FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Turning Lemons Into Baklava

Jeff picked us up at 11pm (technically the night before) and drove us to Kigali International Airport to begin the long journey to Nepal.

Check-in turned out to be the slowest we had experienced anywhere in the world, which was made more memorable by the first seemingly unhappy Rwandan we had encountered. The agent asked a remarkable number of questions, including our exact flight routing from Nepal back to Australia. Quite why this was relevant remains unclear.

Fortunately the airport itself is small, and with only two flights departing around the same time immigration and security didn't take long.

Small as the airport was, it still had a Priority Pass lounge, which proved more than adequate while we waited for our first economy leg to Istanbul.

This was probably the longest eight hours of the entire journey. The flight began with a very short hop to Entebbe in Uganda, only about forty minutes thankfully, but it came with one small challenge: an extremely large man seated between Mal and me, accompanied by a persistent waft of damp sweat. To our greatest relief, he disembarked in Entebbe along with roughly seventy-five percent of the plane.

Those of us continuing on to Istanbul remained onboard while the crew cleaned the aircraft and a new group of passengers boarded. It was a slightly bizarre experience. The remaining six and a half hours to Istanbul passed with intermittent attempts at sleep.

The Pearl lounge at Kigali Airport

Let's go. First flight to Istanbul via Entebbe

We had to stay on the plane while the cleaning crew worked around us. But it was great time to use the toilet!

They provided eye mask, socks, pillow and blanket even in economy

When we arrived at Istanbul Airport we made our way to the Turkish Airlines transfer desk for business class passengers. We had managed to upgrade the second leg of our journey, from Istanbul to Kathmandu, to business class (for a bargain AUD1500 total), which turned out to have an unexpected bonus. Because of our long layover, Turkish Airlines provided a complimentary hotel stay with transfers included. Thank you, Turkish Airlines.

We did have to apply for an e-visa but this was done quickly while we were at the transfer desk and approved immediately. We breezed through passport control (I don't think they even looked at us...) went straight to the hotel desk to register and were then whisked away in a private van to the five-star Polat Hotel. It’s primarily a business hotel and not quite in the centre of Istanbul, but it overlooks the Sea of Marmara and the room was infinitely more comfortable than spending thirteen hours in an airport lounge. The afternoon nap in the hotel was sorely eeded.

The stay also included dinner, which turned out to be excellent. After several days of lodge dining in Rwanda, we realised how much we had missed Mediterranean flavours.

At 10pm a Turkish Airlines driver was there to take us back to the airport. With only our carry-ons and not having to check in, we whizzed through immigration (no lines) and security (super fast). We had time to squeeze in some food at the lounge before it was time to board our second red-eye flight that would take us to Nepal.