Route: HKG-IST
Airline: Turkish 71
Departure: Dec 21th 11:15PM(ON Time)

After a few days visiting some friends in Hong Kong, I finally got to another part of the trip I was also looking forward to. As noted I got in on the Turkish mistake fare sometime last year. I managed to changed the date successfully so I could spend Christmas back home in the U.S.

Checked in once again at the Airport Express Station in Hong Kong. Easy enough. Met up with a friend before heading out to the airport. I was thinking about heading to a lounge with my priority pass membership, but by the time was at the airport it didn't give me that much time. So I hung out by the gate for a bit before boarding was called.

Comfort class was fairly full on this flight. I've seen pictures of comfort class, but i was a bit surprised how big the seats were and the amount of leg space. Take off was on time. The IFE system on the flight was excellent, except I found the movies to be quite out of date. How Rush Hour is a "new release" is beyond me. Anyhow the food as expected was excellent. Some pics below.
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...24156587_n.jpg
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...31245455_n.jpg
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...84698753_n.jpg
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http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...32809056_n.jpg

Flight was smooth except for the fact that I was getting sick. Really should have drank more water on that flight. I had a sore throat that started in HKG and it just went downhill from there. More on that later. 10 hours or so into flight we were descending into dark Istanbul. Scheduled to arrive at 5:30AM, we actually landed at 4:30/45 or so.

Had to purchase a visa on arrival for $20. Line was short and then immigration/customs was a breeze. Arriving so early did did me no good as the Metro/Subway was not open yet. Had to wait a while until it opened. Dropped off my luggage at the hostel less than 5 minute walk from the Blue Mosque and went for a walk with some other travelers I had met in metro. It was only 7AM or so! However, Blue Mosque was amazing at sunrise!