PC Blog 3: 4 Continents, 3 Travel Days, 2 Cancelled Flights, and an Unexpected Turkish Delight

Note: This blog entry was first posted on Tuesday, October 4. The names of those involved have been changed unless permission was given to use their actual names.

Picking up our story from where we left off, after several successive restive naps, which is what constitutes a ‘full-nights’ sleep on a red-eye flight, we awoke to breakfast over Europe. Though we had left Boston late because of the delay, we were still expected to make our connecting flight because we would still arrive at the scheduled time (something about there not being any speed limits in the air). However, when we tried to find out from the stewardesses which gate we would be arriving at so that we could plot out our hurried dash through the airport for our connecting flight, we were met with blank stares. Apparently, those sorts of things aren’t planned out ahead of time at the Istanbul Airport and we’d arrive at whatever gate would be next available. So after re-stowing our scattered belongings and finally touching down in Istanbul… we waited… and waited… Few things are quite as frustrating as being grounded inside a crowded airplane when you have another flight to catch.

We were getting quite good at waiting by this point of our journey, but as the minutes quickly ticked by, we became more and more anxious about making our connecting flight. However, even after explaining our predicament to the flight crew, they seemed confident that we could still make our next flight (it was Turkish Airlines as well), and since there were 16 of us, which was surely a non-insignificant portion of the next plane, perhaps they would hold it for us if it came to that? After awhile longer of waiting, we were finally able to dock at a gate and we all hastily disembarked from the plane. Fortunately, Joey, as I’ll remain calling him, who was sitting nearer the front of the plane, was able to arrange for an airport staff to take us directly to our gate. After collecting us all together in a little side corridor as the rest of the passengers filed past, we were whisked up an escalator to the upper walkways of the International Wing, where we could stare down upon the plebeians below who did not have the privilege of an official airport escort. The original scheduled departure time had already passed, but with our guide confidently leading us, we walked briskly on, now more anxious about the prospect of yet another long international flight than that of it leaving without us. We did stop for a few minutes at the junction between terminals for our guide to take a phone call, presumably to get more information about the gate we should be heading towards, after which we were quickly led directly to… the Turkish visa counter.

Apparently, unbeknownst to us until that very moment, the airline was no longer confident in our ability to make our next flight because they were now 100% confident that we had in fact already missed it, so we would need to stay overnight in Istanbul to catch the same flight on the following day. We each paid the $30 fee for our visas, which interestingly could only be paid for with USD, not the Turkish Liras that a few had already exchanged for, made our way through the unplanned customs check without much incident, and settled in for another wait as our lodging arrangements were negotiated with the airlines, lead by Joey, who was once again fulfilling his role as airport leader. Luckily, we didn't have to reclaim our checked bags, so we at least didn't have to haul them everywhere around the airport with us.

The Istanbul Airport. Shortly after this picture was taken, I was almost run over by those carts.

At one point, after we had all started to scatter to buy souvenirs or purchase the airport Wi-Fi, we needed to get everyone back together to get our tickets and passports for the airline to schedule our new flight, so I volunteered to get the two, whom I’ll call Goliath and Kitty-chan, who had gone outside to get some “fresh air” (i.e., a smoke break). Apparently, it was not a great idea to leave the airport, however, as two guards with large rifles were guarding the exit, preventing re-entry. After I met up with the other two and they explained that we’d need to re-enter through a different gate, we three made the small trek further down the building past three other gates before we found the one that would actually let us in. Of course, this also meant that we would have to pass through security… AGAIN… where we were scolded by an exasperated Turkish security guard, who didn’t seem to speak much English (nor we Turkish), about our lackluster battery packing skills, which were apparently not up to their Turkish standards. After assuring her and her English-speaking colleague that we were just trying to reconnect with our friends and were not actually going on another flight again that day, they eventually let us pass, and we were finally able to return to the others, who by now had started looking for all three of us. Luckily, none of them did more than poke their heads outside in their search, being quicker to understand the purpose of the guards outside the exit, so no one else needed to be rescued from the outdoors.

View of Istanbul from our floor of the hotel.

Our skills at waiting now approaching Olympic medalist levels, we were eventually given tickets for the same flight the following day and accomodation at a local hotel. A few of us overheard that at least some other passengers that had missed the same plane wouldn’t be able to get a new flight for several more days, so this was the first time we had to wonder if our American/Peace Corps privilege had come into play to get our own tickets so soon. Whatever the case, we were then led to a bus for a three-quarters hour drive into Istanbul to reach the hotel (like many other major airports, it wasn’t actually located within its namesake city, but slightly removed from it).

The hotel itself was very nice and also very accomodating. They offered to take us on a short bus tour of the city, but for safety reasons, our Peace Corps overlords made us decline for security and health reasons (we had still been masked this entire time, because contracting COVID while traveling was still a major concern). The hotel even provided us dinner free of charge, which was a decent pasta dish, after which everyone made their way to the hotel bar to unwind (where they more than made up for the cost of our complimentary meal).

Seating area of the lobby, where we spent a lot of time sitting.

The next morning, those of us with the foresight to pack an additional change of clothes in our carry-ons came down feeling refreshed - those of us that didn’t, not so much so, but at least we were all well-rested. I lent gave my roommate, whom I’ll call Esau, the pair of slippers I kept from the airplane (so he could wash his socks in the sink) which he loved and dubbed his “slides”. Downstairs, the buffet-style breakfast was spectacular, with dozens of different types of pastries, breads, fruits, cereals, a salad bar, made to order eggs, sausage (which I was a little surprised by in a predominantly Muslim country), and everything else you’d expect at an upscale hotel breakfast. They even had, as the title of this blog entry would suggest, Turkish Delight!

Our hotel room. Wish we could have spent more time here!

Full view of our hotel in the distance.

After packing, we mostly just stayed around the hotel (as instructed) for several more hours until our departure. We especially appreciated interacting with one particular guest: the stray cats whom the hotel staff seemed incapable of keeping out of the lobby and dining room, where they’d dart in and out among the tables as people were eating. Surprisingly, the cats seemed more interested in human attention than food. I also learned during our time waiting that apparently many people from other European countries would come to Turkey for cheap cosmetic surgeries, because judging by the number of vans parked out front sporting advertising for such, our hotel seemed to be a hub for it. Having enjoyed our fill of the hotel environs (though had we been allowed into the city, we would have happily stayed for several more days), we were loaded into vehicles and whisked back to the airport for the (hopefully) last leg of our journey.

One of our feline friends bathing themself in the lobby.

After some indecision about whether we needed to check-in at the counter since we already had our new tickets, as well as whether we needed to get our carry-ons approved again (Turkish Airlines gave us a lot of hassle about them in Boston afterall), we eventually made it through security with only a short wait in the no-man’s land between the passport check and security for myself and Esau as we waited for the last straggler to reclaim their lost boarding pass from the check-in counters. As when we arrived, however, gates were not assigned until shortly before departure, so we mostly just hung around the various bars and restaurants in the airport, waiting for our gate to be posted and hoping it wouldn’t be too far.

Once it was finally announced, probably about 30 minutes before boarding, we made our way to the gate, which was sort of closed off because you needed to show your passport and ticket before even entering the seating area (at least it had its own separate bathrooms so you didn’t have to show your ID to take a pee). With only a brief scare that a few stragglers wouldn’t make it in time, we were all 16 finally together again just as they started boarding. This was the first time on our journey that we were actually around other Africans, which a majority of the passengers understandably were. However, my communication skills with them were rather lacking, since we didn’t yet know any local languages and a majority seemed to be more francophone-speaking since our flight would be stopping at Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso first. Since our tickets for this flight had only been booked the day prior, our seats were rather poor (I was stuck in the middle between two strangers), but luckily for myself at least, I was able to upgrade to an aisle seat by switching with a guy who wanted to sit next to his friend. Though still Turkish Airlines, this flight was noticeably cheaper, with a smaller and older airplane and virtually no freebies (no complimentary slippers this time).

Our flight to Ouagadougou was rather uneventful, and I mostly just slept. As we landed, those of us continuing on to Sierra Leone were told to stay on the plane as roughly ⅔ of the other passengers sleepily shuffled off. With how everything else had gone, I was half expecting us to be forced to stay the night in Burkina Faso because of some other complication (which I knew the Peace Corps would not be happy about - they had pulled their program out of the country several years prior for security concerns). So I was actually a little surprised when the doors shut, the cabin lights went out, and we took off without further incident.

Because a majority of the original passengers had gotten off and there were only a few new ones to get on, we were left in a rather empty plane, and I had a full row of 3 seats all to myself! Taking advantage of this perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I did what any other sane person would do and fired up all three of the headrest entertainment systems, deciding that the best use of my time would be to watch all three simultaneously. I turned them each to a different Harry Potter film (1, 5, and 7 Part 2 - they didn’t have Part 1 for some reason) and started watching them all, switching my headphones from one to the other as something interesting happened. It was glorious.

After nearly two hours (not quite enough time to finish any of the movies), we finally touched down in Sierra Leone after nearly three days of travel. As we gathered our things and approached the open cabin door, the first thing I noticed was the humidity, even at nearly midnight. I guess it WAS the rainy season, afterall.

Touchdown at Lungi International Airport, Sierra Leone!.

Stepping off the plane, we were immediately greeted by a very welcome site: Peace Corps Salone staff! They were very helpful in assisting us with picking up our checked bags (the airlines had only lost about a quarter of them, and only one person lost BOTH their bags, so that’s not too bad, right? … ). After I very thankfully got both of my bags onto a trolley, we got our pictures taken for our visa paperwork, which went very smoothly with help from the Peace Corps staff. They even showed a few of us where to get money exchanged to become millionaires for the first time in our lives (I’ll have a Salone Blog entry about money sometime later).

Greetings by the plane! Photo courtesy of Peace Corps Sierra Leone.

After we made it through customs and all the lost baggage claims had been submitted (we had all put green yarn on our bags so they should be easy to find, right?), they led us outside to meet… virtually the entirety of the Peace Corps Staff, all singing choruses of “Kabo, Kabo!” ("Welcome!"). We went through several rounds of pictures, after which our bags were loaded onto a rather sizable box truck and we were loaded onto a rather nice bus to be taken to our hotel for the first week of (quarantined) training. But that’s a tale for the next post.

Greetings by the bus! Photo courtesy of Peace Corps Sierra Leone.

Note: Regarding the number of continents, Istanbul is located right at what is considered the boundary between Europe and Asia. On the ground, we stayed only on the European side, but it’s very likely we flew over a bit of the Asian side during either arrival or departure. Even if not, It makes for a much better story if I say 4 continents instead of 3.