Woke up super early the next morning due to the whole time zone thing, and managed to catch a bit of the sunrise over the hotel pool. Few cups of coffee and it was time to head to the airport where I hoped to avail myself of some Starbucks. No such luck, the Starbucks was located in the domestic terminal, and my flight was in the international terminal. Sad panda.
Check-in was nice and smooth, and soon it was time to pay the airport tax of 200,000 Rupiah (around $18) and wait in line for immigration. They had 6 desks open, but still took nearly 30 minutes to clear immigration. Sriwijaya had invited us to the “Premier Lounge” which was an adequate place to wait. There was caffeine and little raisin rolls, so life could be a whole lot worse!
The lounge was nice and spacious, however, it was rather warm inside:
Soon they called boarding, and I rushed over to the gate…which was right next to the lounge. Boarding was just starting, and I got some dirty looks for walking to the front of the queue, but that’s part of what you pay for with business class.
Sriwijaya Airlines flight 270
Bali, Indonesia (DPS) to Dili, Timor-Leste (DIL)
Depart 9:55, Arrive 12:50, Flight Time 1:55
Boeing 737-500, Registration PK-CMC, Manufactured 1995, Seat 2F
These seats look awfully familiar….wait…this used to be a United Airlines plane, and they’re the exact same seats! A quick check of the registration number, and check against my spreadsheet, and I’ve been on this plane before back in 2006! Matter of fact, I was in the exact same seat…as I doubt they’d changed them since then!
Oh, look what’s in the loo! Now THAT is just terrifying. They got this plane from United over a year ago, but still haven’t changed the soap dispenser?!
My seatmate was a very cranky Timorese guy, who kept complaining about everything. He was trying to seem worldly and important by speaking English with the flight attendants, but they were having none of it and kept speaking back to him in Bahasa, lol. He was a little Napoleon who just liked complaining and feeling important.
Pre-departure beverage choice was apple juice…so there was no choice. Take it or leave it. Not many drink choices once we were underway either…no diet coke, so I settled for water. The “chicken rice” was pretty decent at least. The desert was some super gelatinous thing that tasted better than it looked, but was still rather scary.
About 90 minutes later, we were on approach to Dili:
No jetbridges at Dili, and this is the walkway to the terminal:
View of our plane parked at Dili:
Overall, Sriwijaya Air was a perfectly pleasant experience. Decent small meal, relatively clean plane. It was clearly showing its age, but that’s not necessarily the most important thing as long as it’s well-maintained. I survived it, so I’ll just leave it at that. Overall, I’d fly them again if they were convenient on a route I needed to go on.
Visa on arrival counter was quick and efficient – pay your $30, stamp in your passport, receipt, and you’re on your way in 5 seconds. Immigration was also quick and it was time to get exploring my 160th country visited…Timor-Leste!
