Packed all my stuff the night before, got to the airport with plenty of time, & was feeling really excited to go & do the trek I've been looking forward to and planning for the last 4 months. I got in line and made my way to check-in & the girl asks "Where's your India visa?"

It was only then that I realised I'd stuffed up & forgotten to get a visa. Since nearly everywhere I visit just grants a visa on arrival, I'd totally forgotten that India wasn't like this!

My heart sank & I wanted to cry. I can't believe I forgot about this one little thing - obviously I didn't last time as I got in & have the visa in my passport to prove it.

I made a frantic call to Sherry to talk through the options & see what she thought I should do as I wasn't really thinking very clearly beyond "I'm such an idiot" and "How could I have been so stupid!"

She had a few excellent ideas like could I use the visa from last year? Unfortunately, it only lasts for 2 months. Although her suggestions didn't work, they were things I hadn't thought of.

I called the airline & they said they could get me to Bangkok (at least that's relatively close to Delhi) but the best they could do is wait list me for the 27th.

I accepted their kind offer, checked-in, then madly tried to apply for an Indian visa.

Unfortunately, the file upload requirements meant I couldn't complete it all on my phone & I ran out of time. Sherry tried to help as well but she didn't have all the files she needed either so I didn't end up applying for a visa until Sat morning.

I let my trekking buddies know that I wasn't going to make it & tried to focus on what I'd do with my newly rearranged schedule.

I spent most of the first part of the flight beating myself up about what an idiotic thing I'd done but after a while, I realised that probably wasn't the most helpful frame of mind so I took some of my own advice & decided to turn it into an adventure.

What could I now do that I hadn't done before?

I tried to do a little research on where to go in Thailand but the airline's in-flight information was sadly lacking in any detail beyond which shopping centres to explore. Not quite what I'm looking for!

So I just sat back, watched a movie, then did a little work on the plane instead.

After we landed, I watched the screens showing the on-time 23:15 flight Delhi, with sad eyes, knowing I should be on it ... but wouldn't be!

Fortunately Thailand is a normal country that issues visas on arrival & also accepts APEC cards so I had no problems getting in. After doing a little research, I found a hotel not too far away that also had a free shuttle to/from the airport & booked into a room with them - quite possibly the best one I'll stay in for the entire trip!

Chatted online with Sherry & Hasu who were both very kind & helpful.

One bonus with the room is that the entire mini bar was free!

I pulled a couple of things from my suitcase & hopped into bed around midnight after a very unexpectedly eventful day.