Day 1 - Hello India!

Our team at Changi Airport bidding farewell to our friends and families

We were supposed to gather at Changi Airport at 4pm but unfortunately, a number of us were late while others were extremely early. Hearts filled with anticipation, we boarded the plane on time, only to discover the flight was delayed. However, we did not let this dampen our spirits and made use of the time to watch movies!! Our plane eventually took off at about 7.30pm.

To our surprise, we landed at the airport in Ahmedabad at 10.16pm local time, despite the flight delay. While waiting to clear the custom, Leon found out that his visa reflected that his purpose of the trip was to attend a conference at Apollo College of Nursing in Chennai, which is on the other side of India. Thankfully, the immigration officer didn’t question him further and we all went to retrieve our luggage!

Chun Kit was shocked to see cows crossing the road while we were waiting to board the bus to take us to the hotel. On the way to the hotel, a couple of us noticed several homeless people seeking shelter under a bridge. We were unsure of how to react to such sights, but it was only our first encounter of poverty in India.

We arrived at Fortune Park Hotel at around 12.30am in the morning. All of us were visibly tired as it was already 3am Singapore time. Thankfully, we were greeted by friendly hotel staff who made our check-in process a smooth and pleasant one. We had a short briefing to prepare us for the next day (or rather, the rest of today) before we headed to our rooms to rest and recharge for our upcoming activities!