June, 2012 | Jason Around the World

Come over to the dAArkside!

6 Countries in 6 Days Caribbean Trip, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent No Responses »

Jun 252012

A few months ago, in the midst of declaring bankruptcy and seeing the mess the United/Continental merger was causing, American decided to offer top-tier elite status to disgruntled United elites. Well, you didn’t really have to be disgruntled – I mean, I haven’t seen too many negatives myself, although I know many others have. A quick call, and I was American Executive Platinum through February 2013, with 8 systemwide upgrades good on any fare on top of it.

I mainly took them up on it because I doubted American would be around in another year, and who knows it might come in handy. Well, about a month ago they upped the ante: If you fly 55,000 qualifying miles (instead of the usual 100,000) by December 31 they will renew status (with 8 more systemwide upgrades) through February of 2014. Now…this is interesting. I already have 80,000 of my needed 100,000 United miles booked, and if I plan carefully another 55,000 on American should be possible.

To that end, I started looking at trips for July 4 where I could use American. With the 4th falling on a Wednesday it was a bit awkward, but since I had the Friday before off, by taking Monday/Tuesday off I could get a 6 day trip for the price of 2 leave days…a downright bargain!

So, I started exploring destinations that I’d always missed on United (either because they don’t fly there, or do in very convoluted ways) and where American was strong. I don’t plan for this status to last much more than 18 months so time to make the most of it. Generally, that meant exploring the Caribbean and South America.

First idea was the Bolivia-Peru-Ecuador trip I want to do soon, but that will take much more than six days, and with the dates less than a month away reasonable fares and systemwide upgrade seats were long gone. Plan two…caribbean. This is where I struck gold…I found a way to squeeze in six countries in six days by flying into St Lucia and out of Antigua. The route looks like this:

So the plan is to hit St Lucia, St Vincent, Grenada, Barbados, Dominica, and Antigua in six days. There’s things to see, but I think for most of them one day will be plenty. None of the flights are over 90 minutes, so most of my time will be spent exploring. Anyone who has recommendations of things to see I’m all ears!

I don’t know why I feel like this is such an AAdventure…all domestic airlines are pretty much the same…right? But, now I feel like I’m cheating on the United much like I originally felt like I was cheating on Northwest when I started flying United about seven years ago. We’ll see if there’s any difference…and what the plusses and minuses are.

I still need about 21,000 miles on United and 37,000 on American and partners this year…anyone with fun (but short…vacation time is low) suggestions they’re more than welcome!

Moldova, TransDniester, and Romania

Flights, hotels, Moldova, Romania, Romania Moldova Transdnidester 2010, Transdniester No Responses »

Jun 152012

Since I’m in a small lull between trips (I don’t think anyone really needs to hear about my upcoming trip to Cedar Point, Ohio to ride roller coasters) I figured this was a good idea to catch up and post a few trips from the past. First one will be my May, 2010 trip to Moldova, TransDniester, and Romania.

What, you’ve not heard of TransDniester? According to Wikipedia, it is: “a breakaway territory mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine. Since its declaration of independence in 1990, and especially after the War of Transnistria in 1992, it is governed as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR, also known as “Pridnestrovie”), a state with limited recognition which claims the territory to the east of the river Dniester, the city of Bender and its surrounding localities located on the west bank. The Republic of Moldova does not recognize the secession and considers the territories controlled by the PMR to be part of Moldova’s autonomous region of Stînga Nistrului (“Left Bank of the Dniester”).”

Wait, breakaway region with its own military, currency, parliament, border control, etc? Sounds like a de-facto country to me…and of course I had to visit. Naturally, you get there from Moldova…but since you can’t fly in, you get to take a sketchy mashrutka minibus. I’m up for adventure! Flights booked, it was time to head off!

United Flight 950
Washington, Dulles (IAD) to Brussels, Belgium (BRU)
Departure 17:44, Arrival 7:30 next day, Flight Time: 7:46
Boeing 767, Registration N654UA, Manufactured 1992
Seat 2A

One of my first flights in a newly-configured United 767 in first….and I was nervous how I’d sleep on such an early flight. I’d learnt to pass out cold on the 10pm flights to London, but not sure how I’d manage on such an early departure. Not to worry, however. After meal service, plenty of wine, it was 8pm, and eyes shut…and I dozed all the way to Brussels. I searched in vain for a lounge with a shower…no luck, and just killed time in the terminal. Was my first time at BRU in several years, and I wasn’t terribly impressed. Of course, considering it was 2am eastern time and I’d just gotten up from a 5 hour nap…that’s understandable.

Austrian Flight 352
Brussels, Belgium (BRU) to Vienna, Austria (VIE)
Departure 10:25, Arrival 12:15, Flight Time: 1:50
Airbus A319, Registration OE-LDG, Manufactured 2005
Seat 2F

Short hop over to Vienna, with very little to say on it. This was my first every short-haul flight with Austrian, and honestly it felt a lot like Lufthansa with cheerier colours. I dozed on and off the whole flight, and there was nothing overly special about it even though the load was 100% in the entire plane.

Austrian Arrows Flight 655
Vienna, Austria (VIE) to Chisnau, Moldova (KIV)
Departure 13:45, Arrival 16:30, Flight Time: 1:45
Fokker F70, Registration OE-LFG, Manufactured 1995
Seat 2F

This is where the fun started! Only 90 minutes in Vienna, but had to exit the Schengen Area, and then hang out in the Austrian Senator Lounge. Decent food like any Senator Lounge, plenty to drink, but was hotter than a Turkish Bathhouse. I was unimpressed! I tend to get extremely warm on long haul flights, and going on 12+ hours at this point I was less than impressed. Oh well, almost there!

Flight was maybe 2/3 full, but I was the only one in “business” class if you can fall it that on a Fokker! Landed, taxied up, and immigration was pretty much a non-event. Surly immigration officers assured us this was definitely still closer to the ex-USSR than it was to the West, and we’d arrived for a bit of fun!

Took a taxi for 100 Lev which was no drama at all, and soon we were at the hotel!

Hotel was the Hotel Nobil which had been recommended by coworkers, and definitely lived up to its billing as the “only boutique hotel in Moldova.” It wasn’t super fancy, but it was definitely approaching 4-star quality, which is something I never would have expected to find in Moldova. First night we got dinner at Symposium Restaurant which was pretty awesome! Local Moldovan wine which was nothing to write home about (but decent) and lots of small plates, and we were definitely full for the big trip ahead! On the way to dinner we’d checked where the minibuses ran from, and with a bit of help from my Russian managed to determine they ran about hourly to TransDniester, the price, and we were more or less ready!

Up early the next morning we found a cafe for some coffee, and it was time to head on the adventure! We easily found the minibus station again, and with help from a couple grandmotherly types easily purchased tickets (although, it would have been quite a bit harder without speaking Russian) to Tiraspol, TransDniester for 29 Lev (about US$2.25) each! Remember, our taxi the previous day had been 100 Lev! It was a rather large bus – definitely a coach. The lady “working” the bus was quite grumpy to see US passports, since it would definitely mean more work at the “border” to TransDniester. She probably would not have let us on had I not spoken Russian…she was seriously worried we’d hold up the whole bus at the border, but not to worry!

The bus was….WARM! It was 25C out and rising, and there was nothing even remotely resembling climate control on the bus. It was a very warm ride! The ride, and border was a relative nonevent. We got a bit of questioning from the TransDniester authorities, but were not required to pay any bribes or “visa fees” as others have reported, and were quickly through. We definitely didn’t hold up the bus more than five minutes total, and from that point “bus mother” was much kinder!

Just upon arrival we verified that return buses ran every hour, and we were off to wander. Just after arriving, there was a torrential downpour, which caused us to hide under overhangs for a good 30 minutes.

Sofia, Bulgaria (SOF) to Washington Dulles (IAD)

bulgaria, Germany, United States 2 Responses »

Jun 092012

This is going to be a short one…it seems when I get to the end of big trips that I get less motivated to write. Of course, some of that has to do with familiarity. Normally, my trips end with a transatlantic on United, and I’ve done so many of these by now that it’s just routine and I don’t feel compelled to take many notes or pictures. This one isn’t much different, but there will be some upcoming! I’ve accepted American’s challenge, so will likely be trying lots of new airlines in 2012 and 2013, so there will be a bit of excitement!

Up early in the morning, and no coffee in the room means I stumbled through check-out, no trouble at all, used most of my remaining cash to pay down the room, and was off to the airport no problem at all. My already good impression of Bulgaria was reinforced, and soon was at check-in.

Check-in was not too friendly, but no biggie. Checked all the way through to IAD, bags checked, and was off to security. Line was a bit long with no premium line, but still was through in under 15 minutes. Maybe I’m too laid-back lately, but 15 minutes seemed reasonable to me.

Stopped in the lounge that Lufthansa sent me to, and it was adequate. It had an awesome espresso machine, diet coke, and comfy chairs. Not too much else I could want! Waited until 30 minutes before the flight, then walked the 3-4 minutes to the gate.

Lufthansa Flight 1707
Sofia, Bulgaria (SOF) to Munich, Germany (MUC)
Departure 7:15, Arrival 8:15, Flight Time: 2:00
Airbus A320, Registration D-AIPR, Manufactured 1990
Seat 3F

Got to the gate, and the queue to board was down the hall, and over 50 people deep. Grrr! There was no marked line, so being early, hyper-caffeinated by this point (did I mention the awesome espresso machine?), I just walked to the front trying hard to ignore the stares….and the one person who DID say something I just responded to in Russian. I figure nobody likes the Russians in Bulgaria, so it was safe 😉 Gate agent apologised for no separate line, beeped me in, and boarding was quick.

Cultural Walking Tour of Sofia, Bulgaria

bulgaria, hotels, Indian Ocean and South Asia 2012, Restaurants No Responses »

Jun 082012

After landing about 1pm, first chore was to get cash from the ABM and head to the hotel. Based on advice from Wikitravel, I decided to get a taxi from the soothingly named “OK Taxi” – and true to name, they were ok! The lady at the counter walked me out to a taxi, who didn’t speak English but we did just fine in French, and he was very curious why I’d chosen to visit his city – even more curious when he found it was for just one day! Wikitravel had told me to expect 10-12 leva for the taxi, and it came to 9,20…wow, a city with an honest taxi system, I was liking this place already.

This is a good place to mention…I was seriously impressed with Sofia, which given how tired and jet lagged I was says quite a bit. Although it was a brief trip, I was perhaps more impressed than with any other place I’ve visited in eastern europe. I can’t wait to go back for a longer trip, and explore more of the country. Everyone was friendly and helpful, and between English, French, and Russian I never once had any trouble communicating…and not just getting what I “needed” but asking enough questions to get what I was really looking for. Huge thumbs up!

That said, in deference to points collecting and status whoring, I decided to stay at the super-cheap and affordable Sheraton Sofia. Was upgraded to a fantastic junior suite which was amazing for the one short night. Friendly, helpful staff that answered all the questions I had, went out of their way to help me find things, and all-around were awesome. Highly recommend this place based on my brief experience!

By this time it was around 3pm, and I headed out for a few hour walk in advance of the 6:30pm tour I was planning to take. Walked a total of around 8km around the city, just taking in sights. Stopped for a couple espressos (I confess, one of them was at Starbucks for all-too-predictable and needed caffeination) and then just camped out for a little bit at a small cafe near the start of the tour for a couple local beers and people-watching.

For a tour, and to see as much as possible in a short time, I’d decided to go on a walking tour with Free Sofia Tour – which was also ranked the number one thing to do on Tripadvisor! Let me just say, it was definitely an excellent choice! They say the tour is about two hours, but our guide was fantastic, and at the urging of our group of approximately 10 he went for nearly 3 hours. That combined with my earlier walk definitely had my feet sore, but it was well worth it! If you get a chance to take this tour I highly recommend it, and our guide Kiril was fantastic!

So, on to the tour! Hopefully I get the names of all the sights right…it was lots to see in three hours!

First stop was the Sveta Nedelya Church.

Mahe, Seychelles (SEZ) to Sofia, Bulgaria (SOF)

bulgaria, Ethiopia, Flights, Germany, hotels, Indian Ocean and South Asia 2012, seychelles, Sudan 1 Response »

Jun 072012

Common route right? Lots of people just happen to fly From Seychelles to Bulgaria 😉 There was a route with two stops, but I chose to add a third one in so I could maximize my time on nicer airlines. However, even before I got started, there was some rather serious drama. Flight didn’t leave Seychelles until mid-Afternoon, so after waking up, I went for a 5 mile or so run on the beach. Absolutely amazing running right along the water lapping on the beach, some serious waves crashing…it was definitely paradise! Got back to the room famished, pounded over a liter of water, and gave in to the diet coke in the minibar. It was listed as 500ml for $7 which was a ripoff, but I was willing to pay it. However, the can was only 300ml. I figured I’d take my changes. Make note…

After a shower, I packed my bags, and when leaning over to put the scuba gear away, heard a loud POP in my back, and collapsed to the floor. Fortunately, I was near the bed so I could break my fall, but still scary. Sitting there dazed for maybe 15 seconds, I finally used the bed to lift myself up to sitting and assess the damage. Didn’t feel awful, just really stiff and swollen, and I wasn’t going to miss my flight, so popped some serious anti-inflammatories and called the buggy to take me to check out.

Was honest about the mini-bar, and the agent called the manager on duty. He offered to reduce the Diet Coke to $6.50. Let me get this straight…it’s 40% smaller than promised, and you offer me approximately 8% off. I asked the agent to please call him back and thank him for his extreme generosity, and to please let him know he has an unhappy platinum member whose stay will always be remembered for this act at check-out. I only honestly wanted a fair price (even $5 would have worked) but the sarcasm was duly noted, and the item was removed completely. Above and beyond, tho a bit disappointed I had to go through such extremes.

Taxi came for the airport, and the driver requested 600 Rupees. I was in a negotiating mood at this point, and had put all but 500 rupees to the hotel bill….so I offered 500. He took it immediately when I said it was all I had, which I was mildly proud of, considering I’d paid 600 for the airport.

Check-in at the airport 30 min later was pretty painless, and immigration was pleasantly air conditioned, and soon I was in the lounge. No decent food to speak of, but a few Seychellois rums and diet coke eased a bit of back pain, and the slow internet was adequate for some browsing and e-mail checking. Soon, it was time to board!

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 878
Mahé, Seychelles (SEZ) to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ADD)
Departure 16:25, Arrival 19:40 Next Day, Flight Time: 4:15
Boeing 737-700, Registration ET-ALK, Manufactured 2003
Seat 4A

The most notable thing about this flight is that business only had 3 people in it, and economy might have been 33% full. The route had just started a week before, so maybe it will take time to come up to speed. There was a rather cranky family that boarded at the last second, and basically demanded to the station manager to be upgraded, and he gave in. I’d seen them in the lounge, so assume they were some sort of local VIPs, Ethopian frequent flyers, etc. To their credit, although they were a bit demanding, the small child was perfectly behaved, and having an extra 3 people in the 20 seats was no big deal at all.

The other strange fact was just how early we were going to be! I guess everyone got boarded early, so why not!

Upon boarding, one of the stranger amenity kits I’ve ever seen was waiting for us!

Seychelles, including the Le Meridien Fishermans Cove and Scuba

Indian Ocean and South Asia 2012, Scuba, seychelles 1 Response »

Jun 062012

Arrived at the resort just a bit after 8pm, and mysteriously was invited to have a seat in the reception area because my room was not quite ready…odd, but ok. While I was waiting, the manager on duty came over and introduced herself, apologized, gave me all the details, so that when my keys were ready in a few minutes I wouldn’t have to wait. That was nice. About 10 minutes later they were set, luggage was loaded into a golf cart, and got a short ride to the room. It was very walkable (300m or so max?) but the ride was nice with luggage. Once inside, I forgot about the wait – the suite upgrade was amazing, and came loaded with a giant fruit basket, bottle of wine, and plate full of snacks.

Port Louis, Mauritius (MRU) to Mahe, Seychelles (SEZ)

Mauritius, seychelles No Responses »

Jun 052012

Got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, and now it was onto the trip’s main attraction. See, this all started when I found a friend who was deployed in Djibouti would be going to Seychelles on leave for a few days…and would I like to join? An excuse to visit a new country with a good friend? Of course I would! Then I learned this was to be a scuba-centred trip, so had to get certified up for that to make the most of it. Little did I know an offer to visit one small island nation would end up consuming so much of my spring weekends! A weekend of scuba classes, an awful (hah!) vacation to the Cayman Islands to finish open water certification, and a trip around South Asia since I would be in the region. …and I wouldn’t trade it for anything!

Check-in was quick, and I learned the flight was completely sold out. Who knew there was so much demand for flights between Mauritius and Seychelles! Immigration and security took ten minutes top, and soon it was to the Air Seychelles lounge for a short rest. The lounge was absolutely packed thanks to a flight to Johannesburg leaving at the same time, and there was decent food and beverage on offer…well, more beverage than food. The food offerings were pretty slim. I attempted a picture, but was chastised by the food attendant, so no luck there. They also insisted on pouring all drinks for you. I couldn’t tell if that was to keep an eye on you, or an attempt to be service-oriented. No matter, a couple of glasses later, and it was time to board.

Air Seychelles flight 54, Operated by Etihad
Port Louis, Mauritius (MRU) to Mahe, Seychelles (SEZ)
Departure 17:10, Arrival 19:45, Flight Time 2:35
Airbus A320, Registration A6-EIM, Manufactured 2009
Seat 3C

Yes, you read that right, Air Seychelles operated by Etihad! It seems Air Seychelles ran into some financial problems as a result of GFC (Global Financial Crisis) Round 1, and Abu Dhabi stepped in to the rescue. They now operate Seychelles to Abu Dhabi as well as this route, with aircraft wet-leased from Etihad. The irony is that most of our crew, despite being Etihad crew, were South African and Seychellois…I guess it’s a pretty sweet deal for them!

Champagne was offered before departure, and business class was quite generous for an A320, I would guess somewhere between 45-50 inches of seat pitch. Definitely better than you usually see on a narrow-body, and the food was much better as well. One thing gulf airlines do well, even with less than ideal aircraft, is make sure business class means business class so people will pay for it. Is anyone at US or European airlines listening? Thought not….

The crew was quite friendly, efficient, and generous topping up drinks. The meal also blew away anything you’d ever seen on a narrow body in other parts of the world. Pictures are below.

One final note on arrival in Seychelles. It’s absolutely essential to have a copy of your hotel booking. They insisted on seeing my printout – nothing on the iPhone was acceptable. Not sure what they would have done had I not had it (odd, since this is the first trip in an eternity where I actually bothered printing hard copies) but they were quite insistent on it!

ATM in the airport worked as expected, got cash, negotiated the rate WikiTravel and TripAdvisor told me to expect, and soon I was off to the hotel. About 10 minutes into the trip, we were pulled over by the local police. Seems by driver wasn’t displaying his taxi permit properly, and was going to have to pay a fine. He claimed to have just renewed it so it was sitting in the glovebox for some reason…it was all a bit shady, but eventually after my complaining to the police that he was holding up tourism, giving the country a bad name, etc etc, he decided to let the driver go with a warning. You’d think the driver would have been mildly thankful, but nope. He was still surly. Oh well, you can’t win them all.

Taxi was negotiated in Euros (guess that’s the bulk of western visitors) and after a slight reluctance he was willing to take Seychellois Rupees at the slightly (maybe 5%) disadvantageous rate that I offered with a round bill and not having to make change. They were making a steal on the short trip anyways.

Visiting Mauritius

Indian Ocean and South Asia 2012, Mauritius 1 Response »

Jun 042012

When I found this fare, I realised that due to flight schedules, I could actually have an 8 hour stop in Mauritius…right in the middle of the day! I figured with a good driver, on a small island nation, I could see a lot. Everything worked out, and it was an amazing day!

We landed right on time in Mauritius at 8:45am, and by 9am I was out of immigration and customs with all my bags, and my driver had met me. I had booked the “Mauritius Private Southwest Tour” with Mauritius Attractions, and they met with with one of their drivers at the airport…and dropped me off back there about 6 or so hours later. It was a slick deal, and for 100 euros I had a driver and all entrance fees covered. For the efficient use of time, it was absolutely awesome!

Stop one was the Trou au Cerfs. This was approximately a 30 minute drive from the airport, and is a huge natural volcanic crater, 85m deep and 200m wide that was formed millions of years ago. It had a fantastic panoramic view of the crater as well as the town of Curepipe. Supposedly when the sky is clear it is possible to see all the way to Reunion Island, but I was unable to find it in the distance. The pictures don’t really do it justice, but you can see a bit of how deep it is.

Male, Maldives (MLE) to Port Louis, Mauritius (MRU)

Indian Ocean and South Asia 2012, Mauritius No Responses »

Jun 032012

I had looked online earlier in the day, and had seen the 15:35 flight was seriously delayed, and since I had to be out of my hotel room by 4pm anyways decided to go to the airport a bit early and see about getting on it. The check-in agent wasn’t too sure how to do it, and had to wait “for a supervisor” which took nearly 45 minutes…and 15 minutes before the door was set to close. Eventually, I got personally escorted through immigration and security by this supervisor, and ended up being one of only two people in business class on the flight! Of course, there was still plenty of time for the obligatory champers before departure:

…and a quick look at the menu.

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Sheraton Full Moon Resort, Maldives

Indian Ocean and South Asia 2012, Maldives No Responses »

Jun 022012

This is going to be mainly a picture post, with a few thoughts thrown in. My decision to come to Maldives was basically based on two things: 1) I had to get to Colombo anyways to catch my onward ticket, and 2) I’ve spent 20+ days in Sri Lanka already, so a short detour (even though it was only 24 hours) to Maldives to count another country seemed well worth it to me. Add in the fact the Sheraton was a mere 20 minute boat ride from the airport…and I was sold. Despite the cost.

Cost? Oh yeah…the Sheraton requires a boat transfer from the airport to the island the Sheraton is on at the cost of $100 per person roundtrip. I figure in many cities I pay $30 each way for a taxi, so this wasn’t THAT awful, and I’d likely have my own boat…which I did in one direction. It wasn’t so bad. Except for the fact that when I landed, the Sheraton rep was nowhere to be found. It took me nearly 30 minutes to locate him, in shabby shorts and a stained t-shirt, no sign, he simply noticed me wandering around looking lost and came up to me. Major service fail.

That said, a picture from the airport boat jetty as we departed:

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