My flight from Kolkata to Dibrugarh departs at 1230 today. With all that heavy food over the past days, I thought I’d skip breakfast and go to the airport lounge and eat lightly until departure.
Checking out around 0815, the hotel bill was INR1000 more than the INR7000 I had expected. At first I was about to accept it as tax being added on. Most of the time, Booking.com shows the all-up price but there are exceptions. But when the pre-tax figure was slightly higher than what I had on my confirmation, I smelt a rat. Asking the receptionist to check, he picked up that the person checking me in had entered the full rate. I could have easily lost INR1000 (NZD20) just like that in the scheme of things, it is ten main courses, more than two taxi rides to the airport or a lot of pharmaceuticals!
I summoned an Uber car to the airport. The young driver was a bit careless and distracted and we had a few close calls. As we approached the airport, there was a replica of London’s Big Ben on the left hand side!
Once at the airport, it was easy without luggage. This flight qualified for a boarding pass at the time of purchase and with my home-printed version, I was airside in minutes.
At the lounge, I grazed lightly on breakfast then lunch before going to the furthest gate about 40 minutes before scheduled departure. Just as I got there, a gate change saw me backtracking to near the lounge. The planed arrived about 10 minutes before scheduled departure. Some technical issues saw the turnaround being extended and we pushed back about 30 minutes late.
While I fly extremely often on the A320 (both CFM and IAE engine versions) the A320neo (either engine option) is rather new to me. It made odd whines in what seemed to be a protracted engine start-up or test sequence. Once airborne, it was probably a little quieter than its classic counterpart.
Inflight, IndiGo offered free water, unlike some budget airlines. Seats on the plane are very slim-line. The squab is quite narrow and doesn’t join up to the adjacent seats, but instead there is moulded plastic in between. Not good if the plane on an empty medium-haul flight if you want to lie down.
We landed in Dibrugarh 30 minutes late. The light seemed like late afternoon already at around 1500 when I exited the terminal in search for a taxi into town.
The quotes came in at INR600, which is double the Kolkata price for a similar distance. It was INR300 for a tuktuk but I haggled it down to INR200. Then he took on an extra passenger, so he won! I’m not a big bargainer but the price seemed so high compared to Kolkata so I had the feeling I was getting fleeced.
Hotel Devika was by the banks of the Brahmaputra River. I went out for a walk soon after check-in. At 1630, the sun was setting already. My aim was to find the bus station to confirm buses to Sivsagar and onwards to Sonari, as per my guidebook. My hotel had told me that I can get direct buses just outside non-stop to Sonari.
Text continues after this gallery.
-
- Dibrugarh is on the banks of the Brahmaputra river.
-
- Dibrugarh is on the banks of the Brahmaputra river. It has an embankment with a walking track very close to my hotel.
Wandering around, I couldn’t find the bus station. With no internet at the hotel (faulty) or on my phone, Google Maps had trouble pinpointing my location and wasn’t too useful. Asking around, there was misinformation and disinformation. Some people told me I need to change at Sivsagar, some told me to go the station at 1030 while others told me to wait near my hotel.
I guess I’ll try to get a direct bus to Sonari near my hotel in the morning in the first instance, and work out alternatives it if doesn’t happen. It was dark at 1730 so I returned to the hotel and ordered an early dinner and then early to bed as well.