You probably noticed we’re WAY BEHIND sharing our India trip.
Our trips occasionally find us with one night in a city and then off to the next town. Beyond that, sometimes WIFI can be slow and a bit challenging.
However, this time was a bit more complicated. We decided that rest, hydration, and plenty of sleep was a much more productive use of our time than trying to keep up with blogging.
Welcome To India
Our trip to India had been planned for nearly 18 months, and as things grew closer, we saw that very little in the world had changed outside of travel to China, Italy, or Iran. But, that was all about to change.
With over 1.2 BILLION people in India and fewer than 20 COVID-19 cases when we landed, things were still in really great shape. However, India was being really proactive.
We landed in Delhi to health screenings, digital thermometers, masks, and hand sanitizers. To say that the Indian government was on top of things would be an understatement.
Multiple screening stations checking where you had traveled from, recent travel history, and medical screening were about to become the norm.
A majority of our hotels and several monuments were using digital thermometers to check everyone, and there was hand sanitizer everywhere we went.
Gate 1 Travel
We can’t begin to say enough great things about Gate 1 Travel. We have used them on several other trips and were always happy with the tour managers, hotels, meals, and itineraries.
With that being said, how someone deals in a time of crisis tells you a lot about their company. Our tour manager, Alok, and the company could not have been more on top of things.
Not only was Alok warm, welcoming, and exceptionally knowledgeable about his country and everything we saw, but he and his team stayed on top of everything.
They kept the bus clean and sanitized, had plenty of masks and hand sanitizer, allowed for social distancing, and kept us all informed about any changes at home and in India regarding our travel or return home.
When Lufthansa canceled our flight from Mumbai to Frankfort, they had us rebooked on another flight with United from Mumbai to Newark, New Jersey, and then on to Miami within a few hours.
Upon reaching Mumbai, the Indian government had banned all gatherings of five or more, and our bus transport was quickly shifted to individual vehicles with three of us and a driver.
Alok was calm, and so on top of things that the news that our day trip around Mumbai being canceled was taken without questions or hesitation by everyone.
No Place Like Home
We all kept in touch with Alok on our travels home, checking in on Facebook messenger at each stage of our journey.
Our flight from Mumbai to the US was full, the immigration, health screening, and customs in Newark went surprisingly quickly and the flight to Miami had only twelve of us on the plane.
We are thrilled to be home, and we are currently as of this posting, on day ten of self-quarantine and feeling fine.
We’re settling back into the ‘new normal’ and this will give us plenty of time to catch up on sharing our journey to India with all of you.
Stay safe, stay healthy!
