The Great Crossing -my First Phoren Trip

It was my class reunion and we were comparing notes.

“You must come over and see my pictures of the pyramids at sunset”, said H

Our plane flew low over the Angel falls,” gushed K’s wife,” It was just magical”

“In Peru…” D began, ever the quiet and diffident one.

“I will tell you about this woman at Bondi ..,” F interrupted. His eyes were bright and glassy and he held his glass at such an angle that it could hold no more than a few drops. His wife looked uneasily at him. Deciding that family secrets were no longer safe, she took away the glass and led us back to Peru.

D looked at Mrs. F as he did his teacher three decades ago-with admiration and gratitude- and proceeded to lecture us on the fascinating dietary habits of Andean villagers.

And thus continued the travellers' tales

Pattiveerampatti, Machharwa,and Kot Kamte  do not find a mention in our geography texts. Naturally, my visits to these places could hardly be considered the stuff of heady discussion at a class reunion. In the company of Marco Polos, I was the frog in the well.

It was a sore point in my family that I had not set foot outside India. The opportunity to travel abroad did not present itself to me; nor did I look for one. It was as simple as that and I was quite sanguine about the whole thing. But the family fretted that I was fast reaching the “untravellable” age, a condition that I understood to be as undesirable as  an “unmarriageable” one.

The discussion would invariabley end with my solemnly promising to travel abroad whenever the opportunity arose. Like all political treaties, the result was confusion over its interpretation and a tenuous peace on the domestic front.

The opportunity came up sooner than expected and I grabbed it with both hands. It was also far easier than I imagined.

No stone faced customs and immigration

No jumpy security

No demanding to see your passport ( or any kind of identification)

Don't trouble the sentry, just go around the barrier...

..and you are in another country

No baggage checks, no X ray scanners, our customs is clearly overwhelmed





It was so simple that I made two
phoren trips in as many days.

WELCOME TO NEPAL