Ok let me get the rules & regulations out of the way first before i proceed with this post. When you arrive at an Indian airport and have passed through the list of countries given below, you are required to have a Yellow fever vaccination certificate, in the absence of which you will be quarantined at the airport for 6 days. For some backpackers (and they come in all varieties) this could be a great opportunity for a free stay but somehow spending 6 days at the airport in a hospital is not really my idea of fun.
List of Countries:
AFRICA
Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast (Cote D’Ivoire), Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan (South of 15 ° N), Togo, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia.
America
Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Panama.
A yellow fever vaccination certificate is also listed as one of the requisites while applying for a Bolivian visa though reading peoples comments on online forums tells me that you would have to be really unlucky to be denied a visa if you are from the US, UK or some such nation and dont possess this certificate. However, its always better to be in possession of such documents rather than take a risk of being turned back in the middle of your trip by an overzealous bureaucrat.
Anyway given the possibility of being denied a Bolivian visa and having to spend 6 days quarantined at Delhi airport; getting myself a Yellow fever shot & certificate was high on my To-Do list once i got my visas done for Chile & Peru.
With 2 weekends to go before we left for the trip, on a sunny, muggy & hot Saturday afternoon i googled "Yellow Fever Vaccination, Delhi" to realize that it is possible to get the shots only from 4 places in Delhi.
These locations for Delhi are:
Health Organization
Palam Airport
Timings: Tue. And Thursday. 1400 - 1600 hrs Tel: 2329 5507
Public Health Laboratory
Municipal Corporation, Town Hall, Alipur Road
Timings: Fri :1000 - 1200 hrs Tel: 2397 2058
Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital
Room No. 7 & 8
Timings: Wed & Sat 0900 to 1230 hrs Tel: 2336 5525
International Inoculation Center
Mandir Marg, New Delhi - 110001
Timings: Wed & Fri : 1330 to 1400 hrs Tel: 2336 2284
On top of the specific dates & timings (with the absence of the option to get the shot on a Sunday) i also came to know that the certificate is considered valid 10 days AFTER getting the shot. Considering the amount of work that needed to be done at work, i figured that next Saturday (8th Aug) was the earliest i could get the shot and if the guy at the Bolivian Embassy got too technical with the 10 days i figured i had a buffer of 3 days since i planned to enter Bolivia on the 22nd of August. An iota of doubt though still remained since we planned to apply for the visa on 17th August in Santiago and that was enough to send me into panic mode.
Enter Pooja to smooth things over as she very calmly called up Max Hospital in Gurgaon to check if they could give us the shots. Well apparently they could and they had the vaccine available with them which would cost us Rs 500/person as compared to the Rs 250/person at the places named above. Feeling slightly sheepish about my panic attack i dutifully followed Pooja to Max where we were told at the reception as a FYI while we were paying money to the cashier that everything was just fine other than that they would not be able to issue us the certificate since certification is regulated by the government.
Stage was set for panic attack #2 but Pooja intelligently and proactively suggested that we go have dinner at Italiano and round that up with dessert at Mocha. The thought of yummy fish in rosemary sauce & the heavenly, dripping in olive oil, pasta in pesto sauce was enough to relegate any thoughts about yellow fever shots to the back of my mind for the time being.
Saturday the 8th could not arrive fast enough and by default we ended up at RML given that they were the only place which was open for the vaccination on Saturday. We were told that registrations for getting the shot started at 9 so we arrived at 9:05 to find a longish queue at the registration counter. A circular stuck on the window clearly stated 9:00am as the time for the counter to open but in true government hospital style we were told that "sahab 9:30 baje aate hain"
Registration started slightly after 9:30 and we ended up paying for the cost of the shot, getting our number in the queue (21, 22) and the blank certificate at about 10am. Dont forget to take your original passport as they are quite strict about that requirement. We filled out the certificate with our name, passport number etc and then started the next phase of waiting outside another room as the doctor arrived at 10:30. We got our shots and the signed and stamped yellow fever vaccination certificate valid for 10 years at slightly after 11:00am.
The entire process was not as bad as i had initially imagined but took slightly longer than i thought it would due to all the waiting time. Apparently a friend of ours who also got vaccinated in RML 7-8 years ago reported about A/C waiting rooms in RML, with mainly international travelers queuing up for the shot. Well things have changed, the A/C works in the doctors room in which you end up spending 5 min while being given the shots and the waiting is done out in the corridor or in a small garden courtyard with some benches close to the doctors room. There were no international travellers in the queue that day, just your usual groups of immigrating Sardarji's and lesser skilled workers.
I would suggest to anyone who plans to get their shots at RML to get there between 10:00am - 10:30am and you should get your signed & stamped certificate by 11:30 with significantly lesser amount of waiting around.
With the certificate in our possession (laminated the very next dayl.. hey its valid for 10 years and i dont want to be queuing again in RML if i can help it) we are all geared to take off later tonight.
Showing posts with label yellow fever. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yellow fever. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
The beginning of the adventure
I am starting this blog just before embarking on a 3 week trip to the Americas (US, Chile, Bolivia (hopefully... more on that later, and Peru). Over the last 6 months or so that i have been planning this trip, i have realised that the resources available on the web for planning a trip in this region are not as extensive as say for any part of Europe, US or even South East Asia. A large part of the information that i have needed such as modes of transport and their schedules between point A & B, visa application issues etc i have got from blogs such as these where travellers have described in detail their experiences while travelling. Hopefully this blog would prove useful for those planning their trip to this region as well as provide us with a platform to share our travel experiences with others.
Coming back to our trip, this will be adventure for us as this is the first time that we would be travelling to a set of countries with an approximate itinerary rather than a well planned one. We plan to travel to Bolivia but given that Bolivia does not have an embassy in India, we would be applying for our visa in Santiago, Chile. We have been assured in conversations in broken Spanish with the Bolivian Embassy in Santiago (credit to Pooja and her 3 months of Spanish classes, actually more to her Spanish instructor who took over the conversation when it wasnt going anywhere :)) that the visa process can be completed on the spot if we have all the papers with us. However, given my general experience dealing with a lot of Embassies and the experiences of others that i came across from the internet things will not be as straightforward. We would be in Santiago for 3 days and need to manage our Bolivian visa during that time otherwise the approximate itinerary i have planned would need to be rescheduled in a hurry.
A large part of our local travel through Chile, Bolivia and Peru would be by bus and given the general uncertainty on whether we would be going to Bolivia along with the fact that very few bus companies have online websites in English where you can book tickets, we have decided to keep our plans flexible.
Unfortunately Peru & Bolivia are currently seeing a lot of protests from farmers (not too dissimilar from India) and the indigenous population. Their favourite means of protest is to block roads and rail tracks (sounds familiar.. doesnt it :)) which can leave even those with the best planned itineraries in a jam as you are stuck in a place for days till transport options open up. Given all these variables we have decided to keep our itinerary as flexible as possible.
Ideally if everything goes according to plan we would be travelling as per the following itinerary:
13th Aug - Fly from Delhi to New York on Qatar Airways
14th Aug - In New York, taking night bus to Niagara Falls
15th Aug - Niagara Falls
16th Aug - Travel by bus back to NY from Niagara and reach there by the evening
17th Aug - Evening flight to Santiago to New York
18th Aug - Santiago (apply for Bolivian visa)
19th Aug - Day trip to Vina del Mar and Varparaiso from Santiago
20th Aug - Santiago with a late evening flight to San Pedro de Atacama
21st Aug - In San Pedro, take tours to the Moon Valley etc
22nd Aug - Take the 3 day tour to the Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia
23rd Aug - Salt Flats tour
24th Aug - Reach Uyuni in the afternoon and take the train to Oruro in the night
25th AUg - Reach Oruro early morning and take the bus to La Paz, overnight in La Paz
26th Aug - Take bus to Puno on lake Titicaca, overnight in Puno
27th Aug - Tour the isalnds on Lake Titicaca for the whole day and take the night bus to Cusco
28th Aug - Cusco
29th Aug - Go to check out the Inca ruins in Ollanta before taking the train from Ollanta to Machu Picchu, overnight in Aguas Calientes on the foothills of Machu Picchu
30th Aug - MPD - Machu Picchu Day, overnight in Aguas Calientes
31st Aug - Early morning train to Ollanta and then on to Cusco, overnight in Cusco
1st Sep - Flight from Cusco to Lima, overnight in Lima
2nd Sep - Evening flight from Lima to NY
3rd Sep - NY
4th Sep - NY, late night flight back to Delhi, back in Delhi on 6th morning
I would have preferred to have spent a little less time in the US but given our reliance on using my Continental Onepass miles for funding the flight legs from the US to South America & back, this was the best we could do basis the flight availability for using points. I would also have preferred to have done the entire itinerary in reverse starting from Lima and ending in Santiago as it would have given us time to acclimatise to higher altitudes in Cusco (~3,200 m) before we moved to La Paz (~4000+ m) and the altiplano. With our current itinerary there is a serious chance of us getting hit with altitude sickness as the drive from San Pedro (~2400m) to Laguna Colarada (~4400m) goes up really quickly and the first night on the Uyuni tour is spent at really high altitudes. Hopefully a combination of Diamox (a prescription drug available in the US that helps your blood absorb more oxygen, which is an extremely rare commodity at an altitude of 4000m+) & Coca tea will keep the symptoms away.
After the flight to San Pedro on the 20th and before the train to Machu Picchu on the 29th, we have no confirmed hotels booking, or bus/train tickets (see i did mention the flexible itinerary didnt i). In countries where not many people speak English, hopefully Pooja's 3 months of Spanish classes would keep us out of trouble and on the right track, it would definitely be intersting to calculate the ROI on those classes :)
Travel to Peru & Bolivia involves the additional pain (literally & figuratively) of getting your yellow fever vaccination. Otherwise you stand the risk of being quarantined on your return at an Indian airport for 6 whole days. A detailed post on the procedure to get vaccinated and get presented with your yellow fever international vaccination certificate (pure gold dust if travelling in South America & Africa is high on your agenda) follows.
Coming back to our trip, this will be adventure for us as this is the first time that we would be travelling to a set of countries with an approximate itinerary rather than a well planned one. We plan to travel to Bolivia but given that Bolivia does not have an embassy in India, we would be applying for our visa in Santiago, Chile. We have been assured in conversations in broken Spanish with the Bolivian Embassy in Santiago (credit to Pooja and her 3 months of Spanish classes, actually more to her Spanish instructor who took over the conversation when it wasnt going anywhere :)) that the visa process can be completed on the spot if we have all the papers with us. However, given my general experience dealing with a lot of Embassies and the experiences of others that i came across from the internet things will not be as straightforward. We would be in Santiago for 3 days and need to manage our Bolivian visa during that time otherwise the approximate itinerary i have planned would need to be rescheduled in a hurry.
A large part of our local travel through Chile, Bolivia and Peru would be by bus and given the general uncertainty on whether we would be going to Bolivia along with the fact that very few bus companies have online websites in English where you can book tickets, we have decided to keep our plans flexible.
Unfortunately Peru & Bolivia are currently seeing a lot of protests from farmers (not too dissimilar from India) and the indigenous population. Their favourite means of protest is to block roads and rail tracks (sounds familiar.. doesnt it :)) which can leave even those with the best planned itineraries in a jam as you are stuck in a place for days till transport options open up. Given all these variables we have decided to keep our itinerary as flexible as possible.
Ideally if everything goes according to plan we would be travelling as per the following itinerary:
13th Aug - Fly from Delhi to New York on Qatar Airways
14th Aug - In New York, taking night bus to Niagara Falls
15th Aug - Niagara Falls
16th Aug - Travel by bus back to NY from Niagara and reach there by the evening
17th Aug - Evening flight to Santiago to New York
18th Aug - Santiago (apply for Bolivian visa)
19th Aug - Day trip to Vina del Mar and Varparaiso from Santiago
20th Aug - Santiago with a late evening flight to San Pedro de Atacama
21st Aug - In San Pedro, take tours to the Moon Valley etc
22nd Aug - Take the 3 day tour to the Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia
23rd Aug - Salt Flats tour
24th Aug - Reach Uyuni in the afternoon and take the train to Oruro in the night
25th AUg - Reach Oruro early morning and take the bus to La Paz, overnight in La Paz
26th Aug - Take bus to Puno on lake Titicaca, overnight in Puno
27th Aug - Tour the isalnds on Lake Titicaca for the whole day and take the night bus to Cusco
28th Aug - Cusco
29th Aug - Go to check out the Inca ruins in Ollanta before taking the train from Ollanta to Machu Picchu, overnight in Aguas Calientes on the foothills of Machu Picchu
30th Aug - MPD - Machu Picchu Day, overnight in Aguas Calientes
31st Aug - Early morning train to Ollanta and then on to Cusco, overnight in Cusco
1st Sep - Flight from Cusco to Lima, overnight in Lima
2nd Sep - Evening flight from Lima to NY
3rd Sep - NY
4th Sep - NY, late night flight back to Delhi, back in Delhi on 6th morning
I would have preferred to have spent a little less time in the US but given our reliance on using my Continental Onepass miles for funding the flight legs from the US to South America & back, this was the best we could do basis the flight availability for using points. I would also have preferred to have done the entire itinerary in reverse starting from Lima and ending in Santiago as it would have given us time to acclimatise to higher altitudes in Cusco (~3,200 m) before we moved to La Paz (~4000+ m) and the altiplano. With our current itinerary there is a serious chance of us getting hit with altitude sickness as the drive from San Pedro (~2400m) to Laguna Colarada (~4400m) goes up really quickly and the first night on the Uyuni tour is spent at really high altitudes. Hopefully a combination of Diamox (a prescription drug available in the US that helps your blood absorb more oxygen, which is an extremely rare commodity at an altitude of 4000m+) & Coca tea will keep the symptoms away.
After the flight to San Pedro on the 20th and before the train to Machu Picchu on the 29th, we have no confirmed hotels booking, or bus/train tickets (see i did mention the flexible itinerary didnt i). In countries where not many people speak English, hopefully Pooja's 3 months of Spanish classes would keep us out of trouble and on the right track, it would definitely be intersting to calculate the ROI on those classes :)
Travel to Peru & Bolivia involves the additional pain (literally & figuratively) of getting your yellow fever vaccination. Otherwise you stand the risk of being quarantined on your return at an Indian airport for 6 whole days. A detailed post on the procedure to get vaccinated and get presented with your yellow fever international vaccination certificate (pure gold dust if travelling in South America & Africa is high on your agenda) follows.
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