So I have just went through the most difficult time on my journey so far. I have previously read stories about difficulties at some borders, especially in Africa. These usually consisted of having to walk from one place to another that was 500 meters far to get a stamp, than walk back, then walk to another few hundred meters distant building to exchange money to have local currency to pay for visa or other similar fee and like this spending hours on the border. Well, try this!

First, when you arrive to the border have all your entry procedures finished like everything is OK. Then be taken to a police guy with uncontrolled manners whose only purpose in life seems to be to make life of tourists traveling on motorbikes as difficult as possible. After a few hours of sometimes absurd demands from this guy have your bike refused to enter the country.
In your effort to get through and around this guy spend almost two hours riding on a motodup (a little uncomfortable 110cc bike) as a pillion passenger, going to the provincial capital (Tay Ninh). Spend a night there and in the morning, after an unsuccessful attempt to get through the guards at the gate of the local police headquarters go to another city (Saigon) 120 kilometers away (over a two-hour ride). There, be sent from office to office and from ministry to ministry because nobody knows what to do with you, until at the end of the day you arrive back to the first office where you started in the morning with no progress made whatsoever. Sleep over in Saigon and in the morning continue hunting for somebody to help you. Not even your own consulate is able to offer any useful assistance. In the afternoon find out that you at least need a letter from your embassy so go there only to find out that they are closed for organizational reasons for the rest of the day, the next day and also half of the following one. Wait another two days for them to re-open. Get the letter (even though not exactly in the form you would like it to be) very late in the afternoon when you can’t even go anywhere to have it translated to the local language (Vietnamese). By this time you have spent quite a considerable amount of money on the motorcycle “taxis”. Wait till next morning to take a bus back to the border (over two hours again) with the documentation you gathered. When you finally arrive back there go through some more bureaucratic paperwork and be sent back to Tay Ninh. From there back to the border and again back to Tay Ninh. Each ride is almost 2 hours of bum destroying hopping on uneven roads and ear piercing overuse of horn. They can’t help you in Tay Ninh because it is Sunday. Sleep over again and in the morning go through hours of paperwork examination and in the end of it be told that the result of all your effort will be let known to you in 7 (yes SEVEN!!) days.
Realize that by then you might have some problems with your visa expiring soon so take a bus and then another motodup to get back to Saigon. Start getting sick by then and endure 3 hours of sitting on tiny uncomfortable seats. In Saigon pay 45 US dollars for express visa processing (20 dollars of that goes probably to some policeman that will push your passport forward in the queue as there is no official express processing) and try to cure yourself in the remaining five days of wait. Then go back to Tay Ninh again, sleep over and in the morning get a negative result. Since you can’t give up now go back to Saigon with this letter and try your last chance. Two visits to the headquarters of traffic police and 3 days later (you had to wait for the second appointment) go back to the border with the result unchanged and head back to the country where you came from. Easy? Sure – as easy as it can be in Vietnam… ;-))  Can you think how to make this process just a little easier? I think I personally could come up with an idea or two. The Vietnamese authorities don’t seem to be able or willing to.

So if you will ever have to run between buildings a few hundred meters apart for a few hours take it easy and think of this run: border – Tay Ninh – Saigon – border – Tai\y Ninh – border – Tay Ninh – Saigon – Tay Ninh – border  and you might just realize that what you are jus going through is not such a big deal afterall.
Total number of visits of different offices in different places in Saigon and Tay Ninh: about 30