Astounding Astana: Kazakhstan, Georgia & more

[cgichard]

As with most other Orthodox churches in Georgia, men were required to remove their hats and women were required to cover their faces before entering.

Not so. Women are expected to cover their heads, yes, but not their faces. And men should not wear shorts.

 

[Mattg]

Not so. Women are expected to cover their heads, yes, but not their faces. And men should not wear shorts.

Apologies for the error. I'm unable to edit my post, but am happy to stand corrected on that.

 

[Mattg]

Colombo, Sri Lanka

I only had 2 nights in Colombo but it was a most enjoyable stay!

After barely a few hours of sleep I started the next day with a delicious breakfast at my hotel. Fresh fruit, an omelette and copious amounts of coffee were all served with a smile - and really hit the spot.

I'd booked a walking tour at 11am with Colombo Walks. The starting point was a 10 minute drive from my hotel. I was easily able to get there in a tuk tuk for just a couple of dollars. By the way, Uber also worked really well in Colombo.

I was joined by a couple of other Australians for the tour. It began in Fort, right in the historic city centre. From there we ventured out to the (much busier) Main Street, ending up at the Pettah Bazaar. There were a few stops along the way - once for Sri Lankan tea and later on for coconut drinks. The guide Harold was super friendly and even bought us lunch after the tour.

Some photos from around Colombo...



Reclamation work underway for the future Port City

 

[Mattg]

Jami Ul-Afar Mosque



Pettah market

 

[Mattg]

As a destination, Sri Lanka ticked a lot of boxes for me. The food was great, it wasn't expensive and the people were so friendly. I had a lot of locals come up to me in the streets and just start a conversation. With the exception of a couple of pushy tuk tuk drivers, they weren't trying to sell anything. They were simply interested in where I was from and what I was doing in Sri Lanka.

Next time I would love to spend a bit longer in Sri Lanka and visit some more places outside of Colombo.

 

[Mattg]

Colombo was my last stop on this trip! From there I flew Sri Lankan Airlines to Singapore, where I picked up a Qantas flight back to Australia.

I originally booked CMB-SIN-BNE on a single ticket. I had planned to spend some time in Brisbane but later realised I needed to be back in Sydney on the morning of my arrival, so booked an add-on BNE-SYD flight on a separate ticket. Unfortunately, thanks to that stupid new Oneworld policy of not interlining on separate tickets, Sri Lankan Airlines refused to check me through to Sydney. My bag was tagged and boarding passes issued to BNE only. I had a little over 2 hours in Brisbane, so the connection would only be a problem if my SIN-BNE flight was late... which it was. :-|

I visited the UL Serendib Lounge before my flight to Singapore. I really like this lounge - it's not big, but it has everything you need... good food, champagne, clean toilets & showers, wifi, tarmac views... even a spa, where I enjoyed a complimentary 15 minute massage.



UL308 Colombo - Singapore
Departure time: 11:00
Arrival time: 17:40
Airbus A320
Business class

Boarding for this flight was via buses. Priority boarding was enforced, except in reverse to what I'm used to. They started by boarding Economy passengers only. Business class passengers were actually stopped from boarding until right at the end. The upshot is that we got our own bus so everyone had a seat.

I didn't take a photo of the plane, so I'm going to cheat slightly and insert this photo of a different Sri Lankan Airlines A320 that I took last time I flew with them:



For a narrow-body Business class, I'm a big fan of the Sri Lankan Airlines product. The cabin consists of 4 rows in a 2-2 layout. The seats are only recliners, but they're very comfortable and the legroom is generous. Even with the passenger in front fully reclined - and the seats recline a long way - you can easily get in and out of the window seat.



There is a fold-out entertainment screen at each seat with a moderate range of movies, music & TV shows. Now, I'm going to cheat for a second time here as I didn't get a photo of the IFE this time... so here's one I prepared earlier:



The service, too, was excellent. The Business cabin was full but the crew were attentive and provided friendly Sri Lankan hospitality.

 

[Mattg]

Before takeoff I was offered a hot towel, along with champagne, juice or water.

This was the menu:



Bar service commenced shortly after takeoff.



Later in the flight a delicious lunch was served. I had the tempura prawns for the main course...



...followed by dessert



Overall, this was a very pleasant flight and I look forward to flying Sri Lankan again.

 

[Mattg]

I had a 3 hour layover in Singapore.

I started out by visiting the British Airways lounge. Now, I'm not a fan of British Airways but their SIN lounge isn't bad. It has a modern appearance and there were some good food and drink options. The main thing I liked about it, though, is that it was very quiet. In fact, I was one of the only people left in the lounge after BA15 was called for boarding.

After a little while I headed next door to the Qantas Lounge.




This was much busier - in fact, I struggled to find a seat. But I did think it was nicer overall. The bar service was fantastic (even though they no longer offer Singapore slings!) and I was very happy with the food on offer, such as this prawn noodle soup:



There were plenty of showers so there was always one available, and the hardworking shower attendants did a great job keeping them clean.

 

[Mattg]

QF52 Singapore - Brisbane
Departure time: 20:50
Arrival time: 06:15 (next day)
Airbus A330-300
Business class



All passengers were on board before the scheduled departure time, but we sat on the ground for another hour after this while the crew sorted out a "cargo issue". Turns out that there were 35 containers of live tropical fish in the cargo hold, but the bleed air valve supplying heat to that specific section had malfunctioned. The crew spent an hour trying to determine whether the fish - high value cargo - would die if the hold was not heated. Eventually they concluded that the fish would survive the flight and we were on our way!

Kudos to the captain for taking the time to explain all of that to us and to keep us updated throughout the delay!

While we waited the flight attendants handed out pyjamas and amenity kits. Pre-takeoff champagne, juice or water was offered, and dinner orders were taken.

The amenity kit was reasonably well-stocked.



Pillows and blankets were on every seat. During the delay the crew also made up everyones' beds with a thin mattress liner.

Dinner was served soon after take-off. Many passengers had already gone to sleep by this point. I had a spicy fish dish with rice, which was very tasty.



The crew joked that they had extra tropical fish on board if I was still hungry. Ice cream or a cheese plate were available for dessert.

90 minutes after takeoff the lights were switched off and I enjoyed a reasonably comfortable sleep in the business suite. I did find the seat a little firm, but otherwise I have no complaints and I slept for 4-5 hours. That's about as much as I would hope for on a short 7-hour redeye flight such as this one.

I woke up 45 minutes out of Brisbane and it looked like they had just started the breakfast service. Breakfast was a small hot egg dish, served with bread and drinks.



Now, I know Qantas used to get a hard time for their Business class breakfasts on overnight flights from Asia. But I think they got it right on this occasion. It was enough food to keep me satisfied, but they didn't have to wake everyone up 2 hours before landing. (Seriously, on a 6-hour overnight flight I took earlier this year they served breakfast 3 hours before landing! When do they expect you to sleep?!)

Shortly after sunrise we landed in Brisbane.



Unfortunately we didn't make up much time in the air and had arrived an hour late. Things weren't looking good for my connection...

 

[Mattg]

After landing I raced through immigration. I had 20 minutes after disembarking to make it to the domestic transfer desk, or I would miss the check-in cutoff for my flight to SYD.

Thankfully, my bag was one of the first out and I had an express card for customs. This was a huge help as a lot of flights had landed before ours and the regular queue was substantial. In the end I made it with 2 minutes to spare.

I had hoped for a shower and a relaxing breakfast in Qantas' new Business lounge. But by the time I caught the T-Bus over to the domestic terminal there were only 10 minutes until boarding. I managed to sneak in a quick shower in the Business lounge (which looked great), but didn't have any time to sample the food or grab my first cup of proper coffee since leaving Berlin.

QF511 Brisbane - Sydney
Departure time: 08:35
Arrival time: 10:10
Boeing 737-800
Business class

Pre-departure still or sparkling water was offered as I settled into 1A for the short hop to Sydney.

I had been hoping for a nice hot breakfast on this flight. For some reason, even though breakfast was served in Economy, this was classed as a "refreshment" flight in terms of Business class catering. The choices were a bacon sandwich, plate of sliced fruit or ham salad. I had the bacon sandwich, which was OK.



The service on this flight was just OK. It certainly wasn't bad, but it wasn't outstanding either.

We arrived in Sydney on time and my 3 week trip through 12 countries had come to an end.

This was a really enjoyable trip. Kazakhstan and Georgia were definite highlights but I enjoyed every minute. I was a little worried that my itinerary was too ambitious and that something would go wrong - but it never did. None of my flights had significant delays, I felt safe 100% of the time and my bag did not go missing once. All in all, a successful and worthwhile trip!

Thanks for reading. I hope that I've inspired some of you to consider travelling to a few destinations off the beaten track.

 

[get me outta here]

Having never sampled the QF men's kit I was bemused to see that someone called, Liam Snootle has their name involved.

 

[drron]

Thanks for this informative TR.Really an eye opener.

 

[craven morehead]

Thanks again mattg for another cracking trip report. I have taken away from this that Georgia is a must do and I am keen to give UL a go in the future. I'll be on QF52 in 3 weeks time on my return from IFA in Berlin cheers CM

 

[RooFlyer]

Great TR. Have bookmarked it for future reference ( soon I hope).

 

[kermatu]

Wonderful report Matt - as always.

 

[OZDUCK]

Thanks very much Matt for a nice trip report . I must admit that I was surprised how nice Sri Lankan Air. appeared.

 

[VPS]

Really interesting TR thanks - I'm thinking Sri Lanka for a holiday soon (but Georgia and the stans are still up there)

 

[JohnK]

Interesting adventure. Pleasant read. Looking forward to next trip report....

 

[romney]

Great trip report! I probably shouldn't have read it though, it's made see what I am going to miss. I am currently travelling for twelve months, and the basic path is from Europe back to Australia through Europe, the Middle East and Asia. All of these places you went were high up on my wishlist. Things have gone a little awry though (in a good way) because my original vague outline was to spend only 2 1/2 months in Europe, but it's now up to 5 1/2 months out of our twelve. That means we are not going to get to all the places we want, and we have had to cut the 'Stans all together, and Georgia and Armenia are now only "possible" places. Oh well, just means I need to start planning the next trip!

 

[kamchatsky]

Loved the TR! Well done for putting in all the details! Central Asia and Sri Lanka are not usual tourist places and definitely worth reading!