A day of travel chaos, malfunctioning airport security, missing guides, hotel mix‑ups, and a final night in Delhi marked by delays and a midnight wedding outside the window.
Amritsar to Delhi.
Today, we left Amritsar for Delhi. After getting up, I packed, had breakfast, and wandered into the hotel gift shop. I spotted a carved wooden elephant I liked, and since I still had some Indian rupees left, I bought a medium‑sized one to take home. As I sat in the hotel lobby waiting to leave, some of my travelling companions admired it so much that they went to buy one themselves. I wish I’d been on commission; I would have done very well.
It turned out to be a day of travelling, delays, and cock‑ups by both the JustYou staff and the hotel staff. Unfortunately, our main tour guide, who had been with us since we arrived in India, had a family emergency and had to leave. We were given a new guide who was supposed to take us from the hotel to our flight to Delhi. Things did not go smoothly in either Amritsar or Delhi.
Amritsar Airport.
We were taken to the airport by coach with our new guide. Once outside the terminal, he told us he wouldn’t be coming inside with us and handed out our tickets on the pavement. We then had to queue to pass through security and enter the airport.
Unfortunately, the screening machines were malfunctioning. Some wouldn’t scan airline tickets, others wouldn’t read passports, and others failed to recognise faces. This caused a lot of confusion and worry, as some of us sailed through while others were held up and shuffled from one machine to another.
Eventually, we made it inside, where our guide reappeared long enough to help us check in before disappearing again. Once we had our boarding passes, we had to go through yet more security, this time separated into men’s and women’s queues. Our carry‑on bags were scanned again, and some of the over‑zealous security guards removed every single item from people’s bags, dismantling anything that could come apart before handing it all back in a heap.
Once through, we found a café for a drink before heading to the gate listed on the departure board. Because I was moving slowly, I went ahead with a couple of the ladies, only to find the gate had been changed. We walked back to the café, told everyone we could find, and then made our way to the new gate. Thankfully, there were no more problems, and we boarded the flight to Delhi.
Delhi Airport.
The flight itself was comfortable and delay‑free. After landing, we waited until everyone was together, collected our luggage, and made our way to the muster point where JustYou said our new guide would meet us.
We waited. And waited. After several phone calls to JustYou and the hotel, the guide finally arrived, over an hour late.
Hotel Mix‑Up.
We were driven through Delhi to the hotel where we were supposed to stay. Strangely, instead of being given room keys, we were led into a convention room and seated at a long table. We thought perhaps we were being given dinner, but instead a group of waiters appeared with beer and wine.
Then four hotel representatives arrived to apologise. They explained that since our stay a few days earlier, part of the hotel had been forced to close, many rooms were no longer available, and they could not accommodate us. We would be transferred to another hotel.
After a long wait, we were led back to the entrance to reclaim our cases, which had been stored there since we left for Amritsar. Another coach arrived, and both we and our luggage were loaded for yet another long journey through Delhi, this time at rush hour, to a different hotel.
I can’t remember much about the hotel where we spent our final night. It was pretty nice, but I was kept awake by a wedding ceremony taking place outside my room until around midnight.
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