ironmanjt

It's maybe one or two meals a month...not such a big deal. I also end up working out 6 days a week on average.

Re: Veuve being nothing special I'd agree, however, I'm pretty sure United was motivated solely by the fact that the Heidseck is a good $10+ per bottle cheaper. Fits their recent mantra.

ironmanjt

Note to self: watch for F space inside of 14 days for the New Years trip and hope to change flights!

echino

What's in the yellow pouch on the plate with caviar?

mkjr

lemon.

mkjr

nice...6 days, wow....

i eat like a hog and cardio, about 8-9 hours a week, keeps it off....

Heidseck has a disney like ride in their house in Reims....and the savage rose is killer...cost aside, i like Heidseck red label better than VC...in fact, lanson black...[the horror]....

as much as i like to rip on AC, i love that they choose Drappier as their bubbles. top notch stuff....and cheap too.

mad_atta

Great stuff so far, ironmanjt. I'm suitably impressed by your stamina with the food and booze - your commitment to the champagne is commendable ^

How long do you have in Tajikistan, and will you have the chance to get out of Dushanbe at all? We had an amazing time in Tajikistan last year, but all the most interesting things we did were quite a long way from Dushanbe. Also, we were there in early August, whereas I guess by this time of year there's already plenty of snow in the passes making travel around the place a bit tricky.

Since you obviously love good food, make sure you eat lots of the amazing Tajik bread. Otherwise their food is standard central Asian fare: lots of plov, shashlik, rice etc, but the bread is outstanding.

Often the only genuinely enjoyable thing on AC's otherwise meh wine list. I must have drunk my bodyweight in that stuff several times over.

ironmanjt

After relaxing in the lounge in Frankfurt for a few hours, catching up on espresso and a shower, it was time to head to the next flight. .Nice ride to the plane in a Porsche Cayenne-S which gave the chance to drive by this fun plane:



Got up to the plane, and the driver insisted on carrying my bags up the stairs, and stowing them in the overhead bin for me. .That was definitely a first. .I mean, a ride to the plane in a Porsche is way beyond expectations, but to have the driver handing your baggage as well, well, this one really went the extra mile. .When I boarded, I was the only one on the plane for over 15 minutes with the flight attendants. .I joked with them that I was ready to go, so could we take off already? .Wait, this isn't a private jet? .Finally at departure time, the other passengers started to arrive...30 minutes later, we were finally boarded.

Lufthansa flight 1300
Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) to Istanbul, Turkey (IST)
Depart 12:45, Arrive 16:40, Flight Time 2:55
Airbus A320-200 Registration D-AIZX, Manufactured 2013, Seat 5F

Due to the light snow and ice in Frankfurt, we were delayed around an hour waiting "due to a lack of de-icing trucks." .About 1:30 late, we finally pulled back from the extremely remote stand, and were instantly first in line for departure. .I guess there are some advantages to remote parking spots. .So, what's for lunch?

Hors d'oeuvre: .Breast of Duck with Waldoftr Salad, Green Bean Salad and Kumquat Chutney

Salad: .Mixed Leaf Salad with diced Mango and Pomegranate Seeds

Choice of Entrees: .(a) Tenderloin of Beef with creamy Mushrooms and Spinach Gnocchi or (b) Red Perch in light Curry Sauce, Wok-fried Vegetables and Basmati Rice

Dessert: .Chocolate Mousse Cube with Passion Fruit Sauce.

I tend to avoid seafood on planes like the plague (I watched Airplane one too many times as a kid, and I saw what happens when you have the fish) so I went with the beef. .I wasn't really hungry at this point, so just nibbled and took a few bites of things before declaring defeat and going back to watching tv on the iPad.



Not bad for a short flight, eh? .I remember the days when US Airlines used to care enough to spend $10 on first class catering.

The flight went by quickly, and we landed in Istanbul right at sunset. .Was great watching all the vibrant colours as we landed in a very windy and rainy Istanbul. .Now, I'm going to rant a bit.

See, I dislike Istanbul more than any other major airport in the world. .The Turks insist on keeping the temperature somewhere between 30 and 40C, and that combined with their visa policy of "the more the US dislikes you the more we like you" makes it a connecting point for much of the developing world. .It's a mass of humanity, with little extra attention paid to premium customers. .Today was no exception. .Within a couple minutes of getting off the plane I felt like I was in a sauna, and the people working the transfer desk had little interest in helping. .Soon, I finally had my boarding pass for my onward flight, and it was off to security.

Security was, as is usually my experience in Istanbul, a mess. .Filled with people who clearly had either never flown, or not flown in decades. .Despite being 10th or so in line, it took nearly 30 minutes to clear security before heading up the escalator to the departures level. .I had little hope the lounge would be much better, given my previous experience with it being crowded to the brim, and I wasn't disappointed. .Wandered about 10 minutes just to find somewhere to sit, and then another 10 looking for somewhere with an outlet before finally giving up. .It wasn't going to happen.

Grabbed a seat, caught up on e-mail and work, along with some tasty baklava and turkish coffee. .As much as I dislike the temperature and crowds in this lounge, I will admit it has some of the best food options anywhere for a business lounge. .I really wasn't hungry, however, so just nibbled a bit while waiting a couple of hours to head to the next flight. .We were boarding from a bus gate (as usual in Istanbul it seems) and it was quite a hike from the lounge. .I'd heard that the A321s on Turkish were a bit of a nightmare, with only a few reconfirgured. .I hoped that since we were on nearly a five hour flight we'd get one of the new ones, but I should have known better.

Turkish Airlines flight 254
Istanbul, Turkey (IST) to Dushanbe, Tajikistan (DYU)
Depart 20:45, Arrive 04:30, Flight Time 4:45
Airbus A321-200 Registration TC-JRJ, Manufactured 2008, Seat 3D

The seats were domestic economy style with the middle seat blocked. .Ugh, are you serious? .Regular economy seats for a five hour flight in business class? .Turkish, you've managed to outshame yourself. .Even US airlines offer a better product than this...I guess I'll have to pray for something better on the return.

Now, they can't be bothered to have proper seats, but they were long on gimmicks. .Such as this character dressed as a chef. .Seriously? .I doubt these guys have any training, he was just there to sling the food and help the grouchy flight attendants.



One thing I do like about Turkish, however, is their tasty welcome drinks. Went with the mint and lemon today. Yum!



I was going to try to describe what the meal was, but honestly...they gave us the wrong menu. .It was the Dushanbe to Istanbul breakfast menu. .Oh well, at least I'll know what to expect on the flight back. .Hah!



The mezze were reasonably tasty, and the meal was decent. .Now, for the mains, there were clearly four different ones based on what I saw being offered to other passengers. .However, despite being in row three, I was told there was only "beef meatballs" left. .Hmmm, alright, I might have chosen this regardless, but what's the point in dressing someone up in a chef costume if you're not going to try to actually care about the menu and service? .That said, they really were quite tasty.



I will admit, even though I know it's nothing special, I actually like the Turkish red wine that they serve on board. .It's a kavaklidere, which I'm pretty sure is a Turkish grape? .Regardless, I find it perfectly drinkable despite it more than likely not meeting the standards of most wine snobs. .I like it, I drink it, until... .the woman sitting in front of me (remember, this is a domestic economy configuration) decides to recline her seat about 3 hours into flight. .And when I say recline, I mean press the recline button and throw the full weight of her ample size into the seat - promptly flinging my iPad off the table, along with a bottle of wine and a mostly full glass. .All over me, as well as the guy sitting across the aisle for me. .Her reaction? ."Watch where you put your ....!" .Seriously honey? .Just when my faith in American civil servants was at a new low post-shutdown in DC, she managed to take it down another notch. .(Yes, I know where she works based on all the documents she had out during the flight.)

That reminds me - the composition of the flight was fascinating. .Economy seemed to be 75%+ Tajiks, while there wasn't a single one in business class, which was, by the way, completely full. .I've never seen so many diplomatic and service passports on one flight other than when I went to South Sudan a few years back. .Tajikistan is clearly popular with the donor and NGO crowd, which I guess should explain how I managed to finally get here for work. .I guess we know why Turkish keeps operating this flight with such a terrible product - a captive audience.

Lest I seem completely negative, overall it was a pretty good flight - and still much better than it would have been in economy. .Turkish is just so uneven in their product - great lounge services, but completely packed. .Some planes (like 737-800s) with great new business class seats, and others that are terrible. .You just never really know what you're going to get with them. .That said, when they're good they're great, and when they're bad, well, they're still better than sitting in economy!

Landed about 15 minutes late at 4:45 am, immigration was a breeze, and it took another 45 minutes for baggage to come out. .Finally at about 5:45 I was out of baggage claim, met my driver, and was off to my hotel, which I'll talk more about when I finally get a chance to post more details from Tajikistan.

DanielW

The guy in the chef's outfit is a laugh. 'A' for effort anyway.

ironmanjt

Apologies for the brevity, but this post will be mostly photos. It's an attempt to in photos capture the nine days I spent in Tajikistan working - my 144th country visited.

Also, apologies for linking to my blog, but due to FlyerTalk photo limits, it's my only real option. Enjoy!

Full post on my blog at this link

So, I had a weekend in Dushanbe, and the good fortune to have a seasonably unusual heatwave....highs reached 22-24C which for late November was way above normal. .The one bad thing about the Hyatt as a hotel is location. .It's a good mile out of the edge of the main city, which means you're more or less trapped there in the evenings. .I'll get to the hotel a bit more later, but on Saturday I got up relatively early and ended up walking 14 miles all around Dushanbe. .It was a great day for walking, even though the sites...well not a ton to see. .I'm going to give the highlights, mainly in photo form:

Statue outside the national museum:



Entrance of the National Museum:



Another statue outside the National Museum:



Reflection of the National Museum in the lake:



The lake outside the National Museum:



Full post on my blog at this link

TPJ

I am then transiting at a different IST airport than you. It never took me more than 10-15 minutes (usually it takes 5 minutes) to go through security using the Fast Track (that you was eligible to use as a C-class passenger).

European C on medium haul flight is nothing unusual - LH flies FRA-TLV & FRA-CAI on A320's with European C /middle seat blocked/, IB used to fly to LOS on MD87's with middle seat blocked only on the right hand side. Yet another cultural difference. Interestingly enough, a few years back OS tried to offer 2-2 (US First class style config in C on A320's) to Middle East/Central Asia and apparently there was no demand as they gave up after 2 years or so.

PS. Apologies, if I am too negative - this is definitely a great TR!

ironmanjt

So, maybe you've been fortunate, or I've been unlucky, but my experiences have all lately been late afternoon FRA (or MUC) to IST connecting to central asia flights. All three times this year, security has taken over 30 minutes...because they're shuffling large families of infrequent travelers who happen to be running late in front of fast track.

...and the odd LH flight on A320s for 5 hrs is one thing, TK has nearly 30 of these A321s, operating to DYU/FRU where there's no other real choice. If you don't like LH to CAI, you can always book an airline with proper business class seats.

My experience is different, there's plenty of demand, but TK doesn't care because they know we don't have a choice to these destinations. We're paying $1300 one way IST-DYU to sit in what is essentially glorified economy? Well, I'm tempted to save the $1000 and just sit in economy then...but alas, I guess business travel comes with some perks, even if it is only a blocked middle seat

(you'll see coming up when I flew another A321 from IST-VKO...surprise, proper business class seats...because they have to compete with Aeroflot)

mad_atta

Thanks for the instalment. Dushanbe is quite a pleasant little place, but there really ain't a whole lot to see. I hope you manage to make it back to Tajikistan one day (perhaps once you've crossed those pesky 40 or so remaining countries off your list!) and get out into the mountains, because they are utterly, utterly spectacular.

You should see some of the routes TK flies with those narrobodies... how does Istanbul - Bishkek - Ulaanbaatar grab you? Now *that* would be 3,900 miles of fun in euro-biz style seats!!

ironmanjt

I took that route twice this year...and it was a 737-800 both times, so we were spared!

ironmanjt

This will be a relatively short one, since I griped a few posts back about how miserable Turkish A321 business class is. .Got to the airport approximately two hours before my flight, which was about right, as check-in took nearly 30 minutes. There was only one line, for all passengers, forget about any priority or business class. Immigration and security were completely painless, and soon we were in the departure room. I say room, because it was one big room, with a tiny snack bar, and that was it. Almost every seat was occupied.

This morning's 5am entertainment was provided by a group of around 10 soldiers in uniform, getting completely trashed throwing back vodka shots. Fortunately, they weren't on the flight, but makes me wonder what they were doing on that side of security. Maybe I'm better off not knowing.

Bus gate (no jetbridges in Dushanbe, which was hella fun in the pouring rain. That meant when the bus doors opened, it was a mad dash to the stairs...and of course the first people on the plane jammed the aisles so everyone else got soaking wet. It was a great way to start a long flight in Turkish's craptastic Euro business class!

Turkish Airlines flight 255
Dushanbe, Tajikistan (DYU) to Istanbul, Turkey (IST)
Depart 6:00, Arrive 9:00, Flight Time 6:00
Airbus A321-200 Registration TC-JRB, Manufactured 2006, Seat 2D

Once again, our friendly young man in the chef costume presented orange juice and a few other fruity drinks right before takeoff, along with some Turkish delight, and soon we were off into the rainy skies. .Flight was completely full this morning, with every seat taken. .Literally five minutes off the ground the crew sprang into action, impressive since they'd just worked the inbound from Istanbul. .Yes, they'd be pulling a 13-14 hour day...don't think that would fly with the FAA.

Very soon it was hot towels and the meal service. .So, to start we were promised:

Fresh Fruits

Yoghurt with Honey

Chicken and Turkey Breasts

Assorted Cheese



Pretty tasty for an appetizer/starter, and I will admit that the food is one thing Turkish really manages to get right.

Then, we had a choice of:

Turkey Ham & Cheese Toast (Turkish style spinach puff pastry, chicken sausage / herbed mushrooms)

or

Gratined Crepe with Scrambled Eggs

I asked the "chef" which he recommended, and he said definitely the crepe, the other one is not at all good. .I'd say he was right on the crepe, but can't really speak to the other choice.



About an hour before landing, only 2.5 hours after the main meal, we were offered a snack. .A bowl of hazelnuts, and a "cheese sandwich and sour cherry cake." .Skipped the sandwich because I was still full, but had the nuts and the delicious cherry cake with a couple of coke zeros in an attempt to wake up.



Landed in Istanbul right on time, no line at all for visa on arrival, and I still ended up waiting nearly 30 minutes for bags to be delivered. .Not a huge deal, but I was anxious to get to my hotel and get seeing the city! .I had a 24 hour rest stop, and wanted to see as much as I could, having only been to Istanbul once briefly before.

Bags came about 45 minutes after deplaning, no line for a cab, and it was off to the city in Istanbul's terrible traffic. .Was a surprisingly expensive taxi, over $40 due to traffic, and soon we were at the W. .I had the choice of a standard room available right away, or waiting an hour for a suite. .Easy choice. .Dropped my bags with the concierge, and headed out to refuel with some coffee. .Felt much better, and it was off to the W.

I'll talk about my wander around Istanbul in the next post, but I'll give a quick review of the W here.

Staff: .absolutely fantastic. .Warm greetings, genuinely seemed interested in helping, and were extremely friendly. .The only small drawback were the staff in the restaurant, who I'm sure were trying their best, but I've seen turtles that moved faster.

Room: .awesome upgrade to a studio suite, which had a fantastic rain shower in it. .Well, it would have been fantastic if there weren't oddly placed pieces of furniture everywhere which caused me to break my toe when I stubbed it in the middle of the night. .Not real thrilled with that. .Oh, and since I always complain about it, the AC worked wonderfully, and kept the room nice and cool.

Restaurant and bar: .food and drink were good, but prices were absolutely outrageous. .Service was also, as I mentioned above, insanely slow. .I wanted turkish food, but not fast-food takeout, and after a day of wandering I was too tired to go far, and everyone I talked to seemed to agree there was really nothing good in the neighbourhood which met that description. .I mean, food was tasty, but an appetizer, some kebabs, and two glasses of wine should not cost $70 in Istanbul. .Highway robberly.

Location: .everything you need in walking distance, but not a great selection of restaurants. .Also, it's about a 15 minute walk to the tram to old town, or 15 minutes uphill to the cable car to the metro. .So, it takes a while to get to sites, but I really didn't mind. .Gave me a chance to see things along the way.

In summary, I love this hotel, well, maybe not love but really like. .This was a rest stop in between intense work stops for me, and it was relaxing and comfortable, which was just what I was looking for.

DanielW

Dushanbe looks like a cross between Ashgabat & Bishkek.

Living in the middle east (with no rain), I've always wondered what would happen if the weather turned to custard without a jetbridge.

Surprised you haven't seen more of Istanbul & Turkey with all the TK flights you've done, JT. It is quite a wonderful country to spend a while.