Tom After a relaxing day at The Grand Dragon Ladakh yesterday, it was indeed sad to have to leave this hotel with awesome views of the Himalayan Mountain Range…
Breakfast at the Grand Dragon Ladakh Hotel Leh
After a week of curries, we decided to take it easy this morning with some bread, peanut butter, bagel and cereals…
As with what we did yesterday, we enjoyed the views of the Himalayan Mountain Range (The Grand Dragon Ladakh faces the Stok Kangri Peak) while sipping on Masala Chai Tea…ah…
Travelling from Leh to Delhi
Soon…it was time to leave the Grand Dragon Ladakh 🙁
We arrived at the airport and were subjected to security checks (separate lines for guys and gals) before waiting for our Go Air flight from Leh to Delhi – departing at 1130am…
We arrived at Delhi Airport at 1245pm but our flight was 5:30am the next morning. This meant that we actually had time to visit Delhi City. However, we made a conscious decision to avoid Delhi because of the rapes/sexual assaults in Delhi as well as poor air quality reported in Delhi. We could actually see (not only smell) the haze when we arrived at the airport.
Upon arrival at T2 airport in Delhi, we had to transfer to T1. If you’re on the same transfer, head out of Delhi Terminal 2 and look for this bus stop to transfer to Delhi Terminal 1…
The frequency of the bus transfers was pretty good. Although we just missed the bus, we waited for only 7 minutes. Remember to KEEP YOUR AIR TICKET STUBS!!! You’ll have to use it in exchange for a coupon for the bus transfer…
Chilling at Premium Plaza Lounge Terminal 1 Delhi Airport
The bus transfer from Delhi Terminal 2 to Terminal 1 took about 10 minutes. However, we were not able to enter the airport. This is because airports in India has a policy of only allowing passengers enter the airport area a couple of hours before the flight (6 to 8 hours for international flights and 2 to 4 hours for domestic flights – do note that these are rough estimates as it depends on how strict the security guards are as well). Hence, we thought of the next option, to get the air tickets so that we can chill at the airport lounge.
However, as we were soooo early, the ticketing counter was also unable to issue us our air tickets. Therefore, we decided to just head to Premium Plaza Lounge directly to try our luck. If we had failed, we were quite prepared to rough it out at the ticketing counter. Afterall, there’s air conditioning there. 😛
Thankfully, we were able to enter the lounge – after a relatively shocked look from the staff after knowing that we would only be flying at 5:30am the next morning…
If you’re doing a similar itinerary, do note that
1. The Premium Plaza Lounge at Terminal 1 of the Delhi Airport, is located on the land side. It is actually located OUTSIDE of the airport. This gives early arrivers like us, a place to rest before we gained entry into the airport.
2. We used Priority Pass to enter the Premium Plaza Lounge at Delhi Aiport Terminal 1. Usually, the rules states that you can only stay for 3 hours, subjected to the discretion of the lounge staff. Thankfully, we were not chased away eventhough we stayed for 10 hours.
Inside the lounge, we had coffee, water, juices and sandwiches. The seating area inside the Premium Plaza Lounge (Delhi Airport Terminal 1) was relatively small but service was prompt. There’s also day rooms where you can catch some shut eye at additional costs. How did we spend the 10 hours? Reading magazines, surfing and watching ALOT of TV (including Friends, two and a half man and Brooklyn 99!). We left the lounge at 11pm, thankful that we were able to stay and chill in the lounge for the entire day.
Staying Overnight at Delhi Airport Terminal 1
At 11pm, we were finally able to enter the airport proper. There, we cleared security and entered the air side of the Delhi Airport Terminal 1. There were still some shops opened at that time (Pandora, Duty Free and Wine). However, the food court was about to close. We got the last 2 zinger burgers from KFC at about 12am. We wanted to get a draught beer ($7) to go with the Zingers. Unfortunately, they were closed by then as well.
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We headed close to our gate and slept. Waking up, we had coffee and biscotti (250 rupees – $5SGD) at Flybites before it was time to board at 4:45am. Of course, we brushed our teeth! 😛
Stay tuned as we visit all the attractions and things to do in Kochi, Kerala!
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You have just completed a post from our 13 days travel in India. Find out more about this trip from our posts below!
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India Travel Itinerary Day 11: Arriving in Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty after Kerala Boat Cruise
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Top 4 Attractions and Things to do in Munnar
Top 6 Things to do and Attractions in Leh Ladakh India
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