My journey from India to Vietnam in August 2019

My flight was scheduled to be at 11:40pm on 15 August 2019 from Bangalore International Airport. As per my tickets, I was to reach Bangkok, Thailand, at 4:40am (local time) and catch another flight to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam which would leave at 7:30am (local time) and I would reach at 9:15am (local time).

On August 15, in India, I reached the airport around eight at night. This was my first ever flight journey abroad all alone hence my family was worried about my safety and rightly so.

I went to the immigration sector, went through the security checks and sat in front of my gate waiting for the call. I still had more than two hours left so I made a few calls to my family to say that I am safe and saw some comedy on my phone.

My call came. It was a Jet bridge that connected directly to the airplane. It was fun walking through it.

The airplane took off just a few minutes before midnight. Mine was a window seat and two Indians sat next to me. They were travelling to Bangkok on a vacation.

Picture credit- My phone camera just before landing in Vietnam.

A while after the takeoff, I managed to get some sleep, however, not for too long. I reached Bangkok, Thailand at 3:10am (Indian time) on 16^th August 2019 and proceeded. As soon as I alighted, there was a bus waiting to take us and I entered it.

There was another immigration process and security check-in Thailand too. I went to my gate following that. Upon finding my gate, I decided to go to the washroom and freshen up. I did so, following which I went to the shops there to see what I can buy to eat or drink.

After a hard time searching for good vegetarian options and the ones that I’m comfortable with, I bought one cup of ‘Hot Cappuccino Coffee’ that cost me 120 Thai Baht (277 Indian Rupees!) in the airport! That wasn’t filling, so I went to another store and purchased ‘Hot Chocolate’ for 102 Thai Baht (235 Indian Rupees!) which did fill my stomach to some extent. I did pay in Thai Baht but I had 100 Thai Baht and 20 Thai Baht notes. This was the first time I saw Thai coins and used a foreign currency for direct transactions.

Meanwhile, I tried connecting the Wi-Fi to my mobile so that I could contact my family but in vain. I couldn’t get the Wi-Fi. I had no alternative but to wait till I reach Vietnam.

Then, I went back to my gate and waited for my call which eventually came. Another bus came and I boarded it. I was in the airplane by 7:20am local time. I had a window seat this time too. Then came an East Asian girl who sat next to me. She didn’t know English and could only give basic one-word answers to my questions like how much time it would take to depart.

The flight that was scheduled to leave at 7:30am left at 8:00am instead. I did take some selfies and photos during both the flights.

We landed in Vietnam around 9:30am (local time) and I exit the airplane and walked through the Jet bridge. I did get the Wi-Fi connection at the Vietnam airport. I got my Visa stamps (for which I had to pay 50$), went through immigration, collected my luggage and exit the airport. My father and his friend were waiting for me. My dad took me to the room where I took bath, ate food (I didn’t eat or drink anything after taking Hot Chocolate in Bangkok till I reached Vietnam and met my Dad) and slept. Upon waking up, I sip hot coffee while I thought of writing this.

My first ever trip on air, and first-ever trip abroad alone ended neatly without much hassle. Of course, I was nervous before flying as I was flying alone for the first time. But, I did it!

That’s all, folks! Do like, comment and share this article.

Pic credits (second and third picture)- Google images.