We are preparing for our departure from Thailand, our home for the past 2 years. It is a very sad time saying goodbye to our students, Thai teachers and friends but our gypsie blood is on the boil so it is time for another adventure.
At times we thought we would not get to India as many obstacles have surfaced but we faced them head on and we hope we have won.
The process of getting an Indian visa in Thailand when you live in the far south is time consuming and inconvenient. Although there is an Indian Consulate in neighbouring Songkhla (25 km away) we had to make 2 trips to Bangkok, one overnight and you must use an agent. This meant 3 days away from school and a substantial increase in cost. We now have our passport, with visa in our possession.
During our time in Hatyai it has gone from an International to a small regional airport so we had to research the viable options to get to India. We finally decided on the overnight train to Singapore and then fly to Mumbai.
The next hurdle was our bicycles as although Thai Railways will take bicycles, Malaysian Railways will not, so back to the drawing board. We are sending them with UPS to Mumbai where we will collect them on our arrival. They will be picked up from our houise in Hatyai on the 22nd March and we are hoping they will be in India when we arrive. UPS have quoted a price, time of delivery and date of collection so all should be okay but, as in China things are not as they seem here in Thailand.
We now are in the midst of a busy social calender with farewell parties and dinners with many tears and laughter.
