shefgab

An ex-Soviet trio: Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan on Wizz, Air Astana, AZAL and QR A380 in Business. Inc. Chernobyl

Hi! This is my second recent Flyertalk report, and covers my trip in December to Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, three of the lesser touristed countries in Europe/Asia.

My previous Flyertalk report is here, my New Year trip to Hawaii in Business Class:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...aa-us-j-f.html

This trip all started when I became aware that Qatar Airways had some cheap one way fares from Tblisi to London via Doha (around $200 o/w), which would include a flight on their new A380. A few of my friends had booked it (albeit in business class). Having gone to Georgia a few years previously, I was keen to go back. After a bit of investigation, I realised that the TBS-DOH flight made a quick stop in Baku (GYD) in Azerbaijan. Low and behold, the fare was nearly the same from GYD back to London. I was keen to visit Azerbaijan, so this might be a good opportunity.

After numerous detailed fare hunting sessions, I came across an interesting route from London to Baku…..Wizzair from Luton to Kiev, then a cheap but lengthy Kiev-Almaty-Astana-Baku routing on Air Astana, national airline of Kazakhstan. I’d visited Almaty a few years previously, and really loved it, so this fare was a great find, especially combined with the 1 year visa free trial that was on offer in Kazakhstan (now extended to 2017 it seems).

My itinerary

London (LTN) – Kiev (IEV), Wizzair A320, 1250-1800
…..2 night stopover in Kiev….
Kiev (KBP) - Almaty (ALA), Air Astana A320, 2030-0530
Almaty (ALA) – Astana (TSE), Air Astana B757, 0710-0930
…..12 hour layover…..
Astana (TSE) – Baku (GYD), Air Astana E190, 2135-2250
….6 night stopover in Azerbiajan……
Baku (GYD) – Doha (DOH), Qatar Airways A320, 2205-2359
…..8 hour overnight layover……
Doha (DOH) – London (LHR), Qatar Airways A380, 0745-1225

A spur of the moment change of itinerary in Azerbaijan also saw me book a domestic flight to the Azeri exclave of Nakhchivan for 1 night:
Baku (GYD) – Nakhchivan (NAJ), Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) B757, 1330-1500
…..1 night stopover in Nakhchivan
Nakhchivan (NAJ) - Baku (GYD), Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) B757, 1550-1710

My trip (courtesy of GC mapper)


Onto the Trip!

My journey started on a wet miserable day in early December 2014. Wizzair was the cheapest option to get me to Kiev today to start my wintery adventure, and it’s my first time flying with them. I declined the option to pay for an extra legroom seat, but pay the £3 to get priority boarding. Wizzair still have free seating on board, although I fear that this option will soon change into allocated seating. Good for families I guess, but not so good for single fast walkers like myself

Wizzair is one of LTNs largest non-based airlines. Every morning, the terminal is filled with passengers coming or going to Eastern Europe, and the terminal is pushed to capacity. Thankfully, my flight is outside busy hours, and the terminal is nearly deserted. Bag drop is very quick, and there are only a few people in front of me at security. Thanks to my Airport Angel card, I have access to the unimaginative Servisair lounge. It’s not an amazing lounge by any stretch, but it does afford some comfy seats, some snacks, and a large G&T before boarding.

When the gate is announced, there is a noticeable movement of people from the main departure hall towards the gate area. By the time I arrive, there is a sizable “normal” queue, but only a few people ahead of me in “Priority”. After a 5 minute wait, we are let loose onto the tarmac, and onto the plane.



Flight 1: W6 6001 Wizzair Hungary
London Luton (LTN) – Kiev Zhulany (IEV)
Scheduled: 1250-1805 (3h15m)
Actual:1315-1802 (2h47m)
Airbus A320 HA-LYG with winglets


I snag a window seat in row 6, and shortly a Ukrainian woman takes the aisle seat. Thankfully, despite the healthy looking load (I wasn’t expecting many people to be flying to Ukraine on a cold December day), the middle stays free, which is a relief given the tight pitch.



Our flight taxiing








The flight is unmemorable. I spent my time reading and snoozing as the night fell.




We landed into a cold and snowy Zhulany airport. There was one other Wizzair flight on the tarmac, plus a few private jets. A Transaero 737 was using the only jetbridge (a route that is cancelled from midnight tonight – No Russia-Ukraine flights for the foreseeable future http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34622665 ), and looked like it had just arrived too, so we’d be competing with them to get through immigration. The temperature was a nippy -9C (15F)

Surprisingly, immigration was fairly quick. Since my last trip to Ukraine, they’d done away with landing cards, so it was just a quick passport stamp, and I was through. The taxi ride to the city was fairly painless, with the driver chatting to me in Spanish (!).

I had chosen to stay at the Hotel Ukraine, possibly the best located hotel in the city, with amazing views over Independence Square.




For the princely sum of GBP 40 a night ($60), I had a top floor suite overlooking the Square. The room was old, but clean and functional.






Dinner that night was chicken Kiev….not nearly as tasty as my DIY version


Down on the Square


Chernobyl Day Trip


The next morning I had an early start to head off on my adventure to Chornobyl. I booked through the imaginatively named Chernobyl Tour (chernobyl-tour.com) who I thought were quite good. The day including lunch and transfer from Kiev was $139. After a 2 hour drive out of town, during which an explanatory film was shown, along with a long list of do’s and don’ts, we arrived at the edge of the exclusion zone:







Before going to Chernobyl proper, we stopped off at the DUGA radar, built to spy on the West. It is quite colossal at nearly 50 stories high.






From there it was to a small exhibit centre




Then a small cemetery


The next stop was the primary school. It was quite haunting, although it should be noted that far from being left in the state it was back in 1986, the Chernobyl site is still busy with various contractors, and the places visited have been presented in a certain (sometimes bizarre) way. There’s a good chance that the toys you see lying around were dropped (or carefully rearranged) there much more recently that 1986.






Radiation is growing!





We then head into the workers town of Pripyat














This swimming pool was used by workers long after the meltdown


The secondary school






Clearly someone decided that covering the floor with books was a good idea. This obviously didn’t happen during the evacuation!




And the stadium


And finally the famous reactor


With the new sarcophagus ready to be slid over. I visited in December 2014, and I think the new one was supposed to be finished by spring time, so might already be in its final position.


Leaving the one, everyone is scanned. Thankfully, I’m still radiation free. Apparently, a visit to the Zone is equivalent to the background radiation of a 4 hour flight. Visiting in the winter you get lower radiation readings as the radiation gets buried under the snow. Summer is the worst when it blows around freely in the summer breezes.


On my final morning in Kiev, I went with another guy from the tour of the Lavra Monastery. It was very pretty in the snow.






When looking for flights from Kiev to Baku, I was delighted to find this odd itinerary with Air Astana. A red eye flight to Almaty, then a connection up to the Capital Astana, before a late evening flight over to Baku the same day. I had previously visited Kazakhstan in 2006, and really wanted to go back. I loved Almaty. I had a choice of around 5 ALA-TSE connections. I decided to skip Almaty city this time, and take the first flight of the day up to Astana on the 757. The other rotations throughout the day range from Embraers to 767s. I considered splitting my day in two, but didn’t in the end.

Once again, the flight proved to be surprisingly busy. Who’s flying from Ukraine to Kazakhstan!?
Since my last trip to Kiev in 2010, a shiny new terminal was opened.


The line at check in was short, but not terribly fast moving. When you get used to being able to use fast tracks and priority lines, standing in the “normal” queue seems incredibly tiresome! Still, I was served in around 20 minutes, and had my bag tagged to Baku, and all three boarding passes printed.

Annoyingly, a delay posted once I’d gone airside. My connection in ALA was only 1h40m, so a 35 min delay wasn’t great given I’d have to go through immigration.


Kiev is fairly pleasant airside, despite the lack of lounge to use. The views are ok (when it’s not dark), and there was free wifi and comfortable seating.

Flight 2: KC 402 Air Astana
Kiev Borispol (KBP) – Almaty (ALA)
Scheduled: 2030-0530 (5h00m)
Actual: 2133-0605 (4h32m)
Airbus A320 P4-KBC

Unfortunately, the delay grew a bit, and we took off an hour late. I was sat in an exit row, which meant fairly decent legroom. A small amenity kit was also handed out. The flight wasn’t quite full, so the guy at the window moved to the back (not that he made it obvious he wouldn’t be returning). The woman sat in the middle stayed there, so no extra lateral space.

Dinner was served an hour after take off, and was a fairly decent chicken and rice dish. They don’t do spirits in economy, but they do serve beer in half litre cans!


I managed to nap a little, and before long, we were landing 35 mins late into a cold and dark Almaty.

Not wanting to miss my onward flight, I powerwalked to the immigration hall – it was really busy, with at least 20 people in each line. After searching for a “short connection” desk or similar and seeing none, I decided to walk to the front and explain my predicament to the front few people in one of the lines. Thankfully no one objected to me cutting the line.

I was stamped into the country without much ado, and I then ran up to the departures level to try and find the domestic departure gates, which were hidden at the opposite end of the concourse. Thankfully, security was quick, and I arrived at the gate just as they started boarding.

Flight 3: KC 671 Air Astana
Almaty (ALA) – Astana (TSE)
Scheduled: 0710-0930 (2h20m)
Actual: 0724-0855 (1h31m)
Boeing 757-200 P4-KCU

It was around -15C (5F) this morning, so most people were rather unhappy to be boarding via the bus/apron. I sucked it up, and made the most of being on the tarmac, managing a few sly shots of our lovely 757.




I had selected a window right at the back, a choice which paid off, as the rear cabin seemed nearly empty compared to the packed out middle section. Just 15 minutes late, and with a row of three seats to myself, we push back, heading up to the frozen Kazakh capital.


Interestingly Air Astana refurbished the 757, which does some long sectors to Europe and China, but didn’t install any PTV, unlike on their 767. They did go with the blue mood light option though. Phew. Money well spent.


Breakfast was a McDonalds style apple pie, with OJ and water. Not too bad. I was happy to have something hot to eat after waiting to board in the freezing cold.


The views over the tundra as the sun rose were wonderful. It looked really cold out there though.


Thanks to a very padded schedule, we landed 35 minutes early this time.


Local temperature this morning was a cool -35C (-31F). Brrr. It was really windy too, giving a nice wind-chill factor as well.




With my bag checked through to Baku, I was free to spend the day in Astana. I’m not going to lie….with temperatures as low as they were, and with a rather light sightseeing itinerary, I took my time in the airy, clean and warm arrivals area to change into my polar outfit.

Continued soon!

mike&co

Great start, I'm hooked ^ looking forward to the next instalment. Some very interesting pics from Chernobyl, tho it goes without saying it's not on my bucket list -35 that's cold, very cold indeed.

AirPanda

Good Job on the Trip Report! I am looking forward to more.

shefgab

Thanks for the nice comments!

Yup, very very cold!

shefgab

A day trip to Astana

After taking my time sorting out my clothing, ensuring that not a single patch of skin was open to the elements, I went to find some transport into town. There was supposedly a bus, but after being accosted by a friendly taxi driver, I decided to go with him seeing as it was pretty cheap.

Astana is the new capital of Kazakhstan. For many centuries the capital was Almaty, a beautiful city in the southeast of the country, with the some mountains serving as a backdrop. Temperatures in Almaty, whilst not balmy, are a lot more moderate than Astana. Second to Ulan Baattur in Mongolia, it’s the coldest capital city in the world.

Slightly eccentric president since Kazakhstan’s 1991 independence is Nursultan Nazarbayev. For reasons best known to himself, he decided in 1997 to move the capital from cosmopolitan Almaty to Astana, which at the time was little more than a village in the middle of the Steppes. The vast income from Kazakhstan’s oil revenue has been funnelled into Astana, and in less than two decades has grown to be a city of nearly a million (cold, wind chilled) people, and an array of fancy new buildings.

Whilst I probably didn’t have the best experience of the city, I think it’s probably fair to say that it’s not overly interesting, and lacks any sort of soul. Still, I like adventure, and I was here.

The drive into town was quick. Despite the permafrost on the road, we managed a respectable 60mph down the road.


First stop was the world’s largest tent, designed by British Sir Norman Foster.

The tent, aka Khan Shatyr. You know in some places (hot and cold) there are two sets of doors to go through to keep the heat/cold in/out. Well, the tent had a set of 5 zig zagging doorways, each with heavy curtains over it to try and keep the heat in. They did a good job, as it’s a balmy 25C inside. Can’t be a fun job for the poor people standing in each alcove though perennially sweeping the snow out that’s blown in.





The place is warm and inviting, and full of shops. There’s a cinema and swimming pool too. I’d have liked to have gone and seen a film to pass the time, but nothing was in English.


I had a bowl of Kazakh soup to warm me up.


Not wanting to do much shopping or go swimming, I then set off on my walking tour of Astana.


Needless to say, I didn’t meet many other pedestrians.




I was relieved to reach my first pit stop before long, the Baiterek Tower


The views from the top were quite good


There’s a plinth in the middle with the presidents hand print on it.


After warming up a little, it was back to the icebox as I walked on down to the Presidential Palace




Then crossed the river and ended up at the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation


This giant pyramid is used to host religious summits, as well as having a concert hall and exhibition centre


The admission fee includes a guided tour. Unsurprisingly there were no other tourists, so I had a guide to myself.

First stop was a concert hall, where some dance troup were rehearsing.






We then took a slanted elevator (we’re in a pyramid remember) up to the top of the building, where they hold the summits.

The circle is the meeting “table”




The stained glass is quite clever – makes it look sunny outside




Given Kazakhstan doesn’t recognise Christmas, there were a lot of Christmas decorations around




There is a pretty impressive mosque nearby


As I still have a good few hours before my flight home, I decide to take the bus back to the airport. I managed to work out a route changing buses at the main train station. It takes a little longer than planned, and my feet are starting to get seriously cold, but I eventually make it back with around 90 minutes to go before my flight.

Madone59

Awesome TR ^. Thanks for sharing.

shefgab

Thank you!

shefgab

There’s not a lot happening in TSE. As I’m already checked in and have my boarding pass, all I have to do is to go through security (no queue), check out duty free (nothing worth buying) then sit by the gate (there’s no pay lounge). There is wifi luckily though.

Despite the freezing conditions outside, and plentiful empty gates, our Embraer is parked on a remote stand. Everyone is advised to bundle up for the short journey across the tarmac to the plane.

I decide to wait until last to board. I was assigned a seat at the back. I know the front row is empty, but is blocked for some reason, so I’m hoping to nab one of them once I know no one else is boarding.

Flight 4: KC 113 Air Astana
Astana (TSE) – Baku (GYD)
Scheduled: 2135-2250 (3h15m)
Actual: 2139-2231 (2h52m)
Embraer 190 P4-KCJ

It’s particularly cold and windy on the tarmac, but the ground crew don’t mind me taking a few photos








My gamble has paid off, and I get a pair of seats right behind business class. Like on the previous 2 flights, Air Astana are pretty good. The crew on this flight are particularly friendly and speak good English.

Dinner is some sort of meat and potatoes. It’s quite good with a glass of wine. I chase it with a second glass. Then a third before I’m cut off (although they said they’ve been drunk dry. This I can believe).


The three hour flight passes quite pleasantly and I plot our progress on my phone




We land in GYD 20 minutes early. Since my last time at the airport (on a same plane transit on bmi TBS-GYD-LHR), a new terminal has opened. It’s quite an impressive work of art. The old terminal is nicely lit up. It’s used for domestic flights now.


There aren’t any other arrivals at the moment, and I’m through immigration very quickly. My driver is hanging around, and I’m soon in the car park.


After the frigid Astana temperatures, it feels incredibly warm here, although it think it’s only around 12C. Still, it felt nice!

Annoyingly, it’s only when I get to the hotel that I realise that during my bags 12 hour stay in Astana that someone very carefully broke their way in. Grrrr. Thankfully nothing was taken (nothing worth taking!), but I’m very annoyed nevertheless. I’d only had the bag for 1 month at that point.

DanielW

Very cool TR, shefgab, looks like it's very cold too.

Love the pics from Chernobyl, the snow really does add to the 'desolation' and tranquil beauty of the place.

Astana looks like a very interesting city, maybe a great setting for a Bond movie in the winter too.

hauteboy

Very nice report! Chernobyl looks even more desolate and apocalyptic in winter. I was there in May this year. Waiting to hear your Nakhchivan report, we missed out visiting there. I should probably get back to the Caucasus at some point, it's been 10 years since I was there!

shefgab

I'm glad I went in the winter. The snow did make it feel very "end of the worldy".

Really? I think it's a bit too antiseptic for a Bond hideout!

Thanks. Spoiler: I hated Nakhchivan!

MatthewLAX

Wow that looks cold!

shefgab

Discovering Baku


I stayed at the Swan Hotel in Baku – it’s not big and fancy, but was perfectly acceptable for a few days. The reception staff were all very helpful as well. I’d recommend it.

My first morning in Baku dawned blue and clear. The subway system is fairly good, but precious little is written in English. I did manage to figure it out however. My first stop was the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre. I’m a closet architecture fan, and just loved the building.



What a treat Azerbaijan is




Just like Berlin and her bears, and London her elephants, Baku has her….gazelles!


The contents of this magnificent building is fairly eclectic, with an exhibition on Mr.Aliyevs life, his cars, some famous Baku sights miniaturised, plus some random modern art. It’s worth spending at least 3 hours in here to get a sense of everything.








After discovering the delights of Georgian cuisine a few years ago, I was keen to see if the Azeris had similar tastes. They don’t. I generally found the food a little dull, but reasonably palatable.







The world’s fanciest KFC?


Unlike every other ex-Soviet city I’ve been to, Baku seemed very insistent that the old horrible 60’s skyscrapers were not here to stay. The centre of Baku has been gloriously rebuilt in period buildings, and fancy squares, all lit up nicely at night.









The promenade along the Caspian Sea




And the flame buildings in the distance






Baku has a pleasant walled old town






Old walls, and a modern metro station




The Maidens Tower, Baku’s focal point for tourists




The countdown clock to the first European Games


Daytrip to the Qoobustan mud volcanoes and the Petroglyphs

High on my Azeri sightseeing list were the Qoobustan mud volcanoes. These odd things gently spew out cold mud over a desolate bit of land south of Baku. I caught a public bus out of Baku, then hired a Lada for a tour. If you want to do this, definitely hire a local taxi driver, not someone from Baku, as you need expert knowledge of the volcanoes so you can find your way around the mud rivers without sinking.

My trusty Lada


And the volcanoes. I was the only person there, save for the taxi driver. Wear wellies or walking boots!












Just down the road from volcanoes are some ancient petroglyphs, along with a fairly decent little musuem

shefgab

Yeah, it was cold. Makes me appreciate British weather a whole lot more now!

shefgab

Sleeper trains and mountain towns

During my time in Azerbaijan, I wanted to get out of Baku and into some pretty landscape. After evaluating my options, I decided to take a trip on the train to the mountain town of Sheki. The reports of the minibuses going up to their mountainous town aren’t for traveller with of a nervous disposition. I found that there is a night train there, so decided to book 2 nights in a row on the train, with a full day to explore Sheki.

Baku Train station


A few years ago i worked as a tour leader in China, and sleeper trains became a very run-of-the-mill experience for me. I have little trouble sleeping on them. The Azeri first class carriages were old, but perfectly acceptable. Luckily, both there and back I had a compartment to myself.


Bedding is provided.


The train journey isn’t particularly long, and despite an unspecified delay, we arrived before dawn in the middle of nowhere, some 15km from Sheki. Hmmm. Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea!

I found a taxi driver, and asked him to take me to the centre. Everything was shut. I thought it would be a good idea to get a day room at a hotel, but the only quote I could get was for $80, and that was only until 12 noon! No thanks. The receptionist said there was a cheap motel on the outskirts towards the station. This is where I ended up, with a large warm room for $15 for the day.

After a few hours in bed, and a hot shower, I caught a bus into town again. Sheki is pretty small, and quite peaceful after Baku. There’s not a massive amount to see though. It seems better to go in the summer when you can do some walking in the hills.





One of many pictures of Heydar Aliyev



There was a little museum in this old church. It wasn’t very interesting.







The highlight of Sheki is the old Khansarai, a beautiful old summer palace. It’s not massive (only one room deep), but they really went to town with the interior (and exterior) design. Unfortunately photos weren’t allowed inside.






The walls to the old town


The only other interesting building in town in an old Carvansarai, which had been turned into a hotel. The whole place felt abandoned (I didn’t see a single person inside, save for the door guard)




With that seen, I spent a bit of time having a slow lunch, then chilled out at the hotel for a bit until it was time for the overnight train back to Baku.

Since I’d arrived in Baku I’d been talking to a friend on Facebook that had been a few years previously. He took a flight to the exclave of Nakhchivan, now separated from the rest of Azerbaijan by Armenia, and also sharing a border with Iran, and a tiny “gate to freedom” to Turkey.

He managed to get flights out there on standby, but ended up having to turn straight around as all the return flights were overbooked, so never saw anything. He said he was dying to go back. I hadn’t really considered going, but I liked the idea of going somewhere he wasn’t able! When I arrived back in Baku, I headed over to the AZAL office. The fares to NAJ were quite reasonable, and the times for a one night trip worked quite well. I booked there and then. I headed back to the Swan hotel to pick up my suitcase, then onwards to the airport.