Kolkata: A kolkata girl who was desperate to return to her university in Hong Kong took a 10,000 km detour for 22 days to beat Covid restrictions that had changed international trips to nightmares.
Upon arrival in Hong Kong, Isha B had to spend 21 more days in quarantine before he was allowed to join the class.
In 17.5 hours to be spent on airlines in four trips for three weeks, the second year of the University of China Hong Kong can easily fly directly to San Francisco halfway throughout the world! The strange Isha travel schedule will take place on Tuesday when he flew from Kolkata to Mumbai, where he lived the night before going on a plane to the man at Wee on Thursday.
The other five students from the same university were stranded in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru traveled with him.
At reaching men, they will stay for 14 days in an approved hotel for quarantine before going to Dubai flight on August 19.
There, the students will stay a week before finally going to a flight to Hong Kong on August 26.
So what was supposed to be a flight 4.5 hours to the east in Myanmar had been stretched into a 528 hour trip plan with four flights to share West, South, North and then east again crossed domestic legs and three internationally to finally reach Hong Kong.
The Isha family will spend more than RS 3.5 Lakh on the way against Rs 35,000, rates for direct flights from Kolkata to Hong Kong.
“When the Pandemic was declared last March and the Indian government announced that all international flights would be suspended, our daughter flew back in a hurry.
Since then, she has tried to return to the university but in vain.
There almost no flights between the two countries.
And the problem is increasingly complicated with India entering the red list of which travel is prohibited by several countries.
Because the university now insisted that students return to campus, Isha has no choice but made this difficult trip, “said Father Ravi B, a resident of Alipore.
Anil Punjabi travel agent, who helped families connect with partners in Mumbai to wear a complicated travel plan, said that the stay in Maldives was needed to overcome the barrier to Dubai and then stayed there for seven days to meet the regulations into Hong Kong.
“Because India is on the red list, the 14-day stay at Male will ensure they can then travel to Dubai from the country on the green list.
To enter Hong Kong, someone must spend the last 21 days in one or more countries on the green list.
Also , RT-PCR tests must be done from certain laboratory categories with international accreditation.
Because this facility is available in Dubai, therefore stop seven days in Dubai before traveling up to Hong Kong, “explained Punjabi.
“We will spend the night without sleeping for the next three weeks, worried about the safety of our children.
There are several hundred students who are still stranded here with their future uncertain,” Isha’s father said.