Volcanic eruption leaves tourists stranded in Indonesia

Thousands of Indian and other international passengers are stranded here after a volcanic ash cloud forced airlines to cancel flights in and out of the scenic holiday destination in Indonesia.

Bali Airport is closed since Tuesday, leaving tourists in uncertainty about their travel schedules.

At the Ngurah Rai International Airport airport, various electronic boards display the list of flights which have been cancelled due to the volcanic ash from Mount Rinjani on the nearby island of Lombok.

57-year-old Chandanmeet Sethi along with his wife Babbi, 49, had planned to go to Cambodia from Bali. But as the planes continue to be grounded, uncertainty clouds their entire trip.

The couple, who lives in Atlanta in the US, said that it seemed that they had wasted the money which they had spent on booking hotels in Cambodia.

They are also unclear about the status of the flight that they have to take later from Bangkok to India.

"It is definitely a loss in economic terms," Chandanmeet said.

For Delhi-based Sanjeev, who works with a travel company, the trouble is of a different nature and much bigger in scale.

Sanjeev said that he is accompanying a group of around 500 people belonging to a corporate group who will not be able to go back till the flights resume.

"We have to extend the bookings of 240 rooms that we have booked for our clients and that is just one of the things that we have to do," he said.

Scores of passengers are waiting on airports with their bags packed.

Kolkata-based couple Aditya and Sumona said they were to travel to Singapore but now don't know about their holiday plans.

"We have come on a package tour, so hopefully some things will be taken care of. But we have a limited budget," Aditya said expressing his concern.

Australian couple Branko and Sue Ivokovic are worried as they have learnt that earlier such disruptions have left tourists stranded for several days.

At the airport, the young trio of 'backpackers' Chloe, Rosanna and Laura too sit pondering about the unexpected turn their tour has taken.

"We are backpackers, on a limited budget and these repeated taxi rides to the airport are proving to be expensive. There is not much information that we are getting," said Chloe, who works with a Law firm in the UK.

Laura, however, is happy at the prospect of spending more days in Bali.