Back to Thailand
Back to Thailand
After crossing the border into Thailand, we were fined by the Thai customs officer because we didn't have an exit stamp in our passport when we left the country. We paid the amount - it wasn't too high, about the same as a meal at a street food stall.
There was no bridge across the Mekong back then, so we returned by dugout canoe.
We walked to the bus station. It was already late afternoon, so we decided to take the night bus to Bangkok. This saved us another night in a hotel. The journey took about 10 hours and took us via Udon Thani, Khon Kaen and Nakhon Ratchasima to Bangkok.
Return journey to Bangkok
When we arrived back in Bangkok, it was the end of July. At the beginning of our trip, we had always given the Swiss embassy or consulate as the address for our families. We had obtained the exact address of the Swiss embassy in Hong Kong. Now it was time to look for mail from Switzerland.
We went to the embassy and were allowed to look through the box of letters - but there was nothing for us.
National Day at the Swiss Embassy?
a I remembered that August 1st was coming up. I asked the employee if we could be invited to the national holiday. Unfortunately, she said that wasn't possible - all the invitations had already been sent out and it would be complicated to add us. "No backpackers."
We knew how to behave, but fine - we said thank you and left. On leaving reception, we took a few Swiss newspapers, most of which were already two months old. The employee shouted after us: "That's theft!"
I asked back: "Are you collecting for a newspaper collection in Switzerland?"
From then on, we always gave our address to the American Express office. That worked much better. The further away I was from Switzerland, the less interested I was in the stories there - apart from the mail from my family, of course.
Back at the old hotel
As soon as we arrived in Bangkok, we stayed in the same hotel as when we first arrived in Thailand. There we met up again with the little French girl we had already met in the north of Thailand.
Are we going home or continuing our journey?
One evening we were sitting on the terrace of the hotel. Almost simultaneously, we thought: "And now? Are we going back to Switzerland, as we had originally planned?"
After a while, I said to Rolf: "No one is waiting for me in Switzerland. I no longer have an apartment, no job, all my bills paid before I leave. Why don't we just keep traveling and go to Australia?"
Rolf replied: "Actually - why not?"
But for that we needed a visa - and one that allowed us to work. Working illegally was out of the question for us. So we decided: We'd go to the Australian embassy tomorrow and apply for the visa.
Australian Embassy in Bangkok
We quickly found the address. We received a friendly welcome and explained our plans. The answer sounded simple. We both filled in the forms and were sent to the embassy's medical officer. The doctor examined us from head to toe and said everything was fine. She would send the report to the embassy.
We went back two days later. The employee told us that all the papers and the medical report were okay. However, it would take about six weeks before we could pick up our visas here. That was financially impossible for us - we couldn't afford to sit around in Bangkok for six weeks.
We asked if there was no other way to get the migration visas faster. She asked how we wanted to travel to Australia. I said: "Via Malaysia and Indonesia."
She said: "No problem. Then you can pick up the visas at our embassy in Jakarta."
She said: "No problem. Then you can pick up the visas at our embassy in Jakarta."
What a relief! With a few minor obstacles in Indonesia, we actually picked it up in Jakarta. On our first transit, the visas were not yet there, so we drove on to Bali. Later we were informed that they were now in Jakarta. We took the very slow train back across Java to Jakarta and finally got the nice stamp in our passport - the official permission to work in Australia.
