Belarus Transit Visa, bitteschön!

Why would you want to go to Belarus? Because it's on the way to Moscow? Because Harvey Lee Oswald used to live there? To see great architecture soviet style? The KGB headquarters? If the plan is to do Amsterdam - Shanghai overland via Moscow there is no way around Belarus unless you intend to do a major detour. The embassy of Belarus to the Netherlands offers a transit visa that lets you stay for 48 hours in the country for a bargain of € 20. Find more information on the website of the Belarus Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Important for a transit visa to be issued is that your passport sports a visa of the country of your next destination (Russia in my case) or if no visa is required for that country a proof of your itinerary (tickets etc.). The visa was issued within a weeks time, faster service was available if you pay for it. Very friendly service and the best part with places that have fewer tourists coming their way than say Mallorca or Rimini is that service is very personal: When I came to pick up my passport the friendly bloke from the embassy - without asking what my name was and what I was here for - took the passport and handed it to me with a nice "bitteschön!". Needless to say I was the only customer in the embassy. You can find more useful information about the Belarus visa application process on Everbrite's Belarus pages.