OJ & I landed in Mumbai at around 1 am. VMK and Kini had come to the domestic airport to meet us. From there, all of us got into a cab to go to the international airport. On the way, VMK suddenly remembered that we needed to stock up on Indian cigarettes and OJ suddenly remembered that we needed to stock up on Rajnigandha. Did you note how I said “we” needed to stock up? I said so because that is exactly how the need was described, even though the need was in reality restricted to where its awareness had sprung from. So off we went in search of a paan shop in the middle of the night. Thank heavens we found one on the way for if we hadn’t, I’m almost certain that we would have roamed the entire city in search of a shop to buy these indispensable items from, even at the cost of missing our flight.

BDG reunites in Mumbai

Completing formalities required before departing India

The flight took off at 5.30 am Indian time, and landed at Suvarnabhumi International airport in Bangkok at 10.30 am local time. The visa on arrival system was fairly simple and to encourage tourism, Thailand had waived off the visa fees till March this year. The only thing you needed to show to be granted a visa was a ticket out of Thailand. VMK, Kini & OJ had booked return flights so they had everything they needed, but I didn’t. I was planning on crossing over into Cambodia by road, so I had no ticket to show. I was hoping that the visa officer would accept my explanation and grant me a visa as well, but that was not to be. He insisted on a flight ticket out of Thailand, so I was left with no choice but to buy one at the airport itself.

Animesh, a friend from Bangalore and an experienced traveller himself had advised me that in situations such as these, one should just buy a ticket with any of the airlines destined anywhere out of the current country. One should also buy cancellable tickets (which are priced a lot higher), and once you have the visa you’re after, just go ahead and cancel them. It takes a while until the money gets refunded to you, but at least you don’t incur a large cancellation fee.

So OJ & I went looking for a ticketing counter, while Kini and VMK waited with our bags. The only ticketing counter available was that of Thai airways, and there were no cancellable tickets available. Booking a ticket and later canceling it would cost me at least 2000 THB, and I didn’t want to spend so much for no reason. So we found an internet centre at the airport itself, and “manufactured” a return ticket.

The visa officer was satisfied with my “ticket” and gave me the visa. All of us were now authorised to travel around the land of smiles for the next 15 days.

At the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok

Taking the first step into Thailand

It's going to be a while before bus stations in India reach this level of cleanliness