Serpentine queues, bored faces, kids howling after hours of travel, and the urge to check into the hotel and use the restroom. Sounds familiar? Immigration is usually the most dreaded part of international travel, and we have had our share of those experiences as well. But sometimes immigration is fun as it is your first experience with the people from that country and can give you amazing and hilarious moments. Our entry into Turkey was one, which though it did not make the top 5 , will be described in a later blog. Enough of rambling. Do read on.
5. Johor Bahru (actually, Malaysia) – Singapore
So, you are having a meal in Johor Bahru, and across what you think is a wide river, you see the glitz of Singapore and decide, well, let’s do this. A late-night surprise date in another country, and back! You go to a mall (JB Sentral), take a train and 5 minutes later, Hello Singapore! Its not uncommon for people to go to Singapore for work while staying in JB - so avoid the rush hours and go as per traffic flow – then it’s a breeze. However, some people I know have been stuck for up to 7 hours when going in the direction of traffic. Ways of crossing - Drive (the fanciest), by a 5 minute train ride (the fastest), shuttle bus (most practical) and yes, walk along the causeway😊 . If you are frequent visitors to both countries, it is possible to be in both countries 365 days a year, without a stamp on the passport (My wife managed 300 in 3 years).
Tale to Tell: Not quite Johor but If you stay near the Subang Airport (KL), and don’t need to check in stuff, you can technically leave home 25 minutes before an international flight departure (True Story, being the protagonist)
4. Beijing (China)
Our flight landed on time, and we said right, let’s get to it. But 30 minutes of taxiing, and when we peered out of our window, we could see that the airport extended till the eyes could see. At on point on the tarmac, I could see a sign which said 3500m to the north, and 3500 to the south (7km in length), and the east-west was more than 3 km as well (to the naked eye)! On reading up, we realized it just became the largest airport in the world (December 2019). A 5 minute train ride later, we completed our immigration and were on our way – but not before a sign which welcomed us -“One Way Entry Only, No exit”. Scary, reminded me of Hotel California lyrics. But yeah, even if you miss it, there are plenty of fun pictograms and Google translate meme worthy photo-ops.
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| Obviously the word TRAIN has not made it to the lexicon yet, or is obsolete |
3. Hong Kong – Macau
You get to feel like a gangster, well almost. International waters, a speedboat and the allure of big money 😊. The 24x7 speedboat is the most common – day escape. However, with 24x7 buses on the 55km long HZM Bridge and accessible from the Hong Kong Airport, it is a fun experience to see the road literally swallowed by the sea in the middle of THE SEA! Don’t believe me yet? See below 😊
Just the feel of riding in a 4-wheeler in the open seas for miles makes this trip worth it. And once back in the open – the dazzling lights of Macau (The largest casino concentration in the world, beating Vegas) or Hong Kong inviting you (depending on which side you are travelling). Technically speaking (well, writing), your immigration gets done first and then you purchase a ticket, as if daring you to make that 55 km on foot. You think of it for a minute, but the allure of Macau makes you stop right in the middle of your daydream. The ticket is purchased, and you are promptly on your way.
Tale to Tell: Getting up one morning, and suddenly deciding let’s do Macau. Take your passport , wallet and arm-candy (if you have one) and you are on the way to a 24-hour gambling session without staying in a hotel 😊.
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| The sea devours everything, even roads |
2. Georgia – Armenia, by road
So, the trains were full, and we were not interested in a 6 hour mashrutka (Mini bus) ride where my long legs would not fit. So, we booked a Bla Bla car - a highly recommended hitchhiking app, great for budget travellers in Eastern Europe. Sceptically, we decided to give it a try. Vrooming through very scenic routes you reach the border that says the usual - Nakhvamdis Georgia, and Barev Dzez Armenia - well you need not master the language to know what that would mean! Now coming to the scary part, all non-drivers need to leave their luggage in the car and proceed separately for immigration, while the driver immigrates with the car and luggage along and you meet on the other side – well hopefully! Fingers crossed, we took a leap of faith and decided to leave all our luggage from our 2-week trip in the boot with a stranger we met through a random App a few minutes back! Fortunately, our fears were unfounded, though in hindsight would have been another adventurous (or not so!) story to tell if otherwise. But thankfully our newly found friend was waiting for us on the other side and we listened to the latest Armenian pop on the beautiful drive to Yerevan.
Tale to Tell: Not knowing our car number when asked during immigration without any Internet to look it up. Luckily, we were allowed through after getting hotspot by the friendly immigration officer 😊
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| Always fun to do these screenshots |
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| The scenic route (Lake Sevan) on the way to Yerevan. |
1. Azerbaijan – Georgia, by train
You have heard of breakfast in bed, right? How about immigration in bed? Wait. What? So, the train leaves from Baku at night and reaches the Azeri-Georgian border at about 6 AM. A matronly woman, the train attendant, asks us to open the doors of our personal compartments and wait for the immigration officer. At the Azerbaijan side, the gentleman occupies the train attendant’s compartment. We go one by one, answer a few questions and get the exit stamp. All in the train. The train moves for 15 minutes and enters Georgian territory. The immigration officer enters and takes our passport. A few minutes later, we see him on the platform with hundreds of passports in his hand and walking out of sight (probably to the immigration office in the station premises), while we are locked in! Again, the fear of being in international territory and passports out of sight is a bit unnerving. Perhaps a lot of people feel the same, and so I guess as compensation, we get tea served in bed, chat with our friendly co-passengers while our documents are being checked. Mind you, all of this has been done without having to move out of our compartments. Just when the royal treatment starts giving way to restlessness to start exploring Georgia, the officer walks in with our passports duly stamped, and says Gamarjoba to Georgia 😊
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| The "Automated People Mover" which ferried us from Baku to Tbilisi |
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