Asia Tour 2026 - Day 25/25 - 3rd September - Going Home
We had ordered a taxi for 05:30, it was still dark and I was incredibly hungover. Luckily I had pre-packed everything the day before and put the last few items in my hand luggage. The receptionist had two little breakfast packages for us too.
It was dark for most of the drive, we exited the city and drove across the undulating steppes to the airport. When we arrived at the airport the sun was just rising. For some reason our Turkish Airlines flight with connection had a 30 kg allowance, I was 8 kg too light and Stanislav perhaps 15 kg too light! As I had some left over money, I bought Chiggis Khaan vodka at the duty free and two coffees.
I had chosen the window seat in the 2-4-2 arrangement on board the Airbus A330. The screen indicated that we were already 1384 metres above sea level, way higher than the highest point in Ireland. Shortly after take-off someone started shouting for a doctor, this just as the breakfast was being served. The trollies were stowed and a flurry of activity ensued. I think it was a diabetic episode as we didn't have to make an emergency landing.
Breakfast was eventually served, and I got a beautiful omelette with nice crumbly feta like cheese on top. After breakfast, I tried to sleep and kept dropping my phone, at one stage even enlisting the help of the people behind. I watched a nice film called "Ayşe" about a family in Istanbul where the main character has Down's Syndrome. It was based on true events. I also watched the film "The Voice of Hind Rajab" with real voice recordings from a young girl that was murdered in Gaza. It almost broke me. The main meal was served in the last hour as we passed over Trabzon having flown over Tblisis and Batumi too.
In Istanbul, we had a 6 hour stopover. Firstly I started eating for the sake of eating, a lovely cheese simit. We also wandered for a bit buying last minute duty free and some souvenirs. Finally I saw a nice Italian style place, we grabbed some food again, and I had two wines, the entire thing came to more than 100 euros.
Our connecting flight was interesting, we boarded a bus and it took us a few kilometres away, and tightly squeezed together we sped down the private motorway to our plane which was awaiting on a plot of isolated tarmac probably 4 km away from the terminal.
For the flight, I was far too tired to watch a film. I did break my snooze to enjoy the pasta meal which was served with Turkish wine. I was having fun on these flights and the stopover using my Turkish.
When we finally landed, a drama ensued as they made us all wait in the corridor allowing 5-6 people through after 10-15 minute intervals. Everyone was getting quite angry! Finally we reclaimed our luggage and caught our train home.
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