Group of 18 exchanges notes in Hazaribagh 

Hazaribagh, Nov. 12: Eighteen Spanish tourists, caught off-guard in the current currency crisis, found solace in Hazaribagh before moving on to their intended destination of Bodh Gaya.

"It's a policy matter and as a tourist, who am I to comment?" said Maria (60), the only one conversant in English, when asked what she and her co-travellers felt about being in India at a time when commonly used currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 had been demonetised.

"We did have our own share of trouble as we ran out of cash," she admitted. "We stopped in Ranchi on our way to Bodh Gaya and while passing through Hazaribagh, we realised that the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 we are carrying will not do us any good. So we decided to exchange our money first at a bank here," she said.

After standing in the queue for over an hour, the tourists were able to exchange notes, but the limit of Rs 4,000 means they might have to again visit a bank in some other city during the course of their stay in India.

The tourists from Madrid, 16 women and two men, who had set out to explore various places of India from Delhi on November 1, were stunned to learn abut the demonetisation measure midway through the trip on November 8. Short on small cash, they were not in a position to buy food and even a bottle of water.

Finally, an unscheduled stop at the State Bank of Bikaner's branch near District More in Hazaribagh town today got them some relief.

Initially, Maria seemed unwilling to talk to The Telegraph. "We don't want to say anything on this issue (currency crunch). See how beautiful this country is. We are eager to visit so many places like Bodh Gaya, Patna, Ranchi, Darjeeling, Mumbai and also Rajasthan," she said.

After a bit of prodding, she opened up, saying that they were truly caught unawares. But now that they had managed to get money, she added, they were glad to be able to continue their journey.

Another tourist, 38-year-old Belen Cadena, explained that they submitted copies of their passports at the bank.

Their Delhi-based guide Ravi Arora said the group started their journey in an AC bus from Delhi and spent the last three days in Puri.

Thankfully, Hazaribagh looked better equipped today to handle the cash crisis with all 23 ATMs in the town dispensing cash all day. There are 139 money machines across the district. Officials said that over the last two days, banks and post offices collected Rs 150 crore in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.