Hell in New York and New York to Brussels

So last time I had left off I had secured all my flights and was headed to New York the next morning. I was able to finally get a good nights rest after being stressed out about my trip and I was ready to travel and get away from Cleveland as quick as possible.

So I had a 10:00 am flight and surprisingly everything left on time. No delays and I was able to make it to New York relatively easy. This time I got the joy of landing in La Guardia which is a very intense landing. Just buildings everywhere and the runway is surprisingly short. It’s actually one of the most dangerous airports to land in the world and yet I still was going to land at the most dangerous airport in the world at Lukla, Nepal.

Anyways so made it to New York La Guardia but now I had to get over to JFK, which is very easy. Just take the Express shuttle located outside of the terminal that brings you direct to JFK for 10 bucks (you do have to pay before hand so that you can show your receipt while boarding the shuttle). So got to JFK pretty quickly and had around 5-6 hours to go until my next flight… but here is where the fun begins.

So I don’t have my boarding passes for the New York to Brussels flight or the Brussels to New Delhi flight. I had just secured those yesterday night and had no chance of printing the boarding passes before hand. So I go in line at American and wait for around 30 minutes before I’m able to talk to anybody.

If you read my blog from Tuesday then you will know what is kind of coming. It was the damn visa problem I experienced at every airport I have checked into. And the kicker is that none of the people I talked to know the procedure on how to handle it. I get a different story everytime and I have to explain my situtation. So here is what the people in New York said to me…

I can’t get my boarding pass until I get written documentation explaining that I’m just transferring through New Delhi to Kathmandu. Well here is where it gets tricky. My flight from New Delhi to Kathmandu was further than 24 hours away and therefore I couldn’t print my documentation out which means I couldn’t provide written documentation to her. So luckily Jet Airways, the airline I was flying with from New Delhi to Kathmandu, had a ticket counter just across from American. So she told me to go over there and ask for paperwork.

Went to Jet Airways and they don’t open until 2:00pm. Great so stood around for a good 30 minutes and waited until they opened. When I got to the front desk here is what they told me. You don’t need paperwork to prove you are connecting and we have you confirmed on a flight so you don’t have to worry about the whole “Do I need a visa” situation. I kept on asking for paperwork but they assured me that if I went over there to explain my situation to them that she would understand.

So back over to American and I wait in line again. When I get to the front this time it got uglier. I don’t know if it’s people from New York or just if this women was extra stressed out but she argued with me saying that she is doing “procedure” and that I do in fact need a visa to through India. Clearly these people who work for the airline don’t know their own policy. I had done my research to find out if I needed a visa to connect through India and people assured me that I did not. Plus when you think about it why would you need a visa to connect through India? I’m sure millions of poeple connect through India a week and so do you really think they would make all of these people go through the long process of obtaining a visa…?

So American Airlines chick was like please get out of line and I just flat out said I’m not moving!! I have waited in lines for an 1 and 30 minutes now and have gone back and forth between American Airlines and Jet Airways. I was already a day behind schedule and now you are making this hell for me. I told her she better get someone from Jet Airways over here so they can tell her what they told me. And so I stayed in lined and told her that her procedure was wrong and waited for a representative from Jet Airways to show up and explain my situation.

A representative did finally show up and I explained my ticketing situation again and that I’m only staying in New Delhi for less than 24 hours. He was like that’s fine and that I will be fine once I reach New Delhi. So I then I told him to tell the woman at American the same thing and she basically said “Well I still don’t have documentation proving that!” Was totally ridiculous. I have a guy from Jet Airways, standing there, saying that I’m confirmed on a flight and that I will be fine and she still doesn’t believe me. He runs back to give me documentation and see what else he can do.

I stand infront of the American Airlines desk for a good 45 minutes waiting for this information and he hadn’t come back. I start realizing that I have less than 3 hours before my plane leaves and although that is plenty of time the lines through security were long and I was beginning to think at this point that I would never get through. So then I abandoned the line at American and run over to Jet Airways and he was like “They didn’t help you at…. I called a woman at American and told her everything was okay.” I was like “No!” I had been standing over there for 45 minutes and no one had said anything to me.

So I run back over to American and I skip the line. After waiting around at American for around 2 hours and 30 minutes now… I went up to the desk and I was like okay they said I was fine can I get my ticket… and still NO!!! I about had it at this point. Luckily the manager from Jet Airways was over at American and he had remembered me and my situation.

I said “Remember that I don’t need a visa. Can you please tell them that.” And so he did and said I had a confirmed ticket. This was from the manager. She said the same thing… still I need documentation. He looked more confused than I did. So he took me back again to Jet Airways and was like why did you book it like this. Simple answer because I wanted to save money but it wasn’t worth all of this crap. He finally got some paperwork for me. It ended up being this fax looking paperwork saying that I had paid for this flight. Love the guy at Jet Airways when he was like “Tell that stupid lady over there that she is stupid if this doesn’t work. They are all idiots over there.” That was some comfort in the hell I had been/going through. I brought that over to American and at last I was able to get my boarding pass. At this point I had a little over 2 hours until my flight. This whole ordeal took me around 4 hours.

Get through security, which took forever, and had just enough time to eat my meal before my plane was already boarding! Brussels here I come.

From Brussels to New Delhi

So I took a 757 from New York to Brussels (really sad because my Finnair flight had full entertainment and a bigger plane) and when I landed in Brussels I only had a little over 2 hours to make my connection to New Delhi. I recommend connecting through Brussels btw. You don’t have to go and get your bags or go through customs or anything like that. All you have to do is go back through security (which was very easy) and then make your way to the gate. I had my Brussels to New Delhi flight already in hand but I didn’t have my Kathmandu to New Delhi flight still. So my plan was to get it at the Jet Airways desk in Brussels.

Walk up to the desk in Brussels and asked for my ticket from Kathmandu to New Delhi. She looked at my passport and saw that I didn’t have a visa for India… Here we go again. So I explained to her my situation again and she said spoke to her associate in French and then looked at the documentation I recieved in New York and then said ok. Surprisingly the easiest part about this journey.

Whatever at this point I was just happy that I was finally all set to go to Kathmandu. A day late and a stressful start but I had all my documentation.

Left Brussels on a Jet Airways flight to New Delhi and the plane was actually quite pleasant. Got some nice entertainment, watched Bollywood Films and had a first taste of some Indian Airplane food. And got advice from an Indian guy. Landed in New Delhi and it was hot outside. They were experiencing temperatures of 100 plus!!! So now came the unpleasant part. I had to wait for 9 hours before my flight to Kathmandu left the next morning. That meant 9 hours in the New Delhi airport without any good rest.

The New Delhi airport was actually quite nice but this was terminal 3 (international terminal). It had plenty of shops and things to do even at 3:00am in the morning. This airport was a 24/7 kind of airport and was nice because I was able to stay up throughout the night. And it felt safe with well a well lit terminal and people around me. Met a guy on my previous flight who was also flying to Kathmandu who told me what to expect in Kathmandu and were able to chat for a bit. Be thankful if you are an American or are from a western country. I learned while at the New Delhi airport that people who work in the airport make around 400 US dollars a month and they support their family with that kind of income.

New Delhi to Kathmandu

And finally it was time to leave for my flight. I was already exhausted but did manage to get some sleep after sleeping on the floor in New Delhi. And this was going to be one of my shorter flights, only a 2 hour hop over to Nepal.

This flight was pleasant and I wasn’t as tired as I thought I was going to be. I got to see a great view of the Himalayas and had a turbulent landing into Kathmandu. Here we go now, finally I’m on the other side of the world and I’m by myself at a foreign airport. Read my next post and I will tell you about my first experiences while in Nepal. It’s unlike any other place I have ever been to.

So this time I decided to put the tips at the end of my article (mainly because I forgot to put them in the article).

But the main lesson I learned from this portion of my trip is that you don’t accept what people tell you.

Tip #6 – “Always research the information yourself and stick to your guns. If someone is telling you that you are wrong but you have information to back you up then you will come out the victor.”

Tip #7 – “Try to sleep a little on a flight or even at the airport if you have to. Even a little sleep is better than none.”

Tip #8 – “Try your best to forget about what you are leaving behind at home and focus on the journey ahead. I was nervous for a lot of the first leg because I didn’t know what to expect but I also let go of anything that was anchoring me back to my life in the states. (that includes anything financial, your job, relationships, etc…)”

Hope you enjoyed this portion of my travels. This is only getting to Asia and now the fun begins with my next blogs!! Stay tuned for more.