In soviet Russia, report trips you

[k_sheep]

Way back in June 2011, Jetstar announced it was beginning a new route to Beijing from Melbourne in May 2012, with a stopover in Singapore. To celebrate, they had an opening special and I managed to snare a seat MEL-PEK for $164 including seat selection. Of course, at this stage I didn't even know if I had a job next year, let alone where I might be, or if I could get annual leave, but those are minor details.

Fast forward to Jan/Feb 2012 and I knew where I was (luckily, it gets awkward when I forget and have to ask someone) and even managed to snag 3 weeks of annual leave. But here's the kicker ... I went to PEK and surrounds (Tianjin, Xi An) in 2010 and had no intention of going back. So started looking at other options, considering getting off in Singapore, or just flying from Beijing directly. Seoul? Japan? Nothing was really jumping out at me (mainly because it was all too expensive!).

Then I realised; PEK is the jumping off point for the trans-mongolian railway, which has always been on my bucket list. I figured I'd do it when I was old and decrepit, but it seems the universe was aligning.

I began looking at the trains, and quickly my heart sank when I realised my timing was just off, and if I wanted to get one of the "good" trains, I'd have to hang around PEK for 4 days. Now this was not appealing to me at all; I feel I've well and truly "done" PEK and didn't want to wait around on my precious time off. Inspiration struck, and I thought why not miss the boring China bit and fly straight to Ulaan Bataar? Genius!

This was also a bonus, as I didn't have to get a Chinese visa, because I am running very low on empty passport pages!

Mongolia has also been on my bucket list for a very long time, and I wanted to do it properly. A couple of years ago, my Dad actually moved there for work and fell in love with the place, but I'd never managed to visit (though we did meet halfway at my PEK trip in 2010). Sadly though the universe was not aligning at this point, and my Dad was actually in Australia during my trip! As all reports say to get from Ulaan bataar to Ulan ude or Irkutsk in Russia, you should get the bus not the train, I decided to shelve Mongolia as I didn't want to do it half coughdly (is that a word??). Plus, again, no visa required.

Luckily for me, a oneworld airline flies directly from PEK to IKT (Irkutsk), S7. So I had a general plan - fly to Irkutsk, then get on the transiberian train, then bum around eastern europe for a while. What a plan, hey?

 

[k_sheep]

Pre trip organising

Now I don't know if anyone has had the pleasure, but the Russian visa is a pain in the &(#*% to organise. You need to get someone to "invite" you, and give accommodation vouchers. Of course, in this day and age there are a million internet agencies who are only too happy to provide these vouchers and invitations for ~US$30. I went through Invitations for foreigners in Russia - Visa In Russia who were prompt and efficient.

I sent off all my paperwork to Sydney (Visa information. The Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Sydney). I had heard that the Canberra consulate is much quicker and less picky than Sydney, but I went with Sydney for a very superficial reason - they only needed 1 passport photo, whereas canberra wanted 2. I only had 1 photo and didn't want to spend the $10 on a new one. Now how's that for cheap and nasty!

Sydney promised to have my passport back in 7 business days. Now there's a laugh! It ended up taking almost 4 weeks, which had me sweating a little bit; I've never been so happy to have a slip in my mailbox saying I had a delivery to pick up at the post office!

So I started packing up my warm gear, and was ready to go!

 

[k_sheep]

Flight 1 - BNE to MEL 0555

This was my first trip as a Gold QFF. I was so excited to see I was able to select exit row seats! I nabbed 13A on my 734, however jumped up to 5F at T-78. I wanted to get my breakfast asap so I could have a nap for the rest of the flight (I am not a morning person!).

After arguing with the self checkin machines for several minutes I waved my white flag and went to line up at the staffed checkin desks. The line ogres tried to funnel me into the standard line, but I pulled out my OLCI boarding pass with Gold on it, and they begrudgingly allowed me passage. I must say the ground staff at BNE leave a lot to be desired. Even worse, my carefully chosen seat had been changed for 17A. Bah! I had better seat assignments as a NB! After much messing around, it was decided they couldn't check my bags through to PEK. They started fetching supervisors, but at this point I said I'll just pick them up in MEL, it's very easy to transfer there.

I sailed through the premium security line at BNE and headed for the QF briefly, just enough time to grab a newspaper and a diet coke (yes my breakfast habits are odd!). My flight was called, and I meandered down to the gate which was almost empty. Boarded, and found a moderately loaded flight with many middle seats free, including the one next to me.

As a small aside while waiting in an airbridge I was unfortunate to overhear 2 young ladies who seemed to be having a lying contest. The taller one complained about not being able to wear heels, the shorter one asked how tall she was and she said "6 foot, but I say 5 foot 11 so I don't seem like a freak". I have to say, this girl would've been 1-2cm shorter than me, and I'm barely 170cm, so don't know what tape measure she was using! The shorter one then want on to saying how much she flew (we all know the type) while waving around her boarding pass for 21E with her NB number on it.

Breakfast was served (some fairly flavourless museli, a carrot and marmalade muffin, and a juice cup). Breakfast really is going downhill on QF economy I have to say. However it's not quite bad enough yet to make me wake up earlier to eat at home or at the QP beforehand!

In MEL, the curse of the premium luggage tag struck, and my bag was one of the last ones to appear. I used to have such good bag fu! It's gone now. I grabbed it and quickly made my way over to the international terminal.

 

[jetlagger]

Re: Flight 1 - BNE to MEL 0555

Entertaining read.. Awaiting more.. Thanks in advance!

 

[k_sheep]

Flight 2 - JQ MEL-SIN 1100

I had not purchased food or bags for my jetstar trip, hoping that I would be able to snag an on departure upgrade at the airport. However 5 days before departure the travel gods smiled upon me, and I received an email offering an upgrade to Business class for $249, or Business max for $349. I was on the phone faster than Shane Warne, and after a 1 minute wait on hold I was quickly relieved of $344 for the max upgrade. Why 344 and not the 349 in the email? I'll never know, and will never ask. I can use that $5 for something else now!

I was assigned 3A on the phone. After my new booking went through I went online and changed it to 4H (or whatever the letter is on the right window) since it had a vacant seat next to it. At the airport, I waltzed to the premium line, and had to wait for one lady to redistribute her clothes amongst her 4 (!) checked bags. What a mess! Luckily they opened up another desk. I enquired as to whether my bags could be checked through to Irkutsk, however the checkin lady said no as it was some obscure airline. I mentioned "well actually, they're in the oneworld alliance" so she got a supervisor, who also stated she'd never heard of them. Head, meet brick wall. I am destined to spend this entire trip moving my bag around. Oh well. She handed me a boarding pass for 3A (why not my 4H I'll never know, I figured there was no point in asking) and off to the Business lounge I went.

I always like the MEL int lounge. Well designed and almost always able to find a quiet spot. They were still serving breakfast so I got some bacon, eggs and mushrooms and settled down with my netbook. My flight was called, and off I went.

There was a huge crowded line snaking through the terminal, but I cheekily snuck through and went to the front of the line. A DYKWIA in a suit shoved me aside and said "I paid for premium boarding". I let him go, then had a quiet chuckle as he started the long trek to the back of the plane.

I was seating next to a lovely chinese gentleman. The cabin was pretty full, with only 4 seats unoccupied (1 of which became occupied soon after takeoff, don't know where they came from! But I don't think it was a self upgrader as the staff worked hard to get him everything organised). On our seats were a bottle of water, blanket, noise cancelling headphones and an amenity pack. Photos of the JQ amenity pack have appeared here before, so I didn't bother with a photo. They contain a blow up neck pillow, socks, toothbrush/paste,eye mask, ear plugs, lip balm and moisturiser. Pre flight sparkling, juice and water were offered and I accepted the sparkling which wasn't too bad.

We took off with clear skies. The first thing distributed were SIN landing cards which I declined. Second was menus. They have one business menu for all of the flights, so I got to peruse what was offered on all the other routes! I took photos of every page, so if anyone want to know of any of the others let me know.




After dinner orders were taken, ipads were handed out for entertainment. I've never used an ipad or iphone or itouch in my life so I needed up some instruction! The screen quality seems very good, and I was easily able to see even with my window shade up (don't worry, I closed it 90% of the way when my neighbour was watching his ipad!). The entertainment choices are really quite limited though - only 4-7 movies per category (popular, australian, oscar winning and something else). In TV there 3-4 episodes of several series. Didn't really look at games.

I chose the chicken, with sourdough roll and a glass of sav blanc. The appetiser was pretty average ... who wants to eat cold pumpkin?? I love zucchini, but still ... eesh. The main was tasty enough, but to be honest, it's of the same (or even less) quality that you would get on Air Asia. The wine, however, was really quite nice.
I opted for the cheese platter which was pretty good. The fruit tasted fresh and sweet. I also opted to take advantage of the offered Baileys.


After plates were collected, lights were dimmed and cabin staff did their disappearing act. I went to the galley a couple of times for more water and they were happy to oblige but certainly didn't make themselves visible, or offer any topups.

I watched "In Time" (okay, wouldn't want to pay money to see it) and a few episodes of "New Girl" (meh, but it was something new) and "Modern Family" and "How I met your mother" - both favourites of mine, and I don't mind rewatching.

The ipads were collected probably 50 minutes before landing which is always disappointing.

We had a very smooth landing, and we were able to disembark quickly. After carefully checking the boarding time for the next flight with ground staff, I headed off to the Business Lounge for a shower and a tipple or 6. The lounge dragon didn't want to let me in on a business max boarding pass, and asked to see my QF card. I don't have my gold card yet and didn't bring my silver so she had to look it up. As a business max you are meant to be entitled to lounge access, however as I could get in as a gold I didn't press the matter. She stressed that there were no boarding announcements for jetstar and to keep an eye on the time.

 

[k_sheep]

Flight 3 - JQ SIN-PEK 1835 - disaster!

I reassured the lounge dragon I would leave in time for my boarding at 1835 as per the monitors. At 1825 I swallowed my last mouthful of sparkling and made my way to the gate. When I got there, it was totally empty. I managed to find a staff member who started yelling at me in a combination of English and Malay. Total rookie error! 1835 was the departure time, not boarding! I'd been offloaded! And even worse, I'd delayed their departure

The staff member escorted me to an immigration office and sat there arguing with them in Cantonese for some reason. In the end, she gave me a scrap of paper and said "call this number" and walked away. I called her back, asking where my bag had gone, and she said "it'll be down there" and motioned vaguely in some direction. Gee thanks. Luckily I am pretty familiar with Changi, and assumed it'd be at the left luggage counter.

I went and found a quiet corner to lick my wounds. This was not a familiar thing for me! I was so angry at myself for such a stupid mistake. Eventually I calmed down a little, and started looking for alternatives. Funnily enough, there's not a great many airlines flying to the middle of siberia at the last minute! So I looked to change my flights to the next day.

There were JQ flights SIN-PEK the next day, but no S7 PEK-IKT. Since I didn't have a chinese visa this wasn't an option. I called the JQ number who after many minutes on hold managed to get me onto the flight in 2 days time. As a bonus, it cost me nothing since I'd upgraded to the Max fare; if it had been anything else I would've forfeited the whole lot! Mind you, I'm not looking forward to the phone bill for such a long international roaming call!

Next I called S7, and attempted to find an English option. I mashed the keypad and somehow someone answered who figured out what I want and put me through to an English speaker. She was quite efficient, and able to change my flight for 2 days' time with an extra charge of RUB388 which, all things considered, is pretty damn reasonable. (still not looking at the dreaded phone bill though!)

By this stage, it was quite late, and I didn't want to navigate around the city by myself. So I set off for one of Changis' famous rest areas. To my horror, they were gone! I took off roaming, looking for a suitable patch of carpet (I've slept in many an airport). I ventured upstairs (in T1, near the subway) and found that the reclining chairs had migrated north for the Summer. So I claimed one, padlocked my bag to my belt loops, donned my jetstar-provided eye shade and promptly fell asleep.

I awoke fairly fresh in the morning, and grabbed some breakfast. Since I had roughed it I decided I could splurge a little on tonights' accommodation. I saw SPG had the Sheraton available for US$90 +4800pts so snapped that up. I hung around the airport for a while, intending to go on one of the free city tours, however they wanted an onward boarding pass. So I leached a little more free internet before heading into town. To my delight, my SPG booking showed that I had been upgraded to an executive business room (whatever that is).

I took the MRT (S$3.10 inc $1 refundable deposit - naturally I hadn't bought my SIN MRT card as I wasn't intending to stopover) to the hotel at around 11am. I was happy to drop my bags and go out until the room was ready, however she said they had a standard room ready if I wanted one now. I gratefully accepted ... then it turns out it was on a low floor right next to the lifts and cleaning room. Damn! Oh well, beggars can't be choosers. Both late check out and gold amenity were offered without prompting (I took the internet).

I actually hung out at the hotel most of the day, as I was completely unprepared for the tropics - I had no shorts, bikini, hat or anything! I'm meant to be in siberia! So like a typical tourist I hid in the air con until the sun went down. Since I had skipped lunch, I decided a decent dinner was in order. Belly, meet chilli crab! (from Jumbo restaurant at Clarke Quay). Shared a table with a lovely Aussie/Scot and German/Yank who were here for a conference. They were very interested and surprised to hear that I was going through Russia by myself, and several times told me to stay safe. I decided to walk (or rather roll) back to the hotel after that, though moving was somewhat difficult. Dessert was definitely off the cards!



Back at the Sheraton, somewhat disappointed to see no turndown service. I almost always decline housekeeping during the day (I'm a bit of a greenie at heart), but it's always nice to have fresh water and ice at night.

Tomorrow is time for some shopping (unfortunately only for boring things like food for my train trip! Don't want to add more weight to my backpack than I have to!) and eating, and then get to the airport very freakin' early!! Not risking missing it again!

 

[moa999]

Re: Flight 3 - JQ SIN-PEK 1835 - disaster!

Nice start and sorry to hear about the offload but glad it didnt cost too much.
I have spent a number of $s on mobile/skype/vencall to get flights sorted in similar situations.

Look forward to the updates.

 

[k_sheep]

Re: Flight 3 - JQ SIN-PEK 1835 - disaster!

Skype, now why didn't I think of that? *facepalm*

/starts installing skype on this netbook ....

 

[Major]

Re: Flight 3 - JQ SIN-PEK 1835 - disaster!

Having been to Soviet Russia some decades ago I am looking forward to the rest of your TR. I like your writing style

 

[k_sheep]

Re: Flight 3 - JQ SIN-PEK 1835 - disaster!

First time anyone has ever accused me of having style

Have been spending the day lapping up the glorious heat (actually, it's raining so the humidity is off the charts but I quite like it) and tropical fruits (anyone for mango?). Went to the supermarket and stocked up on food for the long train trip - lots of cup noodles, soup sachets and snacks. I will soon head to the airport, and will be very very early!!

 

[jetlagger]

Re: Flight 3 - JQ SIN-PEK 1835 - disaster!

Brilliant TR..Despite your setbacks, love your positive & confident spirit! I've been in similar situations like yours a few times, or more! through fault & also no fault of my own... :mrgreen:

 

[Timba-Jet]

Have thoroughly enjoyed reading your TR so far. Seems like you held your composure well despite the flight leaving without you in SIN.

Look forward to reading your adventures in Siberia.

 

[Justinf]

Loving it. Keep em coming.

 

[james1]

Would like to echo others. Great report. Looking forward to more!

 

[k_sheep]

Hi everyone, sorry for slow posting on updates, but have been somewhat sparse on the internet front as well as too busy to post! Currently am completely sozzled on $4/bottle russian vodka so is best not to update now, but will reassure you more is on the way!

It actually took me 6 goes to type "vodka". Ooooooh dear.


edit: and thank you everyone for your kind words. I know I am not a writer, but I am a unique traveler who loves sharing experiences!

 

[flyingfan]

I love the thread title - only recently got the reference

Look forward to reading more.

 

[Ansett]

Good report

I am off to Novosibirsk in July flying Sydney Hong Kong Beijing and then Novosibirsk flying Qantas Dragon and S7 will also try and get trip report for you all. But will say what a pain getting a Visa though but then it does look rather flash.

 

[dodgeyhack]

Awesome read!
Bad luck on missing the flight in SIN, did add some drama to the report though so not all bad

 

[Wezza]

Hi everyone, sorry for slow posting on updates, but have been somewhat sparse on the internet front as well as too busy to post! Currently am completely sozzled on $4/bottle russian vodka so is best not to update now, but will reassure you more is on the way!

It actually took me 6 goes to type "vodka". Ooooooh dear.


edit: and thank you everyone for your kind words. I know I am not a writer, but I am a unique traveler who loves sharing experiences!

Love those $4 bottles of vodka! :mrgreen:

I got 2 bottles of vodka & a free axe for $12 while I was there.... WINNING!!! :mrgreen:

 

[jetlagger]

Love those $4 bottles of vodka! :mrgreen:

I got 2 bottles of vodka & a free axe for $12 while I was there.... WINNING!!! :mrgreen:

What is/was the axe for? .... Dangerous combination... vodka & axe :evil: