Ottawa to Istanbul
After a very long "day" I have
safely arrived in Istanbul.
I left my hotel in Ottawa around 1:30 pm
(Ottawa time) Friday. Got to the airport only to find that
the United Airlines staff would not be there until 3:15.
Went to the bar and had a drink then outside for a smoke and then
back to the check in where I was still first in line. Once
the agents finally arrived I went through quickly but was then
told to wait until they dealt with everyone else and a wheelchair
was available. I took a look at the lines and decided to
walk myself if I could because I wanted to get through Customs
and Security so I could relax a little. I made it with some
difficulty and no problems at either Customs or Security.
The 1.5 hour flight to Chicago was uneventful but it took anothe
rhour to get from where we landed to the gate for my flight to
Istanbul. Elevators, bridges, trains and long hallways marked the
route. I felt sorry for the poor guy pushing the wheelchair
but I would never have been able to do it on my own. Once
there I had about four hours to sit and read. There were no
shops or anything close to the gate so there was nothing else to
do.
We left around 11:30 pm (Ottawa
time). The plane was very nice and the service was
excellent. We all got a travel kit, slippers, pillow,
blanket, headphones (for the many channels on the large in seat
tv's). The only thing I watched was the channel showing the
flight's progress over Canada, England, Germany, Hungry,
etc. I managed to doze a little on and off
through the ten hour overnight flight and we arrived in Istanbul
around 9:00 am Ottawa time (four Istanbul time). Istanbul
time is seven hours ahead of Ottawa and nine hours ahead of
Yellowknife.
Once again it was a long way to Customs
from the gate but being in a wheelchair helped as we went
straight to the front of the line at both the place where I
had to purchase my visa ($60 US) and Immigration. At the
baggage carousel I was getting worried about my bag because it
took forever to arrive. Normally First Class luggage
comes off first. As I sat waiting I listened to the
language surrounding me and couldn't even pick out individual
syllables let alone understand anything. It was the same on
the plane when the announcements were made. Food on the
plane was excellent as well (marinated shrimp, sea bass,
mushroom risotto, buttered asparagus and many other
apptetizers. Dessert was available but I skipped
that. I also skipped breakfast this morning as I wasn't at
all hungry.
Getting to my hotel was another minor
adventure as no one seemed to have any idea where it was.
The taxi driver spoke to a number of people, made a few phone
calls and stopped twice enroute but he finally found it. It
is in a rather poor neighbourhood consisting of very narrow
streets and old shops where, I am sure, not a word of English is
spoken. The hotel is European in nature with quite small
rooms, a place on the wall where you have to place your key to
turn on the electricity. The tap water is undrinkable and
the bottled water comes in flimsy plastic glasses. My room
is labelled non smoking but the front desk agent told me I could
smoke anyway. Sure hope he understood what I asked him.
I haven't been anywhere to be able to get
laundry done so I might have to look for somewhere to buy a shirt
or two (memories of southeast Asia where I bought several a day
for almost nothing) because I will be in different hotels
many of the next nights. I also discovered that I
neglected to bring the adaptor I need to get the photos off of my
camera so will have to locate a camera shop as soon as
possible. I am beginning to wonder if perhaps I should have
arranged to stay here for a few days at the beginning of the
trip rather than the end. Oh well.
My flight to Nevishir leaves at 10:00
tomorrow morning so I will leave the hotel around 6:00 I
guess. Since I meet my guide at the airport there I trust
that everything will go smoothly from that point onward.