Mumbai International Airport

Arrival at Mumbai International Airport (Chhatrapati Shivaji) and transfer to the Domestic terminal was blissfully straightforward and efficient. At passport control we produced our e-Tourist Visas, and were processed quickly enough. After clearing passport control, we strolled into a large and surpringly empty Arrivals Hall.

This was a welcome result: We had been expecting to be mobbed by taxi drivers as soon as we’d passed through security, as has happened on previous visits to India. Access to airport buildings is now much more secure, which makes arrival far less stressful.

Mumbai International Arrivals Hall – Terminal 2

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Istanbul Leather Shopping

One of the bonuses of a short stay in Istanbul is the opportunity for shopping. There are some great bargains to be had in the bazaars and highstreets of the city, and if its leather you’re after, look no further.

If you have the time, probably one of the cheaper places for leather shopping is away from the center – in the Zeytinburnu district. This is around 5 km to the west of central Sultanahmet. It was our intention to spend our last afternoon shopping for a couple of leather jackets, but our limited time was rapidly running out.

Of course, leather shops are just about everywhere in the city, so it wasn’t long before we were drawn in to a couple to check out the prices.

Some of the cafes are definately ”Men Only”

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Istanbul Mosques and Minarets

We dedicated our first full day in Istanbul to visiting some of the “must see” mosques, museums and monuments. Because there are so many of these, and we had such a limited amount of time, we had to be quite selective.

In part, this was made easier for us by the opening times of some of the places we wanted to visit. Hagia Sofia is supposed to be closed on Mondays, and we read that the Topkapi Palace was closed on Tuesdays. Since we had just a Monday and a Tuesday, we decided to start from the Blue Mosque and see how far we could get. In fact, we found Hagia Sofia to be open on the Monday, so we visited there next. After that, we included the unscheduled (but very worthwhile) Basilica Cistern.

These three places alone were enough to occupy our time and satisfy our cultural curiosity on our first day.

The Gilded Interior of the German Fountain

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Istanbul Eateries and Accommodation

We would only have 2 nights and days in Istanbul. To optimize our time in the city, and to find the best Istanbul eateries, we did as much planning as we could before leaving home.

After sorting out our transfers, our next priorities were accommodation and food. Following a good deal of online research, we’d decided that the best area to base ourselves for such a short stay was Sultanahmet. We would be close to most of the attractions and restaurants, and wouldn’t need much use of any local transport.

From our shortlist of around a dozen hotels, we settled on the Angel Home Hotel, close to the Blue Mosque on Amiral Tafdil Sokak.

The Angel Home Hotel turned out to be a very pleasant surprise.

They gave us a  beautifully decorated room on the 2nd floor. Attached to the room was a fully-equipped marble bathroom with heated floor. In the bedroom we had slippers, personal dressing gowns, minibar and complimentary tea, coffee, water and sweets.

Best of all, there was a large and very comfortable bed.

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Istanbul DIY-style

Planning our visit to Istanbul from the comfort of our living room, using Google Earth as our map reference, seemed straightforward enough. Why bother with expensive transfers when you can reach Istanbul DIY-style.

We would be arriving at Sabiha Gokcen – the furthest of the 2 airports which service the city, in the mid-afternoon. Our plan was first to get some local cash from an airport ATM. We would then purchase an Istanbul Card (a sort of all-purpose top-up travel card). After that, we would take a Havatas bus from the airport to Yenikapi bus station south of the city centre. From there, we would have a short 2 km walk along the sea-front to our hotel in Sultanahmet.

Back to reality – Turkish style…

Istanbul DIY-style

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Turkish Airlines Inflight Experience

We were quite excited about flying with Turkish Airlines for the first time. Our expectations of the Turkish Airlines inflight experience were justifiably high, considering they are currently the No.4 airline in the world – ahead of Emirates at No.5 (see The World’s Top 100 Airlines).

They would surely provide an inflight experience to savour and remember.

In fact, finding this particular flight – with such a highly recommended airline – was a major factor in determining our holiday itinerary.

However, our inflight experience with Turkish Airlines was somewaht under-whelming. Considering their position in the rankings, maybe our expectations were too high.

Our Turkish Airlines Inflight Experience – Somewhat underwhelmimg

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India 2016

India 2016: Choosing the best dates and flights for a South-East Asian trip involves a little more than just picking a few free weeks to visit shortly before you leave. When it comes to finding some of the best travel opportunities, it often pays to start making yours plans well in advance.

The major cost of most trips to the tropics is the airfare. A good way to get the cheapest fares – on the best airlines – is to start searching several months before your trip. Flexibility also helps. We started planning our 2016 trip back in October 2015. We had several promising itineraries:

• The Caribbean, taking a relocation cruise back to Europe
• The Seychelles (from Rome returning to Paris)
• South Africa (via Dublin).
• South India (via Istanbul and Edinbugh).

We researched each of these primary destinations in search of the best flights on offer. By best, we don’t necessarily mean the cheapest: There are some good deals with Air Seychelles, but you’ll get what you pay for. Check out the The World’s Top 100 Airlines and you’ll find Air Seychelles way down below position 60. For long distances, we’re looking for an airline at least in the top 20, and ideally in the top 5.

This was how we stumbled upon what looked like a great deal with Turkish Airlines (currently No. 4 in the world, ahead of Emirates at No. 5).

After trying multiple dates and city combinations on their website, we assembled a rich itinerary for a visit to India, as follows:

• Rome – Istanbul
• Istanbul – Mumbai
• Mumbai – Edinburgh

This itinerary would span 31 days, primarily in India, but including 3 short city stays in Rome, Istanbul and Edinburgh. Not bad for just €457 per person… and with the No.3 airline in the world. We booked the flight in late 2015, 4 months before the departure date.

Once this flight was booked there was no going back: the trip became a reality. The flight schedule provided the framework for the rest of the trip: Everything else had to be planned and coordinated accordingly.

Canacona – Palolem Beach

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