Leaving India

Leaving India was one of the most stressful , frustrating and ridiculous events in my life so far.  For anyone who knows me well, I think that’s saying something.

The trouble began about one month prior to leaving India but since I decided to go from India to Nigeria instead of somewhere easier to get to (like. . .say. . .home), I’ll accept the initial tribulations as my own fault.  Those being: applying for Nigerian visa, the process taking longer than expected, needing to extend my Indian visa by 2 weeks, acquiring Nigerian visa.
Anything that requires official documentation, appointments, embassies, municipal offices etc. is never a walk in the park.  But in Delhi it’s all compounded by travelling through the city (although the metro has done  wonders to improve that aspect), finding places to print things, haggling with rickshaw drivers, nobody knowing directions. . .It was like swimming upstream in molasses trying to get through all the bureaucracy and accomplish everything in a timely manner.
But again, if I just decided to go home, or any number of other places, this all could have been avoided. I throw up my hands and accept the blame.

However!  Actually leaving India was a whole different story.  My last two posts were the beginning of trouble,  but even all of the train and bus drama of getting to Ahmedabad was  nothing compared to what happened next.

The hotel in Ahmedabad was about 10min from the airport. The hotel staff were suspicious of us and flipped through all of the pages of both our passports, made us fill out a form restating all of the information and photocopied all of our passport information. Many Indians have a bad impression of Nigerians (to be fair, many Nigerians are involved in illegal activities in India but the media makes it seem like all black people in India are criminals, which obviously isn't the case) and my visa was expiring in 2 days, the same day as our flight out. After some heated words in Gujarati were exchanged between several employees, the front desk man decided he would give us a room. He carried our bags up the stairs and unlocked the door for us. After a few minutes there was a knock on the door. It was another employee who insisted that we fill out yet another form and sign it before he would leave. Once that was finished we  arranged our things, ordered food and slept.  I started feeling uneasy though. . .I attributed it to the movie I watched while waiting for our food.

The next day started well enough. Our flight was the following morning at 4:25am so we still had about 20hr to chill in Ahmedabad.
In the afternoon, while my boyfriend was taking a nap, I received a reminder email from Emirates for our flight and online check in.
I thought, 'why not?' and proceeded through the series of clicks to be checked in. Before confirming, a disclaimer popped up: The passenger is responsible for proper documentation for entry to the UAE. I had checked when I made the booking to make sure that we did but decided that I should double check to make sure. . .big mistake.

The information on the Emirates website claimed that if we had a stop over in Dubai for more than 24 hours we required UAE visas.  Because of the holiday rush, when we booked the flight, we were able to find the cheapest fare on a flight leaving Ahmedabad on the 21^st at 4:25 (arriving and 6am) and leaving Dubai on the 22^nd  at 14:15, which meant a stopover of about 32 hours.
Neither of us had UAE visas.

First I called Emirates.  I explained the situation. We didn't want to leave the airport in Dubai, was a visa necessary?!
Unfortunately it was.
The attendant gave me the number of the UAE immigration and visa office, who informed me, without a trace of sympathy, that not only was a visa necessary but it was impossible to get one in such a short period of time.

Fantastic.

I called Emirates twice more to get a second opinion and to see if any flights leaving Dubai on the 21^st had become available.
Visas were still necessary. They were sold out of seats except in business and first class until the 24th. They probably wouldn’t let us board the flight in Ahmedabad since we didn’t have the proper onward visas.

Wonderful.

I roused my peacefully sleeping boyfriend, panic in my stomach and tears running down my face.
We went to the airport. After waiting for about 30 minutes to see someone, we were finally able to talk to a representative from Emirates. He was very nice but unable to help us much. He took us to see the immigration officer at the airport. . .who told us to go to the high commissioner of police in Ahmedabad to extend my visa til the 24th.

By this time it was 5pm and we were told the police station would be closed. People seemed to think an extension wouldn't be an issue though.

I called Emirates and changed our flight to the 24th. That way, we would be able to go to Dubai without a visa. . .I just needed to get an extension. . .

When we got back to the hotel the people at the front desk informed us that they knew the police commissioner! They called the police station and found that they were still open! We took an auto rickshaw to the police station, about 20min from our hotel.

At the police station, ceiling fans curled up the edges of papers piled on the numerous empty desks. The commissioner was out. I waited for him on a small metal stool. Finally his colleagues informed me there was nothing they could do. They didn't have the authority to extend any visa, especially tourist visas, from their office. Not even one day. If I needed an extension I would need to go back to Delhi. . .nooooooooooooooo.  I waited for about 30min for the commissioner, crying at this point but they insisted that the result would be the same no matter how long I waited.

Fortunately, one man at the police station felt at least a hint of compassion for me. He knew the supervisor of Emirates who was working at the Ahmedabad airport and gave him a call. This man, Abishek (who I am eternally grateful exists, Thank you Abishek wherever you are!!!!), insisted that a visa wasn't necessary and that we would be able to get the 96 hour visiting visa on arrival to Dubai if we bought a hotel package. Since I had been hearing nothing but the opposite all day, it was hard to believe him. The police guy gave me his number and I left the police station still crying from frustration.

In the dying light outside the police station we were mobbed by a group of curious children who thought it would be a good idea to poke us with sticks while we tried to hail an auto rickshaw back to our hotel. Perhaps they were unconvinced that we were real. I was pretty unconvinced of reality myself at this point.

It was now almost 7pm. We gave the rickshaw driver we got our hotel card with the address on it, and he insisted he could get us there. Then he pulled over every 5 minutes to ask directions. . .which no one knew. . .and took us in the wrong direction for almost 30 min before we realized we were getting ourselves into even more trouble. We made him stop, argued with him about the cost, gathered a crowd who helped us sort it out and also assisted in getting us into a another rickshaw that did know the way.  The correct route home took us almost 45 minutes from where we were. . .making it about 8:30pm by the time we got to the hotel.  We were running out of time and options. . .

The hotel people were anxious because my visa was expiring and didn't want us staying in the hotel with an expired visa because it could get them into trouble with the police. . .aiya

I called Abishek who once again assured us that we would be able to get a visa upon arrival in Dubai if we made a hotel reservation. I told him I had already changed our flight to the 24th and he advised us to come to the airport around 12am anyway.

My boyfriend and I had to have a serious talk.
Maybe Abishek was right.  . .if so, we could change the flight back to the 21st and leave for Dubai. . .the hotel package in Dubai might be expensive but at least we wouldn't have to deal with immigration problems.
Going back to Delhi wasn't really an option (neither of us wanted to entertain the idea of going back to Delhi for another minute) since I had already had my visa extended once and there was no guarantee anyone would give it to me, especially in such a short time. If refused it would just be more trouble leaving India.
If we couldn't go to Dubai, my boyfriend advised me to just change my fight, refund the money from Emirates, and fly back to Canada. His visa was fine until February so he could just stay. That would be a shame since so many people were expecting us in Nigeria, but it might be the only way.

We showered, packed and went to the airport at 12am to see Abishek.  If necessary I could refund the ticket and get my money back there and could book the flight to Canada when we got back to the hotel.  As long as the flights left India by 11:59pm on the 21st we would be fine, and there seemed to be lots of flights still available for that.

We hadn't really eaten all day and neither of us had any appetite left to eat because of the stress. We were tired and hungry and losing hope.

We got to the airport put our bags through security and found Abishek.  He told us again that we would be able to get a visa in Dubai and would definitely be able to leave Ahmedabad. There were still seats available on the flight from Ahmedabad to Dubai so he booked us into the flight but we couldn't get a flight out of Dubai until the 24th! After paying a fee (yes, conveniently for Emirates, there is always a fee. . .I already paid to shift to the 24th and then I had to pay again. . .) we were booked in.  The catch was, also had to sign a document that said if there were any problems with getting a visa in Dubai, Emirates was not responsible and we would have to pay any cost incurred. . .like for being deported back to India. . .where my visa was expired. . .and I would be caught in international airport limbo for the rest of my lifeeeeeeeeee!!!!
It wasn't a very reassuring document.  But we got through check in, immigration, security and onto our flight!

When we arrived in Dubai we were still tense. We weren't sure what to do. We kept asking people where we could get the 96 hour visa and they directed us to the Emirates desk but seemed confused as to why we were so concerned.  One lady didn't want to say directly but implied that if we just stayed in the airport, no one would bother us. Another lady, after listening to our abbreviated story and hearing that in India they said we needed a visa, responded with: "And you believed them!?"

At the hotel and visa reservations desk the man said a visa would be no problem. It would cost about $350 though. Maybe we should go to the reservations and bookings desk and see if there are any onward flights left today. He seemed confident we could get one.

We needed to sit down.  This was too much.  There was so much trouble in India and now that we were in Dubai all of our troubles had suddenly melted away.  We started cracking up. I was laughing and crying at the same time.

We went to the reservations desk and there WERE onward flights to Lagos that afternoon. . .(of course we had to pay the fee again!) and it was the same price as the one booked. We paid, laughed some more and, now that the knots in our stomachs had mostly dissipated, got some much needed food and rest.

When we boarded our flight, the lady that took our boarding passes looked at her computer before exclaiming: "This is your lucky flight!  You've been bumped up to business class!"

So we flew business class in utter disbelief to Lagos.  We enjoyed gourmet meals off of a menu, chairs that completely reclined and massaged the stress out of our tired backs, wine and Godiva chocolates.  Normally I would have been a bit perturbed by the frivolity of business class, but on this particular occasion, I did not complain.