So we haven't actually gotten round to getting to India and there have been some exciting times already involving applying for a visa.
Being the holders of the awesome Singaporean passport we generally don't have much experience in applying for visas outside of cursory electronic registrations and some fee payments. I had to do so for travel to the US and Australia but they were generally simple affairs involving some clicks online and a credit card payment. The one time I needed a full visa was when I went on exchange to Sweden, which involved an embassy trip and them asking me questions such as, "what about Sweden do you like". I was even "encouraged" to make my answer longer as to appear more presentable.
Anyway. The day rolls around and I try to fire up the Indian visa website to get myself one. I figure I'm going to be a tourist, so I try to fill out the e-Tourist Visa form. Immediately the page tries to be helpful and tells me this:
Anyway. The day rolls around and I try to fire up the Indian visa website to get myself one. I figure I'm going to be a tourist, so I try to fill out the e-Tourist Visa form. Immediately the page tries to be helpful and tells me this:
"Services of e-Tourist Visa involves completely online application for which no facilitation is required by any intermediary / agents etc. It is advised not to believe or fall in trap of any such unscrupulous elements. For any clarification or doubt may contact to indiatvoa@gov.in"
So, no agents, and a warning about scam pages. Helpful. Onward to the form.
I've never had to answer so many questions before trying to travel overseas. First it was all the basics: name, passport number, date of birth, port of entry, the usual expected questions.
I've never had to answer so many questions before trying to travel overseas. First it was all the basics: name, passport number, date of birth, port of entry, the usual expected questions.
Then it moved on to ask about my parents. Huh. Even wanted to know their previous nationality, if any.
The next few questions take a turn for the weird, but then it soon becomes clear what their purpose is. Straight for the jugular.
Were your Grandfather / Grandmother (paternal/maternal) Pakistan Nationals or Belong to Pakistan held area.
Ahhh, it all makes sense now. Even the questions about my current/past involvement in military organizations. Powering through page two of the form, I hit page 3 and then this.
 |
| TEN years? This is really testing my memory. |
That took a while, and there was even a character limit so it wasn't possible to list them all. Still, I got to the final section where I had to upload a photo, which had a little message that it was compulsory to upload a photo for the registration of a visa.
I hit upload and...nothing. No pop-ups, no dialogue, no browse folder. Hm. I make sure my pop-up blocker is off and I try again. Nope. I'm not very tech savvy so I'm kinda stumped. I take to Facebook for some help and I got a lot of helpful advice about applying in person and places that I can do so, so I decide to do that instead. Sigh.
The thing I'm considering now is that I need my IC to apply in person (despite not needing it online), but I'm currently in the process of getting my new IC, since I've aged very badly since 15 years ago. I'm not sure if it should affect anything but after hearing the hoops Yinghao and Wenwen had to jump through to get theirs I think I might want to be safe.
In other news we've managed to transfer our vehicle deposit over to the organizers, and they've sent us a very long email detailing what electronics we should or should not try to install on our rickshaw.
Basically, we should install absolutely nothing.
"At Bajaj HQ they decided that they would include such luxuries as lights, a horn and even an electric windscreen wiper - which is lovely - except that the power used by even one of the aforementioned luxuries has a greater consumption rate than the charging system in the rickshaw can take."
Oh-kay. That's not very comforting, especially since they follow it up by suggesting that the engine could die every time we sound the horn or operate the lights.
"If you wish to have lighting in your rickshaw at night my advice is bring a torch - something you can tape to the front of the rickshaw when your lights fail."
Right. Point to note - let's try not to drive when it's dark. That would be prudent thing to do, but this adventure is already not exactly high on the prudent level so...we'll figure it out.
Well, so that was the excitement for the week. We have some vague plans of a route set up, There's a pit-stop checkpoint in Goa on the 5th of December so we might aim for that, that gives us 3 days to get from Kochi to Goa. Other than that, a tentative checklist of cities we're going to go through is:
Kochi -> Goa -> Mumbai -> Surat -> Ahmedabad -> Jaisalmer. And then to Delhi, somehow.
Alright, glad I've been able to find some stuff to update everyone with, as we get more details and the dates draw closer I'm sure more things will come up. After all, efficiency increases exponentially as the deadline nears.
Edit: It has come to my attention that one of my teammates has actually fallen victim to one of the scam sites and paid about 3 times the amount that Mustafa charges. At least it wasn't a true scam and the visa application was actually processed. Oh well. At least not a total loss.
Cheerios, Jik
P.S. If you like what you see so far, do consider donating to our fundraiser HERE! All proceeds will go to the charities that we have adopted, none of the funds will be used for ourselves.
The thing I'm considering now is that I need my IC to apply in person (despite not needing it online), but I'm currently in the process of getting my new IC, since I've aged very badly since 15 years ago. I'm not sure if it should affect anything but after hearing the hoops Yinghao and Wenwen had to jump through to get theirs I think I might want to be safe.
In other news we've managed to transfer our vehicle deposit over to the organizers, and they've sent us a very long email detailing what electronics we should or should not try to install on our rickshaw.
Basically, we should install absolutely nothing.
"At Bajaj HQ they decided that they would include such luxuries as lights, a horn and even an electric windscreen wiper - which is lovely - except that the power used by even one of the aforementioned luxuries has a greater consumption rate than the charging system in the rickshaw can take."
Oh-kay. That's not very comforting, especially since they follow it up by suggesting that the engine could die every time we sound the horn or operate the lights.
"If you wish to have lighting in your rickshaw at night my advice is bring a torch - something you can tape to the front of the rickshaw when your lights fail."
Right. Point to note - let's try not to drive when it's dark. That would be prudent thing to do, but this adventure is already not exactly high on the prudent level so...we'll figure it out.
Well, so that was the excitement for the week. We have some vague plans of a route set up, There's a pit-stop checkpoint in Goa on the 5th of December so we might aim for that, that gives us 3 days to get from Kochi to Goa. Other than that, a tentative checklist of cities we're going to go through is:
Kochi -> Goa -> Mumbai -> Surat -> Ahmedabad -> Jaisalmer. And then to Delhi, somehow.
Alright, glad I've been able to find some stuff to update everyone with, as we get more details and the dates draw closer I'm sure more things will come up. After all, efficiency increases exponentially as the deadline nears.
Edit: It has come to my attention that one of my teammates has actually fallen victim to one of the scam sites and paid about 3 times the amount that Mustafa charges. At least it wasn't a true scam and the visa application was actually processed. Oh well. At least not a total loss.
Cheerios, Jik
P.S. If you like what you see so far, do consider donating to our fundraiser HERE! All proceeds will go to the charities that we have adopted, none of the funds will be used for ourselves.
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