So, here’s to the memories and adventures of my lost passport—may it rest in peace. Not only was it a souvenir from all the countries I’d visited, with the emotions tied to each stamp, but it was also an official legal document, which had my very official visa exemption for Vietnam in it. Losing that, caused a chain of interesting events.
Losing the passport
It all started during my trip from Ho Chi Minh to Ha Noi, when I realised I lost my passport somewhere between Hoi An and Quang Tri. At first, I figured I must’ve just left it at the last hotel, but after a whole day of searching by the hotel staff, nothing turned up. It might have also slipped out of my pocket while I was lying down during that sleeper bus ride, well we will neve know for sure.
After spending the night at a friend’s place, we finally decided to report the missing passport. The local officer told us that if we thought it went missing in Hoi An, we’d need to go all the way back there and report it to the local police. That’s a 4-hour trip I wasn’t excited about, but after some back and forth, the officer kindly hinted to us that maybe – just maybe – we actually lost it in Quang Tri. There was a catch though. In my report, I mentioned we stayed at a friend’s place, which apparently you’re not allowed to do without informing the authorities. And since we weren’t with him anymore, calling him back would’ve been a hassle. So, we had to put in some extra effort to remember where we actually stayed.
Getting an emergency passport
So, I had to get myself a new passport. It’s funny how embassies really reflect the country they represent. At the Vietnamese embassy in Berlin, it was unorganized, the ticketing system wasn’t even in use, and it was hot and sticky. Meanwhile, the German embassy in Vietnam? Clean, structured, with a working ticket system (for the three people waiting), and two separate registration checkpoints. The process was smooth and I received a paper emergency passport within three business days.
Since I officially had no permit to stay anymore, the next step was heading to the Vietnamese immigration bureau, which was anything but smooth and mellow. Dozens of people crowded around with all kinds of issues, yet there were only three counters—open like a cafeteria, not even in a somewhat closed environment like a cubicle. And, very typical for Vietnamese culture, even when it’s your turn, people just barged in with their “quick questions.” I could only imagine how stressed out the poor officers must’ve been dealing with that all day.
The Vietnamese immigration process took seven days to handle my case, and to my surprise, they only gave me a standard 14-day tourist visa starting from the day I received my emergency passport. Considering there were weekends in between, 10 of those days had already passed, and there was no way to extend it from within Vietnam. I had hoped to get the visa exemption, but that was tied to my old passport number, and apparently, there was no way to prove I still had the right to it with my new passport. The immigration officer politely suggested “ I should go back to my country.”
Thus, I had three days to figure out my next move.
Family Trip
Around the same time, my mother was visiting Vietnam, and we had plans to travel the country. Emphasis on plans—because while the idea was there, nothing was actually booked yet. With this new situation, we had a little extra to factor in. But somehow, everything worked out almost as intended. I left Vietnam at the last possible moment to spend a few days in Bangkok, then flew back to Da Nang, took a ride to Hue, and waited to welcome my family, who flew in shortly after.
I had also applied for an electronic visa, but after paying and waiting the allotted time, it got declined. Turns out I’d missed the part about needing a regular passport, not an emergency one—something that varies by country. So there I was, mango smoothie in my left hand, phone in my right, standing in front of the entrance to the Grand Palace in Bangkok right at the intersection of Nha Phra Lan Road and Soi Na Phra That, trying to deal with this frustrating situation. Well I guess, visa runs were now officially a part of the trip—and my budget. The only silver lining was the coincidentally new legislation that would extend on-arrival tourist visas from 15 days to 45 days, starting in mid-August.
Well, for now, with the newly acquired tourist visa, I had another 14 days to enjoy the family trip—and let future me worry about the rest later.
Second visa run
Our family trip took us from Hue to Da Nang, then Hoi An, Nha Trang, and finally down south to Ho Chi Minh City. The timing was perfect, as my visa was already close to expiring. So, once again, I waited until the very last moment to do my next visa run. I spent some time exploring HCM with my mom before taking her to the airport. When she flew out, I also left—this time heading for the nearest bordering country, Cambodia. And not by any regular transport, but by motorbike, which my uncle had in his garage. Looking back, it was a pretty wild idea.
But before I could be on my way, I needed some USD. The on-arrival visa for Cambodia was priced at $35, but I’d heard you might need some “coffee money” to help speed things up with the local officers. The question was—where do you even get USD in Vietnam? Turns out, it’s surprisingly easy. You can get hard cash at local gold shops, and the rates were so good they were only off by a single penny from the official exchange rate!
The bike I rode was old, the suspension wasn’t great, and the speedometer didn’t even work. To top it off, even in Germany, I’d never driven longer than an hour, and this trip would take four hours back and forth. But somehow, I made it to the border, left my bike at a nearby shop— retrospectively, probably not the smartest move—crossed into Cambodia, and immediately made a U-turn to head back to Vietnam within the same hour. The visa run was literally just as easy as the blog post from vietnam-visa had promised. Once home, I realised I’d gotten a massive skin tone change and slight sunburn on my forearm from the four-hour round trip under the sun. But hey, at least I was good for another 14 days.
Third and almost last visa run
In Ho Chi Minh City, I did an internship at OUCRU for about four weeks. Naturally, that meant I had to do another visa run. Since I wanted to explore the country anyway, I turned it into a mini vacation — staying from Friday to Sunday. I took a bus to Phnom Penh and flew back by plane, but in hindsight, the plane was barely worth it. Even though the travel time was shorter, the whole process felt like more of a hassle compared to just taking the bus. In Cambodia, I used the time to catch up with some friends (David) and do a little bit of sightseeing. This ended up being one of my last visa runs, since the new legislation was about to kick in, giving me a 45-day tourist visa.
You can read up about my Thailand Trip in this blog post.
Fourth visa run
For a long time, some friends and I had been planning a trip to Thailand while we would be all in Vietnam. It ended up being the perfect timing for me, since my last visa run didn’t fully cover the rest of my stay. This time, I had a layover in Bangkok before flying to Phuket, where I waited for my German friends (Lien, Son & Nam). While in Phuket, and later in Hat Yai, I managed to catch up with some local friends (Sorn and & Pam) too! Now that’s what I call German efficiency.
When I was departing back to Vietnam, I ran into some trouble. The gate agent wasn’t sure if I—now on my fourth visa run with several stamps in my passport—would be allowed back into the country. Even though the check-in lady had already given me my ticket and therefore clearance, the gatekeeper was so worried he called up other colleagues, slowing down the boarding process and eventually causing me to miss my flight. Well, no big deal, i was in no rush anyway.
You can read up about my Thailand Trip in this blog post.
Epilogue
Funny enough, this story doesn’t end here. After starting a new job and with a few vacation days to spare, I spontaneously decided to go to London (can be read here). Thankfully, they accepted my emergency passport, which was still valid for more than six months.
However, my next trip to Taiwan in February the following year (documented in this post) required a new passport. So, I requested one. Back in the day, they would keep the old passport when issuing a new one, but now they just invalidate it by cutting it in half. I was pleasantly surprised by this, since my old passport held a lot of memorable visa stamps. Unfortunately, this process only applies to regular passports—emergency passports still get confiscated. I found this out only when I went to the office to pick up my new passport, leaving me with very little time to say a proper goodbye to my temporary companion.
And it wasn’t just any passport. Since it was issued in Vietnam, it had a green cover instead of the usual brown, but still featured the iconic German eagle. That little difference got me a few suspicious looks, which I fully enjoyed. And with all the visa runs I’d been doing, almost all pages were already filled with stamps.
It felt like I was losing a part of me, but in the end, it was a good reminder not to hold onto material things too tightly—everything breaks or fades eventually. But the memories? Those last, and they’re kept alive by sharing them, like in this blog post.
