"Bomb, Bomb": Not The Words You Want To Hear On Your Plane

What is your biggest holiday nightmare? Losing your passport? Getting left behind by Eurorail SRK-Kajol style? Getting robbed? Being pulled aside for questioning? All of that - along with a bomb scare - was my recent holiday experience, which included my passport being taken away for an hour in a communist country.

My story begins in March as I was flying from Istanbul, Turkey to Barcelona, Spain. Suddenly there were whispers of "Bomb, bomb" before we could take off. The man sitting in the row in front of me was being questioned by flight attendants. Apparently some woman had complained about him. I couldn't make out what were they saying to him, but the conversation concluded with the man being hauled off the plane along with his bags.

After a few minutes, all passengers were informed that we had to identify our baggage; then, a bomb disposal squad boarded on the plane with some sort of chemical analyser. They ran paper strips over the seats and then put it inside the machine which I assumed was an analyser. After we all identified our bags and the checks were complete, the plane had permission to leave - after a two-hour delay. The man never came back.

All was forgotten as soon as I landed in Barcelona. I fell in love with the city. I spent days exploring old Barcelona and the nights downing wine and tapas with Barcelonians. But the honeymoon didn't last. I got robbed in one of the busiest markets of Barcelona. From inside my purse, my wallet was stolen with a small fortune inside it, along with all my cards and IDs. Luckily my passport survived the nimble fingers of the thief. I didn't have much time to mourn - I had to think of more mundane things like arranging money to be wired to me. I will write another post for people who are interested in knowing how to survive after being robbed in a foreign land.
 Nightmare No 2 over, I reached Havana, Cuba, for the second leg of my holiday. I got pulled out of the immigration line at the airport, a security officer spent an hour questioning me in broken English and Spanish, while my passport was taken away from me. Now what made this worse was that I was carrying only 100 euros on me and my friend who had arrived two hours before I got there had been questioned too. She sent me a message saying not to be very forthcoming with the information about my career as a TV journalist. I managed to convince the officers that I was carrying 500 euros on me, though I had to tell them I had no credit cards - because they had been stolen in Barcelona.
 Anyhow, this also came to pass. I entered Havana and enjoyed it immensely. I spent ten days travelling all over Cuba and came back to the airport burnt to a crisp. And then the unthinkable happened! I was stopped again at the immigration. This time they took away my passport for an hour but no questions were asked. After a while I was not the only Indian waiting for their passport to be returned. I was joined by three other Indian men and they confirmed that they too had been held up while entering Havana. Conclusion: they stop all Indians despite a valid visa.
 So the holiday ended on a bitter note but it was one of the most exciting and adventurous holidays I have taken. And yes, I did sneak in some Cuban cigars. They are not illegal in India. Adios!

(Anjilee Istwal is Associate Editor and Senior Anchor at NDTV India.)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.