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Sarajevo, BiH to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on Turkish Airlines
So, got to Sarajevo airport in plenty of time. .Check-in was absolutely painless, no line, and security and passport control were also painless. .Less than 10 minutes after arriving, we were inside security and passport control and ready to see the lounge. .It's a common use lounge where they check your boarding pass, but it had free internet and drinks, so was more than adequate to pass the time. .Nothing special, but good enough!
We didn't spend any time in duty free, and soon it was time to board right on time. Turkish flight 1024 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (SJJ) to Istanbul, Turkey (IST) Depart 14:10, Arrive 17:05, Flight Time 1:55 Boeing 737-900 Registration TC-JYI, Manufactured 2012, Seat 3F First shocker...unlike the flight to Sarajevo, this plane actually featured something close to international business class! .Well, it was more like US domestic first with an extra foot or more of legroom, but still...very comfortable compared to what I expected, I was super impressed...and this was off to a good start! http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...1-1024x768.jpg I know...still nothing to be super excited about, but it held promise for the next segment to Bishkek. .I was sure we wouldn't be so lucky again, but in my experience flying Turkish has been a complete crapshoot, so who's to say what was in store. . Pre-departure drinks were a variety of fruit juices and lemonades: http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...2-768x1024.jpg http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...0-1024x768.jpg It was completely tasty...proof that with a mint leaf and a small lemon slice you can make anything pretend to be fancy! .I admit, I was trying to be all cutesy-artsy with these photos, and in the end actually ended up with a decent shot that showed not only the drink, but the decent amount of legroom. .Win win! While waiting to takeoff, I also found a good listing of Turkish's fleet in the inflight magazine: http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...3-781x1024.jpg The rest of the post is on my blog at this link. |
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Got to the hotel around 430am, the Hyatt Regency Bishkek:
http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...1-1024x768.jpg Guess this is as good of a place as any to start the hotel review...since I had problems from the very start. .Check-in was quick, up to my room, and it was roasting. .AC and blower weren't working. .Call down to front desk and ask to switch rooms, "no, we are full, I will send someone up." .The maintenance guy fiddled with it for 30 minutes and couldn't get it to turn on either, and then I elevated and demanded a manager. .He still said there's no rooms, blah blah blah. .I threw a mild fit. .Well, look there, there's a room on the Executive Floor. .Funny how that worked out! .An hour after arriving, around 5:30am, I passed out...and didn't wake up until nearly 2pm. But, back to the hotel. .The staff was friendly the entire time, although I didn't have a ton of interaction with them. .The perk of the new room was executive lounge access, but it was nothing to get excited about. .A nice espresso machine and cookies (?) in the morning, but in the evening they put out quite a nice snack display with meats, cheeses, etc, and free beverages. .I was allowed to bring my colleague in as well, so that was a nice perk. Other than that, we really didn't use any hotel facilities. .We had one drink in the bar which tried really hard to be cool, but weren't overly impressed with it. .There was an in-house travel agent, who was fantastic and managed to book us a daytrip for the next day at around 9pm - impressive, and more on that later. The room was comfy enough, and no complaints about the bed or room temp once I got a room where the AC worked. .It was plenty quiet, and my room had a huge shower and tub in it. .I would say the paying the extra $20 or so for the deluxe room upgrade was way worth it - it was double the size of the standard rooms plus had a king bed. .Overall, no question this is THE place to stay in Bishkek. So, woke up at 2pm, and decided to go for a stroll. .I'll go through the sites pretty quickly, and I didn't see all of these the first day....since I had the weekend to recover. .But, going to post them all now regardless. We'll start right next to the Hyatt with the national opera and ballet: http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...9-1024x768.jpg A short walk away was the Dom Soyuzov, a very cool Soviet-era building: http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...7-768x1024.jpg ...and the very festive City Hall! http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...7-1024x768.jpg The rest of the post is on my blog at this link. |
Glad you got the good config on Turkish. Considering the flight was continuing to Ulaanbaatar, that would be a looooong way to go in Euro biz style seats...
love Love LOVE the Soviet kitsch murals. We saw quite a bit of Kyrgyzstan but never made it to Bishkek so it was great to see your shots of the city. I can only hope your trip by car through the border to Kazakhstan was better than ours - I pretty much started a riot. Looking forward to more ^ |
Very nice to see pictures from Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan. I was there in 2008 and this brings back some nice memories.
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Cool. A part of the world I definitely want to see some time.
A minor quibble, but the correct terminology is 747-8 (or 747-8I) not 747-800 |
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to Almaty, Kazakhstan and time in Almaty
Apologies in advance this post will be a stream of consciousness mostly text post because, well, we were so busy working we didn't get to see a whole ton!
Ended up working until mid-afternoon in downtown Bishkek, and at 4pm we got ready to head to the Almaty. Our office in Bishkek had arranged a driver to take us to the border, and our office in Almaty had arranged another driver to meet us at the border and take us the rest of the way. Sounded like an easy plan, and as someone who's gotten used to negotiating minibusses and share-taxis the last couple years it was a rare treat! Not only the chance to not have to negotiate, but comfortable and uncrowded. Score! Traffic in Bishkek wasn't awful for a Monday afternoon, and about 30 minutes later we were at the border. Our Kazakh driver was already waiting for us on the Kyrgyz side, and walked us through the car lines (the pedestrian lines were super long on both sides of the border, and apparently he knew some tricks that we could just walk through the much shorter car lines...it took quite a bit of yelling, complaining, and posturing, but in about 15 minutes we were through the border. His car was parked on the Kazakh side, so he loaded up our luggage, and we got ready to head out. I turned back to take a quick snap of the border from the Kazakh side: http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...4-768x1024.jpg Very soon after the border, things got very rural...very fast. .We drove for around two more hours before we started to see any signs of the city, and then spent nearly another hour fighting Almaty traffic trying to get to our hotel. All total from downtown to downtown travel time was around 4 hours, and that wouldn't include any time fighting at the border or negotiating with taxis. Our hotel was the Rixos Almaty and appeared to be located pretty centrally in the city. .It was around 8pm by this time, so after checking in we decided to head out quickly in search of a bite. Nothing was easy to find and we were getting pretty hungry at this point, so just decided to admit defeat and head back for room service since we had an early morning. Unfortunately work was incredibly busy here, so there wasn't a whole ton of time to sightsee. So, I'll do a mini hotel review first. The obvious place to start, since I just mentioned room service, is with the food. Let's just start by saying that for the region I thought prices were outrageous. I ended up with a club sandwich and a beer from room service, which came to nearly $45. Stunning. I was expecting to get something pretty awesome for that price, but you be the judge: http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...7-1024x768.jpg From there, however, things got quite a bit better. The breakfast buffet was included in our room rate, and I would say it was top notch. Fresh-squeezed orange juice, espresso drinks to order (we're not talking a machine whipping up an automatic cappuccino, these were actually handmade), lots of meats, cheese, pastries, eggs to order, pretty much you name it they had it. One of the highlights was....horse carpaccio! I like a good amount of protein when I eat breakfast, and it was actually pretty tasty! Our events were in the hotel, so the hotel also did buffet lunches each day, which were equally as good. We never ate dinner in the restaurants, but the quality of the restaurant catering for lunches was excellent. For as disappointing as room service was, it was quite shocking just how good the buffet meals were! Plus, they had an amazing dessert selection which one of my colleagues enjoyed a bit! http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...t-1024x797.jpg The rest of the post is on my blog at this link. |
Almaty, Kazakhstan to Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Uzbekistan Airways
Wrapped up our session at around 4pm, and our driver picked us up at the office at 5pm to head to the airport, promising there would be lots of traffic...and you "must" get there early. Since it's the largest city in Kazakhstan, I figured the airport would be pretty good-sized, so maybe there was reason. Plus, things move slowly with bureaucracy in central asia sometimes, so we'd see.
Got to the airport in about 25 minute, and it was still nearly three hours until flight time. Oops! The entry way was a long hallway left to right, but there were no check-in desks anywhere in sight. Oh, wait, they're through the security checkpoint. That's odd...but ok. Checkin took a couple of minutes, asked for a window seat in row two after being shown the wide-open seatmap...and ened up with 1B. Um, ok? I asked for row two aisle. She switched from Russian back to English, saying "yes, you take." Sigh, ok. This was a non-winnable battle. There were two lines for passport control, for business class and everyone else. It didn't matter in the end, as both seemed to take about 20 minutes to get through. Right on the other side was security again, which had no line. So, in about 30 minutes, two hours before the flight, we were in the terminal. Let's find a lounge! There was a lounge it turns out, but it's only open to passengers of Air Astana. Business class on Uzbekistan? Nyet, go wait in the terminal. Priority Pass? Nyet! Sigh. The terminal? It was one large room with a few hundred seats, shared by all flights. There were a couple small outrageously priced cafes around the edge of the room, and a good-sized duty free shop that was pretty well-stocked. That was it...we were just going to have to wait it out. Time went pretty fast due to free WiFi which was nice, and soon it was time to board! Uzbekistan Airways flight 764 Almaty, Kazakhstan (ALA) to Tashkent, Uzbekistan (TAS) Depart 20:15, Arrive 21:05, Flight Time 1:50 Airbus A320, Registration UK32014, Manufactured 2010, Seat 2F There was no such thing as priority boarding, so I did what lots of developing country travel has taught me to do well and stood up for myself....using all 6'3 210 lbs of me to make sure I stayed at the front of the scrum. Fortunately, once on board, someone was already in my seat. I took that as a cue to take the seat I wanted...2F...and in the end, I don't think anyone ended up in their assigned seats. That works! The sun was setting, and the view out the window onto the tarmac over the bright green engine was pretty cool: http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...9-1024x768.jpg ...and what's this in the seatback pocket? .An "amenity kit" for a two hour flight? .Neat! http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...6-1024x590.jpg http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...7-1024x506.jpg The rest of the entry is on my blog at this link. |
Awesome report, loved the food photos. ^
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Daytrip to Samarkand, Uzbekistan - Part I
When I got into this part of the trip, I realized there are a ton of pics and details from this day, so I'll be splitting my daytrip to Samarkand into two parts. .This is part one, covering the train to Samarkand, a morning of touring, and lunch. .I was lucky to have a day off from work this weekend, and wanted to make the most of it!
Had to get up super early this morning, because I'd been booked on the 7am train from Tashkent to Samarkand. .I had hoped to be on the 8am so I could at least get a little sleep, but unfortunately there was confusion, and my driver picked me up at 6am to go to the train station, leaving me operating only about 5 hours of sleep. .And no breakfast. .And no caffeine. .Well, actually a little caffeine...I'd found a bottle of water the night before, but it was sparkling so I used the gross in-room water kettle to boil some up and make a little instant coffee that was in the room. .Better than nothing! The drive to the train station was only about 10 minutes, and security was tight. .There were at least three security checkpoints to get into the station checking tickets and passport, but by the time I got it they were already letting people onto the train. .I'd booked the new-ish highspeed train, which made the trip in just a little over two hours, traveling in excess of 200 kph! .There were three classes on the train - regular economy, first class, and "VIP class." .The price difference really wasn't that much, so I booked the VIP! .I was too curious not too! A few shots of the seats: http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...2-1024x768.jpg http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...3-1024x768.jpg One thing that became clear quickly. .There were carriage numbers printed on the tickets, but no seat numbers. .It was first come, first served, with the attendants trying to sit groups somewhat together. .It all worked out on the trip down, but the trip back was a hot mess! I won't talk too much about the train trip, since I got many more details on the return when I was more awake. .There was a food and drink cart, and it had Red Bull, so that helped to wake me up a little bit. .I really should have had a second one...and just like that, a little after 9am we pulled into Samarkand station. I'd debated if I wanted to hire a guide/car before arriving, and in the end, I'm glad I did . The sights were a bit spread out, and I got a good amount of history. .Plus, a car and guide for an 8 hour day for $80 (or so I thought) was pretty reasonable. .He was waiting for me at the station with a sign with my name on it, and we were off. .He asked what I wanted to see....and I said all the historic sights. .Isn't that what people come here for? ."No club? .No sexy lady?" Uh no, and yes, I had to spend several hours getting grilled about girlfriends...him cracking jokes about "only 3 kids, that I know of, I have girlfriends in many countries." .It was irritating, but I tuned it out more or less. After convincing him I really wanted to see all the typical boring historic sights, we were off. . .The first stop was the Ulugh Beg Observatory. . It was built in the 1420s in order to determine the midday point. .The most annoying part of this site were the two giant tourbusses full of Korean tourists. .No idea why they seem to come to Uzbekistan in such large numbers, but they apparently do. http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...9-768x1024.jpg Anyways, back to the Observatory. .A picture of the outside: http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...9-768x1024.jpg The rest of the post and lots of pics on my blog at this link. |
Great report!
Very nice! Great locations!
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Great report... we stayed at a hotel between the Registan and the market in Samarkand. You saw more places than we did, did not see Ulugbek observatory
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Originally Posted by hauteboy
(Post 20897367)
Great report... we stayed at a hotel between the Registan and the market in Samarkand. You saw more places than we did, did not see Ulugbek observatory
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Daytrip to Samarkand, Uzbekistan - Part 2
This post is going to be very heavy on the pictures, since you can read the history online. .Reflecting back on it now as I put this together, I'm absolutely amazed at how much I managed to see in just over six hours!
After a filling lunch, it was off to the next sight, the Gur-Amir or Tamerlane Mausoleum. This was built in the early 1400s and contains the tombs of not only Tamerlane/Timur, but also his sons and grandsons, including Ulug Begh whose observator I'd seen that morning. A couple photos outside the mausoleum, with and without me and random tourists: http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...8-768x1024.jpg http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...9-768x1024.jpg ...and a couple of artsy shots inside the complex. .I don't know why, but for some reason Samarkand seemed to really lend itself to getting artsy shots with the iPhone. http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...1-1024x768.jpg http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...5-768x1024.jpg When we got in the main mausoleum area, someone was leading a prayer, so it was wait and be respectful time before we could snap any shots. .The lighting wasn't great, but a got a couple decent ones: http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...2-1024x768.jpg http://www.jasonaroundtheworld.com/w...6-1024x768.jpg The rest of the post and lots of pics on my blog at this link. |
Lovely pictures. I really want to go to Samarkand
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