taiwan still isn't a country...nobody recognizes it expect Nauru

I, meanwhile, opted to skip overland Guinea-Sierra Leone with Hauteboy and DanielW and fly via Paris...where I've enjoyed much wine and cheese

On to meet them in Sierra Leone for #189/196 myself! Then onto Liberia tomorrow for #190

mpkz

I like this, a few cool ideas there ("must have a conversation in the country for it to count"). But at 37 being the youngest "hobby traveller"? Aside from that being a weird term that seems hard to define, it seems quite old as you hear stories about fairly ordinary people visiting every country before 30. I think even I have a decent shot at every country by 37, and I'm not even prioritising visiting new countries, instead I travel to places I think are interesting...

Tychian

Down to 3 after haute and I darted in/out of Libya last month.
This tool is a bit funny about 'states' though - has a number of overseas dependencies listed as such.

http://www.amcharts.com/visited_coun...TL,TO,TV,VU,WS

DanielW

My goal for this year is to try and make a century, i.e. 100 countries. 86 at the moment, and will be 87 by February and 88 by early March. Hopefully spread the remaining 12 over Asia, Africa, Europe and possibly South America.

hauteboy

Africa is done! Only 4 more remaining, Cuba, Samoa, Nauru and Tuvalu.

mpkz

Anyone have tips on getting an Algerian invitation letter?

ironmanjt

I used Visa HQ and didn't need one...YMMV

mpkz

Did you reserve a hotel for the entire stay?

Tychian

I did and sent them my hotel reservation info (I booked a place in Algiers), then later adjusted things once I had the visa and my itinerary firmed up (went to Oran and Tlemcen as well as Algiers). The original hotel had a flexible cancellation policy.

One caution tho: the visa issued me only had 30 days validity (ie, I had to enter within 30 days of it being issued) which is fairly restrictive.

Bizarre note, they elected to give me a business visa, and then stopped answering email when I asked them why.

I didn't have any issues entering, in any case.

mpkz

Alright, so as I'm planning to go in August/September (hopefully the government is still up at that time :P), I shouldn't get a visa until the summer? Fun. Let's hope the hotel thing works, I'd do like a two week trip so I'm a bit concerned about modifying such a long stay with a hotel.. But if they give you a 30 day visa, then maybe having a hotel for 4/5 days is enough?

Tychian

I really don't know. I had a hotel for the duration of my intended stay to include with my visa app.
I'd only asked for 5 days (yet my visa was valid for 30 days from entry). But I *also* asked for tourist visa. And they gave me a business visa.
So - who knows what they will do.

If you can confirm a hotel you intend to stay at (but would just modify dates later) via email, without a credit card guarantee, that might be a compromise to try.

You may want to try calling them to ask about the visa validity, the hotel confirmation they want included, etc, to avoid being denied, leaving it too long, etc; iirc, they also can take up to 10 working days to process - so that gets potentially tight, esp. if they delay it for any reason.

Bottom line...as with all visa stuff - not only YMMV as iron said about his experience, but requirements and other things change - my trip was in early March 2015, I got my visa in Feb 2015, and you'll be traveling close to 18 months later, during a period where local conditions may be deteriorating from when i was there (events in Libya and Tunisia, especially, could potentially cause them to change visa policies).
Your best bet is probably to contact them and see if they can give you current guidance.