October 2016

Although having been to Spain several times before, I had never been to the capital, and with friends in the city as well as some good flight times, it was a perfect destination for a weekend getaway in the autumn.

We had booked ourselves an early flight out on Saturday and a late flight back on Sunday, giving us almost two solid days in the city, despite it being just one night away. And with the second biggest metro system in Europe, after the stress of Central Asia, Madrid was simple to get around and wouldn't take us too long to see everything we wanted.

Arriving in Madrid by 10am, we cleared the airport and headed to the hotel to drop our bits before exploring the city. The hotel was even closer to the metro than we had expected and after grabbing some snacks at the supermarket next door, we found that our room was already ready for us, and so checked in and dropped the bags.

Our first sight was Puerta del Sol, the very heart of Madrid, and from where all distances in Spain are counted from before continuing towards Plaza Mayor - the main city square built by Philip II.

Plaza Mayor

Royal Palace

Heading through the Old City streets we then arrived at the Royal Palace and Almudena Cathedral, in the heart of Royal Madrid. After going inside the cathedral at the end of mass and taking photos of the nuns, we watched the changing of the guard outside the Palace's eastern entrance before heading past the Opera house and to Gran Via for some shopping and food.

After a busy morning we headed back to the hotel for some rest as this evening we would be meeting up with some of my friends. Having been part of the Erasmus programme, during my time in Germany I made lots of friends across the world. Laura, whom I had met up with earlier in the year was from Madrid, and in addition, Teresa from Granada was now living near the capital.

Coincidentally, Marianna from Greece was also in Madrid this very weekend, and so we all met up at Sol on the Saturday evening to catch up and enjoy some drinks and Tapas at a festival taking place this weekend. Meeting more Spanish people we had an enjoyable evening catching up before Fara and I headed back to the hotel for a well earned sleep after an incredibly long day.

Enjoying a very long lie in, the following day we left our luggage at the hotel and headed to Plaza de Colón, the square dedicated to Christopher Colombus, before walking down to Cibeles and then Puerta de Alcalá and the Retiro park, where we would be joined again by Laura and Marianna.

With Madrid experiencing an exception 25˚C, the park was incredibly busy with city residents and we had an enjoyable time walking around the lakes and gardens before saying goodbye to Laura.

We then headed back towards Sol, and after saying goodbye to Marianna, Fara and I had dinner before heading back to the hotel to grab our bits and finally the airport for our flight home - or so we thought.

Eventually getting through the incredibly long security queue, we found our flight had been delayed by 45 minutes - ok, nothing to worry about we thought. When this was extended to 75 minutes we had a gate change but everything appeared to be going well - we boarded the plane and were greeted by a less than enthusiastic Agatha, who despite appearing to be able to provide any assistance, when asked for help smiled and stepped backwards. The captain then told us that because of bad weather and landing restrictions back in Luton, we would have an 80 minute delay - in addition to the 75 minutes we'd already experienced, but they would see if they could bring it forward. Not great when it was already getting on for 11pm, but at least Agatha came around with some cups of water - even if we did have to practically wrestle her for them.

Nevertheless we waited, and after an hour we were told they hadn't been able to bring it forwards and therefore because of working hour limits, we couldn't be taken home. Great. Now we had to unbuckle, get on the airport bus, and go back through immigration, where we found a timid Spanish easyJet employee stood in the corner providing little information. With it now getting on for midnight, the plane load of people were of course quite agitated. And with her not giving out any information in English we had to rely on Spaniards translating to let us know our flight was delayed until 10:55 the following morning. Great. There goes me starting work at 8:30....

Eventually she stood on a baggage reclaim belt and announced she would tell us the information in Spanish and then English. After 10 minutes of a question and answer session in Spanish, she eventually started telling us we had a hotel. However by this point the black man next to us had become so irate he shouted at her asking how he was supposed to get his duty free back through security and how his poor wife could go to her job interview the following morning (although why she was fluting back from holiday in Madrid late the night before is another question...). Meanwhile, a Chinese man was filming the whole scene, and when she asked him to stop as it was not allowed, he replied "I know" and then continued to chase around the room; leaving the rest of us not knowing what was going on.

Eventually we were informed that we'd be getting on a coach to take us to the hotel. Hoping that the speedy boarding policy was no longer in operation, we boarded the coach and were taken to a lovely 5* Marriott Hotel for the night and provided with food and breakfast the following morning. Although as it was now 2am, it was just an hour per star of the hotel. Had they simply cancelled the flight at the first delay we could have at least rested that night.

The next morning we were taken back to the airport, and with the same seating and same passengers, given a new crew who would take us home. Arriving just after 12, I was so determined/stubborn (delete as applicable) that I would go to work - as I should have been there this morning that I then drove straight from the airport to Hemel, despite still being in yesterday's clothes (including underwear) and with none of my work bits, including door pass in order to prove my point. What a miserable end to a lovely trip....but Madrid was nice at least.

After three of the five hours into the first flight, and I was still over Kazakhstan, having viewed the vast steppe, as well as the evaporating Aral Sea.

A few more hours over the Caucasus and Anatolia I eventually landed again at Atatürk airport, where I would be stopping for seven hours, and meeting up with my good friends from my time in Germany, Onur and Camilla.

Having a wonderful catch up in the city for a few hours grabbing ice cream and dinner by the Marmara, I then made my way back to the airport for my final flight home.

By this point I was again exhausted and looking forward to finally arriving home. Struggling to eat my dinner or nap on the plane (but luckily nabbing a pillow before they all disappeared), by the time of my arrival at Heathrow I was again physically drained and hoping to not get stopped by customs or immigration. I finally found my dad in the arrival pick up and made my last journey home.

The following day I had planned to possibly to go to work, in order to save some annual leave. However when I finally awoke and saw that I had slept for 14 hours and the time was now 13:30, I decided perhaps not. What a trip!

Just an hour from the Kyrgyz capital, the border was the busiest by far of any we had previously crossed, and after a bit of confusion we had entered the largest country in Central Asia.

Crossing the edge of the steppe we then made the three hour journey across the country's south eastern corner to the country's largest city and the former capital of Almaty.

After picking up our tour guides and dropping our bags off at the hotel we made our way into the mountains to view the Medeu Ice Skating rink. Almaty was the runner up in the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, and Medeu would have been one of the key venues in the mountains. The Ice skating rink is the highest in the world and was built in 1949 making it one of the most iconic in not just the region, but also the world.

After running up the hill to gain a back view of the stadium we then made our way back down the valley and into the city. After fixing a puncture, we arrived in Republic Square, where the Independence Monument stands across from the local government building shadowed by a backdrop of the snow capped mountains.

Our final destination was the Panfilov Park, visiting first the Ascension cathedral - one of the largest wooden cathedrals in the world, before we walked around the corner to the war memorial.

And that was it. The last sight on the 4000 mile trip complete. Arriving back at the hotel we had a little rest before going out for our final meal as a group in a local restaurant to say my goodbyes to everyone before bed and the journey home the following day via Istanbul.

Waking up, I had quite a dry mouth and with just dry wafers to eat I had a relatively light breakfast before joining half the group downstairs to grab the minibus for our excursion to the Ala Archa mountains.

Upon arrival Noel was shocked to discover we were going hiking - despite this being on all the literature and in the announcement the previous day, and so with him staying in the restaurant and enjoying the views the rest of us made our way up the mountains, past a sign informing us that it was "prohibited to disunity and mangal". That's me not mangaling here then!

With it being the autumn, as we had made our way north through the region it was becoming colder and colder, and so by now the north facing mountains were already starting to become covered in snow, although it was a fine temperature for hiking.

Making our way up the mountains quickly became a hard task, and with many of us exhausted from two weeks of non-stop travel it was unsurprising that the majority of the group had already turned back before the halfway mark.

As we proceeded towards a flatter part of the hike I could see where we were headed, and with a dip before another climb, the thought of an incline on the way back sealed my decision to start my descent - for I had already gained beautiful views of the Tian Shan mountains on foot.

Taking a leisurely walk back down I met the rest of the group in the restaurant and started to enjoy the warmth of the room as well as the sit down. Hoping the rest of the group would soon rejoin us, I started to feel physically drained, and before I knew it my eyes were shutting and my head was feeling heavy. And then....bash....

A short time later, I awoke to find myself lying on the tiled floor with my fellow travellers panicking around me as I had just fell off my chair and fainted. Now with a bruised head and a bruised ego I had to explain that I was in fact fine, just completely exhausted - the hike having finished me off.

By this point everyone was making their return and so getting onto the minibus we headed back to the hostel. Once we had arrived I was then able to get into bed and try and recover from the physical draining of the morning. With Richard having also had an accident the night before - tripping over a wire and cutting his face, our room might as well has a red cross placed upon it!

As I had already seen much of Bishkek, I spent the rest of the day in bed, popping out only for a short walk to the nearest fast food restaurant - "Big Mack" in order to replenish my calories. However as the exhaustion was so great it was still a struggle to eat the entire meal and not long after I headed back to bed for another rest and sleep before the final full day of the tour.

Shortly before starting my job back in 2014 I had planned a quick holiday, having looked at cheap last minute flights. Eventually opting for Gibraltar, at one stage Bishkek and Almaty were serious contenders.

Nevertheless I eventually made it here, and after leaving the hostel I quickly bumped into my travel family - first Daniel, and then Jim and Christine. After having a catch up and getting the tips for exploring the city, I then made my way to the main street, where the majority of the city's sights are located.

Underestimating the daytime temperatures due to the coldness of the previous night I quickly removed my winter anorak and waked around in a small jacket, starting at the Philharmonic and City Halls before heading east along Chuy Prospekti towards Ala Too Square.

City Hall

Parliament

Passing the Parliament, as well as revolutionary statues I arrived at a large flagpole overlooking the Stalinist buildings of Ala Too Square.

Walking behind the State History Museum, I then saw the statue of Lenin - another removed from it's original position, before walking through Oak Park, towards the Tsum Centre which I had already researched as the best place to by tatty souvenirs.

Obtaining Yurt Magnets and a naff T-Shirt I then headed back down to the entrance where I grabbed a burger before heading back towards the hotel for a chill.

After walking back past the sights and stopping off to grab some cash and snacks from the supermarket I arrived back at the hostel just as Ian was just leaving. As I told him about the souvenirs I had bought, he was devastated to find out that he missed out on buying the same tat, as he didn't go to the top floor of the Tsum. Impressed by the souvenir T-shirt emblazoned with the Kyrgyz flag and "Кыргызстан", he went off back to the Tsum to buy his own "Kick The Bitch" T-Shirt for all his family.

After a nice afternoon rest I then joined the group for dinner at a local restaurant in the evening for what would be Daniel's last meal with us. With a large number of the group missing us by meeting downstairs an hour later, the seven of us who had heard correctly eventually made it to the restaurant, having originally headed the wrong way through the city. Despite us tourists being totally out of place with our dirty T-shirts and trainers, we were welcomed into the posh-yet-cheap restaurant.

After a second night of downing shots, we then headed back towards the hostel past the night-lit city sights, and left half of the group to go off for drinks in a local bar.

As the Turkmens had helpfully provided us with everyone's personal details, we told Daniel we'd stay in contact as we had his name and DOB, and with that we said our goodbyes - with me now heading for bed before tomorrow's hike in the mountains.