Driver Licenses

Well after I got my visa, I went to get my drivers license.

I had to have the following:

Passport and 3 copies of the main page, visa page, and last entry stamp page.

US drivers license and 2 copies.

Letter of residency that took 2 hours and $30 to get from the US embassy.

International Drivers license (got mine from AAA for $15)

Letter of health from a clinic.

So I walked around for 2 hours going to clinics that didn't exist or the doctor wasn't in.

I finally went to a hospital and took some tests to get my health letter for $15.

Then I was off to the DMV, or Department of Land and Transport as its called here.

Fortunately foreigners have a dedicated line and don't have to wait.

So after filling out some paperwork I had to take tests for color recognition, stoplight reaction, depth perception, and peripheral vision.

Some young kid took the braking reaction test and failed miserably.

Then I saw an old guy repeatedly fail the peripheral vision test.

After the physical tests which any American would ace, I got a license to drive a car.

Then I wondered why I saw no motorcycle icon as I explained I wanted a car and bike license.

I had to take the exact same tests an fill out the same forms to get a secondary bike license.

So in this country I have 2 licenses based on what I intend to drive.

Double the paperwork and effort, masters of efficiency here.

I'm sure that old guy got his license too.