Flights

I said I was going to ignore this blog until after Borneo but I bought my flights and as always, I made it as complicated as possible.  I will forget the details by February.  I can hear you all in back, so yes, there is no such thing as too much detail, since you are asking!  

Plus, I am still at work at 6:15 pm  BC Hydro is having a peak savers event between 4-7.  I had a meeting until 6.  If I don't go home and turn on lights etc. before 7, I will save $3 on my next month's bill!  

Here are the things I was trying to juggle with this flight.  When I first looked for my dates, it was simple enough.  I wanted to use up my Air Canada 'wallet' with the money from my cancelled Europe flights.  And I saw that a good chunk of the flights were with Turkish Air.  I had learned from my friend Rob's crazy around-the-world trip, that if you book with Turkish Air, you can do a free layover in Istanbul.  And as you will all remember from post #1, I am starting my Stan tour a few days later than I had anticipated.  So, why not use those days to eat Turkish food and see Turkish sites.  No reason at all is why not.  

Ya, I'm going here!  

So, dates, cost, use up air Canada money, lay over in Istanbul.  Plus, I saw that business class is pretty cheap!  So, toss that in too.  And, I have $2000 worth of travel money with my credit card for a flight to Asia.  That's a lot of balls to juggle.  

If I want to use my credit card money, I have to book with the Royal Bank travel agency.  I called them.  The only way to book it myself is if they can't find my path in their system.  Shockingly, they could not.   Still trying to use up that AC Wallet money, I said I would book it through Air Canada.  

I called Air Canada.  They could find my crazy plan but it was way more expensive to book it with them. Any 'wallet' money I could use up would be lost on the higher price, and then some. 

 I had been on the phone and various websites for hours by this point, so I took a break for a couple of days.  I had an appointment cancellation right before lunch so that gave me some extra time to wait around on hold today.  So, I found the flight with Turkish Airlines, figured out dates, moved it forward a bit (Sept 11) added in a three day lay over in Istanbul.  Called Royal Bank back and updated the booking airline (from AC to TK) and the dates.  All good.  

Then I booked my flights.  Noticing that business class, once I used my free credit card money, would only be a little more than an extra $1000, I went all in and booked Business Class!!!  I know, I know, I am currently not turning on lights to save $3 but I am tossing around $1200 on a comfy seat.  But it is a 12 hour flight!  And, god bless her, Chris left me a bit of money when she died so that I could afford to travel.  I assume she meant travel in comfort.  She used to love to hear about my trip planning and my international adventures so I like to think she would enjoy stories from Business Class.  

I am already regretting that I am going here on my way
to the 'Stans. I am going to have to use all of my 
Val voice 'don't buy that, you'll have to carry it' mental resources! 

Also, I can't verify this yet, but Rob tells me that Turkish Air provides free hotel for Istanbul layovers for Business class passengers.  So far, evidence seems to indicate this is true?  I think it is too early to actually book a hotel.  My lunch break was limited so I haven't checked with them yet.  

To do:   Get Royal Bank to give me some sweet free travel money.  Talk to Turkish Air about some sweet free accommodations!   Figure out how to use up that Air Canada wallet (not as sweet but I'm not going to kick it out of bed for eating crackers) before Aug 2025.  

By the way, Joe is not coming to any of the 'Stans with me.  He had decided to come with me to Borneo.  I better find a picture to break up this giant block of text.  It's almost 6:45 so time to go home and turn on some lights! 

Oh, while looking for online photos,  I found this review of Turkish Air business class:  

What We Love

• The inflight food and beverage presentation with the highest quality ingredients and chef-driven touches thanks to a partnership with Do & Co catering
• An unbelievable lounge experience in Istanbul that is regularly lauded as the best Business Class lounge in the world
• A route network that spans the globe and takes you to many destinations that no other airline can

This picture cannot be accurate!  

Seriously!  

Oh, I am just setting myself up for disappointment. It can't be as good as they say... 

The 5 'stans! It's finally happening.

This is the third blog I've created in as many weeks. My travel pre-planning has really ramped up.  The time change in Fall always makes me antsy to get out of town! 

For those of you keeping track: 

Feb 2025 - Borneo

Sept 2025 - 5 Stans 

Aug 2026 - Iceland 

So Borneo is going to keep me busy before I get to this one with any seriousness but I like to get things started when things start.  

I have been wanting to do this one for years.  After my insane year of travel in 2024 (Columbia, Newfoundland, Europe), I knew this one was going to work for 2025.  I held off until I could see if it would be on Black Friday sale.  It wasn't.  That's how I ended up booking a tour to Borneo! 30% off, thank you very much. 

I had my dates picked, I was ready to go.  But I booked Borneo so I delayed a few days.  When I went back in today, my date was completely sold out!!  I panic booked the next departure date, Sept 16,  I paid my deposit and that is kind of that for now.  

The Five Stans of the Silk Road

Although, I am trying to convince my friend Joe to join me for a portion of the tour.  We'll see how successful that is.  His wife has already said 'ah, no, not for me'.  It's not cheap so it might be an uphill battle to convince him to come. 

As per my usual, I booked a trip to a completely remote part of the world that I know nothing about and then read a few lines of the 'things to know' which included A Letter of Invitation may be required for your Uzbekistan Visa. which sort of caught my notice. Oh dear, as I went back to look that up, I see there are many more paragraphs in that email that include:   

A Letter of Invitation may be required for your Tajikistan Visa.

A Letter of Invitation may be required for your Kazakhstan Visa.

A Letter of Invitation may be required for your Kyrgyzstan Visa.

A Letter of Invitation may be required for your Turkmenistan Visa.

Hmm, this is obviously going to take some investigating.  As will this: 

• There are restrictions to your included departure transfer.:

  Please note, the departure transfer included occurs on the last day of the tour. If you plan to depart after the tour, you will be required to arrange post-tour accommodation through G Adventures to be eligible for the airport transport. Due to customer experience and quality considerations, all services related to the tour must be continuous.

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore... 

as predicted, no Kansas to be seen on this map

WHEW (80%).  Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan do not require visas for Canadians.  Turkmenistan requires a visa for all visitors.  

Another WHEW.  Looks like I have to apply for a 'letter of invitation' to G Adventures 40 days before we leave, who then submit it to Turkmenistan.  And it is all finalized when we cross the border.  But it looks like there will be no lollygagging in Ashgabat as my 'invitation' is only good to the end of the tour.  At least I save the 'visa fee and immigration tax' in the other counties.  Or at least the visa fee.  

I had a quick look at flights.  All round 'not great'. Expensive and long.  I thought I might take a jumper flight from Ashgabat back to Bishkek.  According to Rome2Rio, this is a 9 hour flight or a 40 hour train/bus trip!  I may be wildly underestimating distances in my head.  And that 'jumper' is almost $1500 bucks on its own!  I seems to be much cheaper to fly into Bishkek and out of Ashgabat. 'Cheaper' being a relative term.  

That's enough for my wee heed to process for now.  I'll get more serious after Borneo.