I travelled to northwestern India and Vanarassi in 2012 and back then, I only applied for a visa on arrival at the Delhi Airport which was quick and easy. I am toying the idea of going back there because I miss the food and culture of this hate-it-or-love-it destination. Also, I’m going to Myanmar January next year so it will be cheaper to fly from there to India. This time, I’m planning to do Mumbai because well, Bollywood.

The Ganges River, Varanasi, India

Seems like three years is quite a long time as India already change its visa policies for tourists and businessmen. I am quite surprised that, for Filipinos at least, you have to secure an e-Tourist Visa (eTV) at least four (4) days before your planned date of arrival. (I have to note that three years ago, Myanmar, despite its ASEAN membership, required Filipinos to secure tourist visas which isn’t the case at present.)

The eTV is also applicable not only to the Philippines but to other countries: Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Island,Chile, China, China- SAR Hongkong, China- SAR Macau, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Laos, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand,Nicaragua, Niue Island, Norway, Oman, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Macedonia, Russia, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Turks & Caicos Island, Tuvalu, UAE, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vatican City-Holy See, Venezuela, Vietnam.

The Taj Mahal, Agra, India.

The good news though is everything is done online so you won’t have to go through the burden of appearing at the Indian Embassy for an interview. Fill out the online forms then upload 1) Scanned first page of your passport in PDF format, 10-300kb only; 2) Your jpeg photo, 10kb-1mb, the height and width should be equal (350 x 350 – 1000 x 1000 pixels), the background should be plain light colored or white, without borders and no shadow on your face nor on the background.

After uploading the requirements, you can now pay via debit or credit card. Visa fee is country-specific and non-refundable. Filipinos will have to pay US$48. Click here if you’re a non-Philippine passport holder. Once payment is done, the eTV will sent to your email.

City Palace, Jaipur, India.

The visa’s validity is 30 days from arrival in India and you have to carry your eTV to be presented at the Indian immigration. The eTV is valid for entry at any of the 16 designated Indian airports:  Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Gaya, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Tiruchirapalli, Trivandrum & Varanasi.

Going out of India is much easier as you can exit from any of the authorized Immigration Check Posts (ICPs) in India.  The eTV is allowed for a maximum of two visits in a calendar year but once it’s issued on arrival, it is valid for single entry only.

Also, the Indian Immigration Officer may ask for your return or onward journey ticket and money enough to be spent during your stay in India.

Agra Fort, Agra, India.

So there, I might pursue my plan on January and jai ho my way to Mumbai and Goa maybe?

Last year had been a stellar traveling year for me. I decided to take a break from filmmaking in the Philippines, packed my backpack and travelled to well... work, eat, pray and almost love.

I didn't have much time to blog about my (mis)adventures and I do hope to find enough time to do it lest they get stale in my memory. Even the thousands of photos dating back 2010 are already rotting in my harddrive. Aside from working on the documentary "All You Need Is Love" (in Dubai and Bangkok), which is by the way still unfinished, I grabbed the opportunity to go to other countries and beyond. And 'beyond' means 8 countries!

I fell in love with Bangkok the first time I went there in 2011 with the lovely people, cheap and delicious food and a better infrastructure system than the Philippines so I came back during the last week of January.

At one of the temples in Wat Po, Bangkok, Thailand.

Then I travelled to Cambodia by land, first in Siem Reap to see the Angkor Wat for the first time and experience the eerie feeling of being in the mass graveyards of The Killing Fields in Phnom Penh.

Breathtaking sunset in Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia.

 By February, I travelled for 12 hours to Ho Chi Minh City by bus to celebrate the Chinese New Year there.

New Year's greeting at the Flower Festival in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.

I went back to Thailand in March, to Mae Sot this time to shoot for "All You Need Is Love" and I met wonderful Burmese people there. 

"All You Need Is Love" Producers, Staff and Crew with the Burmese kids in Mae Sot, Thailand.

I thought of going to Myanmar after the shoot but decided not to pursue it and went to Laos instead.

In Vientianne, Laos.

By the 2nd Quarter of the year, my editing work for "All You Need Is Love" would take to the Middle East and back to my favorite city, an amazing adventure to Africa with my brother and discovering culture in Central Asia. More in Part 2 of this entry.

Chiang Mai Train Station. July 2012.

There's something about trains that is romantic. Probably because I grew up not seeing or riding one until early this year. What a sight looking at the hustle of intertwining lives bumping into one another that make up the organized chaos that makes sense and doesn't at the same time. Different stories of people going to the same destination, lost pairs of feet trying to make it on time, weary eyes waiting for their time of departure, crying babies wanting so bad to be taken cared of.

Casablanca Train Station in Morocco. June 2012.

What could a family of five be doing out of a poor town? Seeking for greener pastures on the other side perhaps, or going back to the place they were from after a failed attempt at finding a bright future in the big city. I stand at the ticket line watching that happy couple on their backpacks, probably on their first trip together hoping they'll make it to their 1st-year anniversary so they can share memories to talk about when they get home.

Graffiti on the wall on the way to Rabat, Morocco. June 2012.

Or that woman squatting on the floor, travelling alone, reading her favorite novel as she waits for her train to arrive. She could be a divorcee, mending a broken heart. Was she the one who left her man or was she left behind? That middle-aged man with the attache case on a business trip, most likely unhappy with his marriage and his strained relationship with his teenage kids pushes him to uninspired trips to the office and conferences. And the happiness he thought he found in his mistress' embrace made him realize his inadequacies.

Chiang Mai Train Station. June 2012.

That songwriter stretching his hand out of the window to feel the rush of wind on his arms. He closes his eyes, swaying to the rhythm of the wheels kiss the the infinite tracks. The laughter of a group of friends looking forward to a vacation together, talking about office or school gossip but avoiding the weight of talking about their families and relationship troubles. Or the filmmaker in deep thought, thinking of another story to tell, perhaps a story that happened in a train trip. A love story that isn't lasting and he knows that the uncertainty it brings is what makes its tragedy fun to watch. A love story that just happened to pass through time, both parties knew it would end sooner than later and the temporary high it brought them was something to cherish when they walk apart at their destination's exit stairs.

Yes, trains are romantic.

Upon arrival at Rabat Station in Morocco, taken by my brother James. June 2012.

They have stories to tell. Or am I just romanticizing the density of loneliness that trains bring? Maybe I watch too much 'Before Sunrise'.