This is about a trip taken in July last year from Bishkek to Athens via Istanbul. After six months in Asia I was going back to Europe to spend the rest of the summer. Kyrgyzstan is a wonderful country that I advise everyone to visit. Pics of it and other my trips can be seen on my Instagram page.
At the moment I was leaving, we were seeing temperatures in Bishkek of around 40 degrees in the evening or between 50-60 Celsius during the day. That is hotter than I experienced in India or anywhere else in the world.
I was heading to the Southern part of Albania to spend the remaining of the summer, due to its perfectly dry climate. The Southern part of Albania around Butrint was known since the Roman times for its healing properties. I’ve spent the month of June in the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan which boasts one of the deepest mountain lakes in the world.
Lake Issyk-Kul facing the snow-capped Trans-Ili Alatau range
The options from Bishkek to Europe were quite scarce. I wasn’t looking forward to going to Almaty. It was basically down to Pegasus, Turkish Airlines and a few local companies flying to either Istanbul or Moscow. Air Astana from Kazakhstan was also an option but they’re often 2-3 times more expensive than the competition and take long detours via Almaty or Astana. Due to my personal contempt of Turkish Airlines, it was basically down to Pegasus.
I didn’t take the flight to Tirana due to the Sarande area being more accessible by road from the Greek side. Also, I’ve considered separate flights with Avia Traffic Company from Bishkek to Istanbul (ISL) then Aegean to Ioannina, Thessaloniki or Corfu via Athens but the connections simply wouldn’t match. The Avia Traffic flight arrives too late at around 01AM and misses the Greek connections by an hour or more, forcing me to spend a day in Istanbul along with the commute to and from the remote recently built airport.
So, I booked a flight on the 19.07 departing at 08:30 in the morning. Bishkek at 06:00 was surprisingly pleasant before the hot wave hits.
The gates of Bishkek
The airport, Manas, is very far from the city center. Approximately 30-40 kilometers. Why was it built in that place (less than a dozen kilometers from the Kazakh border), despite abundant space around the city, I don’t know.
The airport is linked with the city by a beautiful tree-lined highway. However, in recent years the city authorities have reduced the maximum speed on the highway to about 60km per hour taking you about an hour to reach the airport.
The terminal interior and the check-in area
The airport is organized in a very old style and didn’t go through renovation since the Soviet times. I arrived only one hour before departure and was told by the check-in agent that I would have normally missed my flight if not for a bug they had in the system. A number of airports around the world and in the former Soviet Union – Bishkek included – close the check-in one hour and not 45 minutes before departure. There is no notice about it anywhere in the ticket.
Bishkek Manas apron
Kazakh steppe
The rest of the trip to Istanbul was uneventful. We overflew most of the Kazakh steppe, Aktau, the Caspian sea, Georgia then over the Black sea to Istanbul. The flight took almost six hours.
Black sea
Kartal
Once in Istanbul, I went to eat at a café only to learn they would give me the Wi-fi code only if I spend a minimum of 10-15 Euros at their café i.e they do not provide Wi-fi for customers ordering only drinks but food mandatory. That was quite disgusting, but I needed to eat anyway so I was fine with it. I bought an extra desert to make it to their ‘limit’. Even so, the Wi-fi offered was only 30 minutes.
Napkin from the cafe
Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen doesn’t have an airport Wi-fi. It was previously available only for customers who’re able to receive an SMS onto their Turkish number and who most probably don’t need it anyway, since they have their local subscription. For transiting passengers or anyone with a foreign Sim card it was impossible to get Wi-fi. I went out for a smoke to notice a beautiful day and see how light in this part of the world is different to the one in Asia, somehow darker, maybe due to the pollution. The sun in Kyrgyzstan looks a lot bigger and brighter.
Due to the other flight departing in late afternoon, I also had time for some spotting.
Royal Air Maroc to Casablanca
Nile Air
The usual suspect
Boarding
The flight to Athens was almost completely full. As we took off we overflew the Princess islands and then went South what enabled us to see the whole Istanbul, Bosporus and the old Istanbul airport. It was clear so we could see as far away as the Black sea. Next we flew over the Aegean sea where we could see many beautiful islands.
Princess Islands
The old IST airport
Greek islands
The Aegean sea
Landing in Athens
Athens afternoon apron
Mostly foreign carriers on jet-bridges
Approach to Athens was windy as usual and in what was a first we were parked on the actual gate. Only foreign carriers were seen using the jet-bridges. That was very welcome after 8 hours total flying. Aegean uses exclusively remote stands just like Ryanair and Wizz Air.
All in all, Pegasus is a good company to fly with if all you need is a transportation link at a reasonable price from one distant place to another. There is no service as such to be talked about. Crew are courteous and down to Earth. The major drawback(s) would be that their online check-in application both on mobile and website doesn’t have an English version. That is totally abhorrent since you simply don’t know what to do or where to press and you can go around guessing or eventually even cancel your ticket.
Even then, once the proper steps have been taken, you need to do a second step, also in Turkish, to get the pass actually delivered on your e-mail since it’s not automatically delivered. So either arrive at the airport with a lot time ahead to complete a normal check-in or take your own risk with the lacklustre interface. That is of course incomprehensible for an airline carrying dozens of millions of passengers a year.
The second major drawback is the absence of Wi-Fi at the Sabiha Gokcen airport and the fact the only café that provides it abuses their clients cause ‘they have the right to do so’ i.e you have no other choice if you want to stay in touch with your friends and family, business partners during a long transit. That would be it. While relatively minor, it would be a game changer for some.
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