Moldova in a round-about sort of way

[RooFlyer]

The menu for the MEL-DOH leg, and the wine list - Champagnes for @Major .

As we know, QR has true 'dine-on demand' - anything from the menu, at any time. They'll tell you how long it will take to prepare/arrive.











The amenity kit was pretty useless - usual couple of lotions and lip balm, a pair of socks and an eye mask. No ear-plugs or toothbrush etc (nor in the lavs, like SQ have). PJs and slippers provided.



We had a change of crew at Melbourne, and I thought good - the crew from Adelaide seemed quite inexperienced, but the new crew, while pleasant and always there to do whatever you ask, also seemed new-ish.

Biz cabin was full.

We re-traced our path back towards Adelaide, passing the mouth of the Murray river:

 

[RooFlyer]

Quite a bit later, I had some dinner.

Amuse bouche of a zesty tuna ceviche



Burrata cheese with tomatoes etc



Main of WA crayfish with ginger soy. And I think that was kale on the side. It was quickly ejected.



And the best of all, the dessert - apple crème cake with sticky caramel etc. God, it was nice.



We then tracked over southern WA and I love the outback landscape - stock tracks to a watering hole:



The a bit of extra interest as a few mines rolled past. Not in an area I was familiar with though, at least for many years; sort of around Laverton and to its NW; and most long closed (filled with water).









Scratching my head on this one - maybe Twiggy Forrest's old Anaconda laterite nickel??? Note the paved landing strip. EDIT. Yes, that's what it is/was. Visited there when it was in trials - a vast industrial landscape with acid production plants, huge titanium thermo-compression chambers that looked like submarines. Yes, Andrew Forrest has a 'colourful' history. The landing strip is Murrin Murrin.

 

[RooFlyer]

We arrived at Doha about 30 mins early, but to a remote gate. But of course the Qataris know how to do busses - I've shown the First Class bus before, and this is the business class one; only 2/3 full, at that.



Originally, my transit was about 3 hours - pretty ideal, if in the middle of the night. This was opened out to about 10 hours, with the flight in arriving at 11pm and out at 8:50am. This mean an overnight stay - like I said, with awards redemptions you rarely get to choose optimal timing. So I bit the bullet HARD and had a night at the airside Oryx hotel - a cool $420 . Yes, sure, more dollars than sense, but I value sleep, which is a bit scarce anyway when I'm travelling.





The view (there was no noise at all)



Next morning, out to Gate 40A for the flight to Istanbul (SAW), via brekkie at the J lounge. A quick refresher for those who haven't been there. There are now 2 J lounges - this is the original; there are also a plethora of other plat and silver lounges, as well as the Al Safwa First lounge.

Shows the upper restaurant, one of two







The signage at DOH is terrible; conflicting, scarce, missing, too many:



I had a bit of time, so checked out the Oryx 'Garden Hotel' at the end of the C pier. As people have concluded, it is not bookable by the public - QR uses it as their transit-package hotel.

 

[RooFlyer]

It was a 13 year-old A320 from DOH to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) on the 'Asian' side of Istanbul. A remote stand again, with the business bus coming last. It was one of the most convoluted and long drives out to a remote stand (call it remote-beyond-finding), but we got there, somehow. Three rows of 2 each side.



Menu and wine list











Would have preferred this wine list to the past flight - being brekkie, I restrained myself, just having a few Rieslings over a plate of cold cuts, which I deemed to be lunch.



Flying in to Istanbul; I love this city!

​

 

[RooFlyer]

When I said business class, it wasn't all class:



Flight details:



Immigration was OK - 10 mins. My print-out of my EVisa was ignored - it was in the system. Bags took 25 mins till mine came out; for the last 15 mins of that wait, bags were dribbling out 2-by-2 ...

Picked up by my arranged ride - obviously TKWIA



A pretty good run into the city where I'm staying for 2 nights - we came in via the new-ish, I think tunnel between east and west sides, at the southern end of the Bosphorus channel. I was thinking that this would NOT be a good time for an earthquake to occur.

Staying at the Mercure Istanbul Sirkeci, just along from the spice market and down from the Topkapi Palace/ Hagia Sophia area. Small place, two very good check in guys, allowed me to see a couple of rooms before I chose (I was looking for somewhere very quiet) and I chose a room where the view is about 2 m to the back wall of the next-door building. Perfect.



Tiny room, but it will do.





Quick walk up the hill to get the cobwebs out. A beautiful day in Istanbul and I walked past a few old friends.





Coming back here tomorrow



Welcome to Istanbul

 

[cosi]

Enjoying your trip report and I see you are a Apple person because the Flighty App is not yet available on Android.

Flighty — A new way to track flights

From the FAQ

Is there an Android app?​

Not yet. Because we are a tiny self-funded team we must focus our efforts for now. Depending on how fast and how well iOS succeeds will determine how quickly we can work on Android. So support us by trying it on your iPad or Mac, or telling friends with iPhones! Email [email protected] with 'Android' as the email title to be notified of updates.

 

[cosi]

So I sent an email and got this reply

Thanks for your interest!

As a team of 3 without external funding, we currently have to focus 100% on iOS to establish the product and get business more stable. You can help by spreading the word to iOS friends!

We do have native iPad and Mac apps, since I know some Android users have those devices too.

And you can join the Android waitlist. Thanks for your support of Flighty!

 

[Pushka]

So I sent an email and got this reply

You can help by spreading the word to iOS friends!

That's kind of a slap hey?

 

[RooFlyer]

Enjoying your trip report and I see you are a Apple person because the Flighty App is not yet available on Android.

Thanks; I only have an iPhone, PCs/Windows other than that (including tablet).

 

[Mr H]

Looking forward to this one - I was in Moldavia and Pridnestrovie in May

It will be very interesting to see what PMR makes of the fall of Artsakh. The impression I got in May was that the PMR was on its very last legs as Russia's money that had supported the state was diverted to the Ukrainian front. There was an Artsakh flag flying in Tiraspol alongside (I think) the Abkhazian and South Ossetian flags - so they clearly drew courage from their fellow breakaway republics. The loss of one of them will be a body blow to the national psyche.

 

[RooFlyer]

I've been to Istanbul twice before and wouldn't have stopped over except to add padding to the QR Award flight. But I love it, so its no burden.

I have no 'must sees' to do, but intend to revisit a few sights following renovations.

First is the Hagia Sophia. Its had scaffolding up inside the past two times and I was hopeful of it all being done. I rocked up at 8:30 intending to have a coffee nearby for 9:00 opening, but a queue had started, and was growing fast, so I joined it, hoping for a little quiet in there first up.

Hard to take this seriously:



Just amazing



Alas, yes, the scaffolding is down, but now they have ghastly crowd control barriers all around the interior of what is a working mosque. But its still breath-taking looking up







And unfortunately you can't access the gallery upstairs any more, where there are some wonderful 12th century mosaics. I wrote and had pics of them in my 2020 TR.



But at least there is the one on the exit, which most people blithely miss as its above and behind you as you walk out

 

[RooFlyer]

Looking forward to this one - I was in Moldavia and Pridnestrovie in May

It will be very interesting to see what PMR makes of the fall of Artsakh. The impression I got in May was that the PMR was on its very last legs as Russia's money that had supported the state was diverted to the Ukrainian front. There was an Artsakh flag flying in Tiraspol alongside (I think) the Abkhazian and South Ossetian flags - so they clearly drew courage from their fellow breakaway republics. The loss of one of them will be a body blow to the national psyche.

Oh! Can you help with the transport situation at the airport? Are the taxis orderly, or a rabble, and do they have meters? Tossing up whether to organise the hotel to arrange a car, but disinclined to the expense.

Am also going to another separatist-inclined area to the SW. Can't spell it now ...

 

[Lat34]

I've been to Istanbul twice before and wouldn't have stopped over except to add padding to the QR Award flight. But I love it, so its no burden.

I have no 'must sees' to do, but intend to revisit a few sights following renovations.

First is the Hagia Sophia. Its had scaffolding up inside the past two times and I was hopeful of it all being done. I rocked up at 8:30 intending to have a coffee nearby for 9:00 opening, but a queue had started, and was growing fast, so I joined it, hoping for a little quiet in there first up.

Hard to take this seriously:

View attachment 344706

Just amazing

View attachment 344707

Alas, yes, the scaffolding is down, but now they have ghastly crowd control barriers all around the interior of what is a working mosque. But its still breath-taking looking up

View attachment 344708

View attachment 344709

View attachment 344711

And unfortunately you can't access the gallery upstairs any more, where there are some wonderful 12th century mosaics. I wrote and had pics of them in my 2020 TR.

View attachment 344712

But at least there is the one on the exit, which most people blithely miss as its above and behind you as you walk out

View attachment 344713

View attachment 344714

I'm with you.... a stopover in Istanbul is never a burden. Rooftop bars, terrific food, fabulous sights and of course a traditional pummelling in the hamam

 

[RooFlyer]

and of course a traditional pummelling in the hamam

That's this afternoon ...

 

[RooFlyer]

By the time I exited the queue to enter had grown very long and by late morning it was hundreds of metres long.

Next, the Topkapi Palace, which also had sections closed for renovation during my last visit, notably the Treasury. Still pretty early, so not crowded yet.







In the Treasury, which was worth coming back to. A bit 'o bling, here:





Spoonmaker's diamond

 

[Mr H]

Oh! Can you help with the transport situation at the airport? Are the taxis orderly, or a rabble, and do they have meters? Tossing up whether to organise the hotel to arrange a car, but disinclined to the expense.

Am also going to another separatist-inclined area to the SW. Can't spell it now ...

I arrived in Kishinev by train, sorry. I think the taxis will be quite orderly. One thing the Soviets did was instil a sense of orderliness. The traffic does seize up in rush hour, though, and it was hairy getting to the airport in time for my flight out.

The bit in the SW is Gagauzia. I'm told there are lots of goats there.

I was on an organised tour and our Pridnestrovian guide was an American who calls himself Tim Tiraspol. He is quite melodramatic and over-theatricalises everything, but overall he added more than he subtracted. He definitely knows the places to go, which are not always obvious.

One of the highlights for me was Soroca, the Gypsy capital. Tim Tiraspol managed to persuade one of the gypsy kings to let us into his half-built palace which was full of stolen mobile phones and other electronics. I think Tim paid him $30 as an unrequested (but definitely expected) tip.

 

[RooFlyer]

continuing ...















Looking after the geologists ...



Many of the little pavilions with exquisite tile-work are now 'no photographs' areas, but I got some pics in my 2016 visit and TR.

By the time I exited, just before noon, the traffic into the monument was huge.

 

[clifford]

I admire your decision to visit Moldova at this point in time.

I was thinking of visiting Moldova later this year, as part of a trip to Turkey and UK, but opted out due to the war raging fairly close by (and Moscow's unpredictable antics).

I might be very brave wanting to walk the backstreets of downtown Melbourne at 4am, but Moldova was a step too far for me.

Have a great trip!

 

[RooFlyer]

I might be very brave wanting to walk the backstreets of downtown Melbourne at 4am, but Moldova was a step too far for me.

Whatever you do, don't call me brave. No,no, no - I don't do brave.

I put some of the Stans in a similar category to Moldova. When you get there, and get the vibe, it's nowhere near as bad as the view from Oz. Hope so, any way.

 

[Mr H]

Whatever you do, don't call me brave. No,no, no - I don't do brave.

I put some of the Stans in a similar category to Moldova. When you get there, and get the vibe, it's nowhere near as bad as the view from Oz. Hope so, any way.

Moldavia is far away from the bit of Ukraine that has fighting. You can look across the border to Ukraine and see peaceful villages and farms. But you are brave in a different way. Moldavia has almost no tourism and is not classically beautiful. English is not widely spoken. If it is like the Stans, it has more in common with the secondary towns and cities in Tajikistan than with Bukhara, Tashkent or Frunze.