Travelled : 12622 kilometres from Sydney to Delhi via Melbourne and Columbo in Sri Lanka
Bookings : TripADeal and Sri Lankan Airlines
Stayed : Radisson Blu Paschim Vihar
Well here we are doing something a little different. We normally enjoy independent travel rather than an organised tour, but this 2 for 1 special to India popped into our inbox and we thought what the hell. Basically everything is organised by the tour operator, except for our visas which we chose to arrange ourselves rather than through a visa service (half the price).
We introduce Jessie (our dog) to Rick and Jenny, who are housesitting whilst we are away. Jessie likes having someone at her beck and call 24/7 so after the introductions Rick kindly drives us to the airport and the long days travel commences.
Australia
Australia
Sri Lanka
India
As I stated above our flight is via Qantas to Melbourne, then SriLankan Airlines to Colombo then changing planes for the final 3 hours to Delhi. Whilst the flights are all on time etc its makes a long day/night. Shortly after crossing the West Australian coast I sense the plane has altered course. Looking around I notice a bit of a commotion at the rear of the plane, near the toilets. Having a look at the inflight information system the plane has turn back in the general direct of Broom WA.
Apparently a man (a very large man) collapsed in the toilet, blocking the door. Long story short it took a long time to remove the door, unfortunately he had passed away. So we did another 180 and continued on to Colombo in SriLanka.
The flight from Colombo to Delhi is very quiet and we get a couple of hours sleep. We arrive at Indira Ghandi International Airport at 4 am local time and the place is buzzing. Doing the eVisa entry has us waiting at the baggage carousel within 10 minutes. An hour later only one of our bags comes through. A quick check it appears our large bag never left Colombo. So another hour passes filling out forms and being promised the bag will be found.
So we finally exit the customs hall and meet the rest of our tour group. They are very understanding of our loss and the delay we have caused them. Our small group is very small, only 6 people. Four Queenslander and ourselves. A short briefing from the tour company representative and we hit the Delhi traffic.
Delhi, India
New Delhi, Delhi, India
Itโs still before 6 am and the roads are already choked with cars, buses, tuk tuks and scooters., We have travelled a bit, but this is beyond our experience. Just over an hour later we reach the relative calm of the Radisson Blu.
We only have a couple of hours to tidy up and have breakfast before we jump back in the little bus again to start our tour of Delhi.
Michael and Pam
5 thoughts on “On our way to India ๐ฎ๐ณ”
Hope your bag turns up. This happened to us in Istanbul and it was sometime before it turned up. Hope you enjoy India as much as we did, especially the food.
Exciting times, we will follow your progress rate interest.
India is on our list things to do.
We have settled and Auckland for the moment enjoying a wonderful summer …. all the best for your adventures.
Looking forward to following your adventures ๐๐ป
Keep an eye out for the Royal Enfield motorcycle factory for me – Iโm keen to fly over and ride one of those babies back ๐๐๐ป
Hi you intrepid travellers !
Had a friend – for whom I cook once a week – turning vegetarian on me after 6 weeks in India recently. While he said he had never been anywhere more hot, humid and polluted, he adored India. The secret to fight the heat and sweat is to wear cotton singlets under your clothes, he told me.
While the reason for your flight turn-around is sad, at least it was not for a “weird” reason like this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfsdXge03Ao&t=15s
Incidentally, is Qantas still serving only Halal food?
Have fund and return safely to the best country in the world !
Hi Guys, not the best start to your holiday but hopefully all will be smooth sailing from here on in. Cheers.. Denice & Rob