In the afternoon that I received a WhatsApp message from Claude, I had just finished trimming the lawn with my newly bought motor grass trimmer after having shelved my three locally made iron sickles.
Claude, a good friend and an avid traveller, had pinged me with an interest to journey the heartland of India and approach the Himalayas in a melange of cultural experience that only India can provide. She expressed her desire to visit Dharamshala, Bandhavgarh, Varanasi, Kolkata and finally visiting my home regions of Darjeeling and Sikkim.
I sat down to sketch the outline of the program and check the availability of flight and train tickets for the scheduled dates. I wanted to make it an adventurous travel using combination of flights, trains and cars to connect to different cities. However, as I was browisng for train tickets, I realised that the government had shortened the IRCTC online ticket booking windows from 120 days to 60 days. This meant that I had to scrutinize ticket availability regularly. Additionally, the approximate gatherings of 450 million Sanatanis at Maha Kumbh Mela meant that the chances of finding connecting trains were getting slimmer. Indeed, it was impossible to find tickets from Varanasi to Kolkata.
So, I started looking for flight connections and the inflated prices due to the approaching Mela meant that it was stretching the budget beyond feasible means. After much virtual route recce and Claude’s France to India ETA factor, I drew up the final plan of Delhi – Khajuraho – Bandhavgarh – Varanasi – Patna via Bodhgaya – Kolkata – Sikkim – Darjeeling – Delhi – Dharamshala – Delhi, fortituously creating a seven state journey!
I then proceeded to book the services accordingly, using IRCTC, EaseMyTrip, Agoda and recommended local service providers from my pan-India tour leader friends. I have been using EaseMyTrip for flight bookings since 2021 and have had good experience with them. Hotels have been hit and miss but have remained consistently better than the previous services from Cleartrip which I no longer use due to botched services during my previous travel bookings. I have recently started using Agoda for hotel bookings and they seem to have a good expertise in this sector.
Excluding the disappointments on non availability of tickets, I must say that the online ticket booking experience on IRCTC app is a breeze. Instant confirmation, PDF generation of tickets and communication are all top notch! India of the 21st Century has come a long way, indeed!
Pre-Tour Commencement Travel: Darjeeling – NJP – Patna – Delhi
As a travel organiser and guide for my guests, I make sure that the reception on the first day is flawless. It is a confidence building exercise and an empathetic gesture on my part to value their presence on arrival. I prioritize these small things because it will be careless and pretty unprofessional to not be there on time when the guests are setting foot outside the airport anticipating to see familar faces or placards bearing their names.
Although Claude has been a regular traveller to India and the Himalayas and has no reservations with regard to the above protocols, I believe a good habit must be consistent and let it grow in you.
Coming from a small hilly town of Darjeeling, sometimes the immensity of city spread is daunting. From a taxi stand to an international airport, even more. I have been to Delhi’s IGI Airport many times in the past to check in , check out and to receive my guests but I admit I don’t know everything that I should know inside this airport. Once such instance on the day of receiving my friend was assuming that the domestic departure terminal and international arrival terminals at IGI Airport in New Delhi were internally connected. Since I had our tickets for domestic departure from T3, which was also the international arrival terminal, I checked into the domestic departure area to wait for Claude and receive her at the international arrival area only to be told that I could not access the international arrival area internally from the departure area.
I thought strange, since they are both inside the same terminal. But then what do I know about customs, security and the other sensitive matters inside the airport. I am an outdoor expert!
So, to access the international arrival area, I had to exit the departure area after verifying my reasons and identification documents to the security exit passage at Gate 1 of T3. It was good that I was well ahead of the ETA and despite the initial confusion and security clearance, I was on time to greet my friend at the international arrival exit gate. Together we set out for our journey to discover the heart and soul of modern India. But first, I had to re-enter the departure area!
To be continued…