5 field notes tagged Trip Report. Visa shifts, embassy strategy, real costs, and trip reports — all the Trip Report reading on NoMadYa, sorted newest first.
October 2019. My first international trip ever. I took a 30-hour sleeper bus from HCMC to Hanoi to save ₹2,400. I still think about that bus. Here's the full trip report and what I'd change in 2026.
Read the note →January 2024 I flew Chennai → Almaty via Astana for ₹26,500 to see what -22°C feels like. The Kolsai Lakes were frozen solid. I hired a driver for 25,000 KZT. Here's the full trip report.
Read the note →August 2024. 12 days, three islands, ₹95,000 total from Chennai. Kelingking Beach lived up to it. The Bali scooter rental scam did not. Gili T has no police and that's exactly the point.
Read the note →I've been to Thailand three times: 2019 with the old VOA, 2022 with the e-Visa, 2024 with the 60-day visa-exempt rule. On 21 May 2026 the exemption was reverted to 30 days — same free stamp, half the duration. Here's what changed.
Read the note →I've been to Malaysia three times in five years and I think it's the most underrated country in SE Asia. Cheap food, English everywhere, transit hub to everywhere else, and Penang's street food is unmatched.
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