Recently I visited Istanbul and other than writing a blog about it I think there cannot be a better way to share my experience.
My journey started with troubles as the airport mentioned on my ticket was Benazir Int. Airport(old airport of Islamabad)and on my arrival there I was informed that it was completely closed and all flights were being operated from new airport. So i rushed towards the new airport as I had left only 2 hours to board. That day I visited the new Islamabad Airport for the first time and no doubt its one of the most beautiful airports I have ever seen. At the check in counter I was asked usual question like "how much money do you have ? and Do you have a hotel booking in Istanbul ? " after I handed over my luggage, the person at the counter demanded Rs.260 as tax for luggage transfer. I did not get that and inquired further to which I was told that as you are leaving the country so you have to pay this tax for your luggage which was absurd. I did not know if this was charged by the airport or by the Saudi Airline. There was no receipt for the tax they were demanding it was merely on verbal basis.After having the boarding pass in my hand I rushed towards the eating area as I had been fasting all day, the eating area was almost empty as no food chains had opened their outlets there yet. The only reasonable thing I could get was a vegi sandwich for Rs.460. It was delicious though.
After almost half an hour the plane was ready and the passengers started to board in and to my surprise the staff of Saudi Airline started to check hand carry luggage of every passenger for any food items before going on the plane. Announcements were made in English and Urdu that if you have anything edible please leave it with the luggage department as you are not allowed to hand carry any edibles, a few people went back to hand over the edibles. I felt very uncomfortable with that like it was kind of humiliation to check every passenger after airport has cleared them but soon I realised that its fair enough to treat Pakistanis like this when almost five people were sent back after being checked with the presence of food items in their bags despite repeated announcements.
Atlast I was in my seat after about half an hour of this checking. The air hostesses were mostly Chinese instead of Saudi Arabian. I had a connecting flight from Jeddah to Istanbul so we flew for Jeddah from Islamabad in a five hours flight. The food they served was satisfactory. Here is a glimpse of it.
After landing at King Abdul Aziz International Airport I was escorted to the transfer passengers lounge which was in desolate condition. Over crowded, dirty and uncomfortable. One thing strange I noticed here was that the announcements about flights were made in three languages i.e. Arabic,English and Urdu as majority of the people were from Pakistan and India to visit the Holy cities.The airport staff was also mostly trilingual. I noticed this when I went to the cafe for a bottle of water and a Pakistani person came and asked "Bhai koi biryani wagera hai ? " and the reply was " g vo left side pr hai" . I had to stay here for the next four hours so I started exploring this small box like transfer area. I found Saudi people and exchanged a few words of greeting , they were very friendly, a n old South Indian couple who thought that I was from Delhi. At last after four hours of wait I was going to board my plane for Istanbul . Here everything was usual simple checking, no checking by plane crew etc. This was something uncommon when you are flying from Pakistan. From Jeddah to Istanbul it was four hours flight. Nothing extraordinary happened in this part of my journey except for a French national siting besides me who hardly lifted his eyes from his ipad during the four hours journey.
This was the experience during my departure from Pakistan. I will be sharing my experience in Turkey soon . :)
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