Reykjavik mission
Our 12 hours LAX-Moscow flight turned into an 18hour mission because the flight had to be rerouted to Reykjavik, Iceland, out of all places. One passenger had a medical emergency and had to get to a hospital as fast as possible. On the in-flight map it really looked like we were equidistant to Moscow and Iceland but presumably Iceland was that much closer so we turned around and landed there 3 hours later. I was quite excited to see Iceland, even from the top but it looked exactly like Russia - land covered in snow, except of course for the fact that it's a small island.
So we missed our connection Moscow-Delhi as a result and since there is only one flight a day that goes to Delhi it meant spending 24 hours in Moscow, which could have sounded nice if it weren't for the fact that we are not allowed to leave the airport without a visa, which of course we don't have. The Russian immigration have requisitioned a part of the neighbouring Novotel as a 'non-visa zone' where they can put passengers who are in our situation.
After a few hours wait we got onto a bus, out of the airport and into a tiny side entrance of the Novotel. It really felt like we were being smuggled in. One hotel guy was sitting behind a desk in the middle of the corridor and was attributing rooms to everyone. We were about 15 passengers from all over the place: a few Indians, Americans, French, Germans and Asians (Hong Kong, Japan and Korea). We queued to reach the desk and every time the hotel guy asked in a very thick Russian accent 'You not vegetarian right?' which was probably the most confusing way to ask the question since everytime someone answered 'Yes' he wasn't sure whether it was 'Yes I a vegetarian' or 'Yes, right I am not vegetarian' and had to ask again. It was pretty funny.
We are strictly not allowed to leave our room until we get a phone call from the airline telling us when they will pick us up and bring us back to the airport. Food is being sent to our room and we also got a tooth brush and paste because of course we weren't allowed to get our suitcases. So we came as is.
Just to up the challenge, we weren't able to change our flight to New Zealand, which is now only a few hours after we are due to land in Delhi. i.e. if the Delhi flight is late we lose the NZ bit. On a better note, this has enabled me to almost finish the book I've been dragging around for the past few months and that happens to weigh about 30 kilos. Looking forward to leaving that in Delhi.
So we missed our connection Moscow-Delhi as a result and since there is only one flight a day that goes to Delhi it meant spending 24 hours in Moscow, which could have sounded nice if it weren't for the fact that we are not allowed to leave the airport without a visa, which of course we don't have. The Russian immigration have requisitioned a part of the neighbouring Novotel as a 'non-visa zone' where they can put passengers who are in our situation.
After a few hours wait we got onto a bus, out of the airport and into a tiny side entrance of the Novotel. It really felt like we were being smuggled in. One hotel guy was sitting behind a desk in the middle of the corridor and was attributing rooms to everyone. We were about 15 passengers from all over the place: a few Indians, Americans, French, Germans and Asians (Hong Kong, Japan and Korea). We queued to reach the desk and every time the hotel guy asked in a very thick Russian accent 'You not vegetarian right?' which was probably the most confusing way to ask the question since everytime someone answered 'Yes' he wasn't sure whether it was 'Yes I a vegetarian' or 'Yes, right I am not vegetarian' and had to ask again. It was pretty funny.
We are strictly not allowed to leave our room until we get a phone call from the airline telling us when they will pick us up and bring us back to the airport. Food is being sent to our room and we also got a tooth brush and paste because of course we weren't allowed to get our suitcases. So we came as is.
Just to up the challenge, we weren't able to change our flight to New Zealand, which is now only a few hours after we are due to land in Delhi. i.e. if the Delhi flight is late we lose the NZ bit. On a better note, this has enabled me to almost finish the book I've been dragging around for the past few months and that happens to weigh about 30 kilos. Looking forward to leaving that in Delhi.
Just in case you were wondering what Iceland looks like from the top. Exactly as you expected, right?
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