I was tired. Tired of the monotonous routine. Tired of hearing the same stories over and over and over again. Tired of the endless coffees, teas and attending meaningless outlandish weddings in India of course! I wanted to speak to people who don't speak the same language as I do, who do not wear the same attire as I do. I wanted to walk on those never ending roads; to go to the station and jump onto the next train and keep training until the schedule ran out of any more journeys. I wanted to climb the next mountain I saw and get lost in the woods of mother nature. I wanted to take the scratch map and keep scratching places as and when the dawn broke. After all, it had been six months since an explorer's soul was resting in peace.
And the restless soul navigated the daily mundane life like a lost wanderer. Then came the day when the explorer's soul found solace. From a general discussion on travel, the idea to backpack Cambodia was seeded. From booking the trains to Goa with Konkan Express so as to appreciate the scenic western ghats in the monsoons, I found myself looking at airlines and airfares.
So this blog is about a girlfriend Rajal (fondly called Raju in this blog) and me, and our journey from Mumbai to Ho Chi Minh City. Yes! you read it right. We did land ourselves in Vietnam, of course via Cambodia.
It was the month of June, 2015, Raju and me were exchanging notes on our mundane life. I still remember, one of my first cousin’s (father’s sister’s son) was getting married on the 6th of June, 2015 in Bombay (sorry I am never going to use Mumbai for I grew up in Bombay). Given my love for outlandish Indian weddings, I was planning an escape route. There were two options that was rubbed in my face. First was to attend yet another outlandish Indian wedding. This time it was a friend’s wedding on the 5th of June, 2015 in Ghaziabad. Still bearable!!!! Second, go on a road trip to Jaisalmer with Raju and family. Now this is an exciting proposition. Thanks to the expensive airfare and hotels and my unpaid employment status with depleting savings, I landed up attending the wedding. I have to admit that some cousins and Royal Challenge make every occasion worth living for.
So yes, back to Raju and me. Raju was excitedly telling me about her road trip to Jaisalmer while I was telling her that if I continue to attend Indian weddings at this rate (which was 2 in two weeks by the 8th of June, 2015) then I would turn into an alcoholic! I was telling her that over the weekend while I recovering from the marriage mania, I watched a BBC documentary on Konkan railways in India and how it is considered to be one of the most beautiful stretches in the world, and asked her if she would be interested in joining me on this train journey. To this, she responded "Nats, Angkor Wat in Cambodia?". The next thing we both are looking at flight tickets to Cambodia for the last week of June.
At this we were not sure whether it would even be possible because Raju had to check whether she even have any holidays left in her bug plus little Raju was taking her first step in this world... yes! Mithu, my sweetest little niece was stepping into this big world. Despite knowing the fact that there is a high possibility that we might never be able to go, nothing stopped our spirits from checking the flights AND visa requirements.
The week of 8th June just passed by discussing on what we could do and what we couldn't. While Raju's husband agreed to take care of the little one while Raju went on a much deserved break, we were yet not sure on whether she had enough holidays to take the holiday. And you know government offices work? Just the day when you really want to get some information that is the day when the government official is on a holiday. So from knowing whether the holiday would have been possible by the close of the week, I.e. the 12th of June, 2015, the decision for further delayed to the beginning of the next week.
The entire weekend we discussed on what we would do if the trip happened, and the first thing we got to know on Monday morning, I.e. 15th June, 2015, is that Raju had enough holidays in her pocket to take a world tour let alone Cambodia. Yes! All we girls wanted to do was go to Cambodia for four days and come back.
So here we were looking at tickets to Cambodia and back, and while discussing about the flights and timings, Raju told me that her office colleague was suggesting to go to Vietnam too whilst there. I have to admit that I didn't pay much attention to that suggestion then but then given me where information only stays back to process at a later date, that information got processed. I realized hey! I am spending so much for just 4 days while I could extend my stay and even go to Vietnam too at only a little extra cost! Besides, very rare do you get this opportunity where you don't have to take permission from anyone except yourself. I started working on this thought and looked at the airfares to find out that it would be only an extra possibly INR25000 if I extended the stay. Now I was not very sure whether Raju would accompany given family commitments but I had made up my mind by then and had already started to look at options of travelling alone.
And the restless soul navigated the daily mundane life like a lost wanderer. Then came the day when the explorer's soul found solace. From a general discussion on travel, the idea to backpack Cambodia was seeded. From booking the trains to Goa with Konkan Express so as to appreciate the scenic western ghats in the monsoons, I found myself looking at airlines and airfares.
So this blog is about a girlfriend Rajal (fondly called Raju in this blog) and me, and our journey from Mumbai to Ho Chi Minh City. Yes! you read it right. We did land ourselves in Vietnam, of course via Cambodia.
It was the month of June, 2015, Raju and me were exchanging notes on our mundane life. I still remember, one of my first cousin’s (father’s sister’s son) was getting married on the 6th of June, 2015 in Bombay (sorry I am never going to use Mumbai for I grew up in Bombay). Given my love for outlandish Indian weddings, I was planning an escape route. There were two options that was rubbed in my face. First was to attend yet another outlandish Indian wedding. This time it was a friend’s wedding on the 5th of June, 2015 in Ghaziabad. Still bearable!!!! Second, go on a road trip to Jaisalmer with Raju and family. Now this is an exciting proposition. Thanks to the expensive airfare and hotels and my unpaid employment status with depleting savings, I landed up attending the wedding. I have to admit that some cousins and Royal Challenge make every occasion worth living for.
So yes, back to Raju and me. Raju was excitedly telling me about her road trip to Jaisalmer while I was telling her that if I continue to attend Indian weddings at this rate (which was 2 in two weeks by the 8th of June, 2015) then I would turn into an alcoholic! I was telling her that over the weekend while I recovering from the marriage mania, I watched a BBC documentary on Konkan railways in India and how it is considered to be one of the most beautiful stretches in the world, and asked her if she would be interested in joining me on this train journey. To this, she responded "Nats, Angkor Wat in Cambodia?". The next thing we both are looking at flight tickets to Cambodia for the last week of June.
At this we were not sure whether it would even be possible because Raju had to check whether she even have any holidays left in her bug plus little Raju was taking her first step in this world... yes! Mithu, my sweetest little niece was stepping into this big world. Despite knowing the fact that there is a high possibility that we might never be able to go, nothing stopped our spirits from checking the flights AND visa requirements.
The week of 8th June just passed by discussing on what we could do and what we couldn't. While Raju's husband agreed to take care of the little one while Raju went on a much deserved break, we were yet not sure on whether she had enough holidays to take the holiday. And you know government offices work? Just the day when you really want to get some information that is the day when the government official is on a holiday. So from knowing whether the holiday would have been possible by the close of the week, I.e. the 12th of June, 2015, the decision for further delayed to the beginning of the next week.
The entire weekend we discussed on what we would do if the trip happened, and the first thing we got to know on Monday morning, I.e. 15th June, 2015, is that Raju had enough holidays in her pocket to take a world tour let alone Cambodia. Yes! All we girls wanted to do was go to Cambodia for four days and come back.
So here we were looking at tickets to Cambodia and back, and while discussing about the flights and timings, Raju told me that her office colleague was suggesting to go to Vietnam too whilst there. I have to admit that I didn't pay much attention to that suggestion then but then given me where information only stays back to process at a later date, that information got processed. I realized hey! I am spending so much for just 4 days while I could extend my stay and even go to Vietnam too at only a little extra cost! Besides, very rare do you get this opportunity where you don't have to take permission from anyone except yourself. I started working on this thought and looked at the airfares to find out that it would be only an extra possibly INR25000 if I extended the stay. Now I was not very sure whether Raju would accompany given family commitments but I had made up my mind by then and had already started to look at options of travelling alone.