Eurasia Trip 2026: Part II

Wednesday, 27 May 2026 / Eid Al Adha

It was a sleepless night for me. The seat was uncomfortable and caused some pain. I went to perform morning prayers then we went in. An Indonesian man came to us asking for help but we couldn’t do much for him as we were rushing for our gate then.

The plane took off on time and we landed at 08:20. The queue to clear passport control for non-EU citizens was long but we finally cleared passport control and even had time to freshen up before making our way to the bus bay for the National Express coach to central London.

We got down at Marble Arch and took the tube to Queensway. We initially wanted to leave our bags but our room was ready so we were allowed ro check in before 12:00 noon. Syukur Alhamdulillah!

We left after afternoon prayers and took the tube to the museums. The queue for Natural History Museum looked daunting so we crossed over to V&A Museum instead and spent almost two hours there.

The Circle line was slow and we ended up waiting close to twenty minutes for it. I was meeting Atifa, my MBA mate, for dinner and she was already waiting at Bayswater station. I rushed back to the room to get some goodies I’d brought over from KL. We took the tube to Temple station and walked to Somerset House for Aram by Imad restaurant. We left at 20:30 and parted ways in the tube.

Thursday, 28 May 2026

This morning, we took the bus to Paddington station before taking another bus to Trafalgar Square. After some photos, we waited for another bus to get to The Garden at 120. I’d wanted to book some tickets at The Horizon, SkyGarden but they were fully booked so we settled for The Garden at 120 instead. We were not disappointed though and enjoyed the view.

After an hour, we walked down to Tower of London and crossed the Tower Bridge. We then walked along the south bank all the way to the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Then we took the bus to Piccadilly Circus and walked down to Leicester Square and Chinatown before taking buses back to the hotel. Oh, we did stop for a while at a Primark store at the top of Oxford Street.

We finally returned to the hotel in the late afternoon and stayed in.

Friday, 29 May 2026

This morning, we took the tube to Bond Street then walked along New Bond and Old Bond Streets. We emerged at Park Lane and took the tube from Green Park to Knightsbridge for Harrods. La Niña spent some time here. Next, we took the tube to Arsenal and I was happy to find other fellow Gooners there.

I went to find fish and chips and had it for lunch. After lunch, we walked to Holloway Road station and rode the tube to Kensington. This time, we queued for Natural History Museum. It took about ten minutes before we were in. Not bad at all.  I spent almost two hours in there before walking back to the hotel via Hyde Park.

Saturday, 30 May 2026

Today is shopping day. We took the bus to Regent Street and browsed Liberty. Then we had gelato at Venchi before walking down Carnaby Street and Soho to John Lewis as La Niña wanted to find books at Waterstones.

Then we walked down Oxford Street to Selfridges and Primark. I darted in and out of Selfridges to other shops while waiting for La Niña. We had jacket potatoes for lunch before taking the bus back to the hotel.  La Niña went out to the nearby shops to find last-minute gifts while I tortured myself with commentary from the Champions League final.

Sunday, 31 May 2026

An early start for us. My flight this evening was retimed to leave 75 minutes later. We were on our way to Heathrow T4 when niece checked her email and found that her flight was retimed to depart at 10:30 instead of 09:30. That meant she may not meet the connecting flight back to KL. We took Central line then changed for Elizabeth line. La Niña dropped off her bags after changing seats at the counter.

I left and made my way back to the hotel. I stayed in the room until 10:55 before checking out. I sat in the lobby until 11:45 finishing my book before taking the Circle line to Victoria.

And oh, there were so many Gooners out and about and especially at Victoria station. I wished I could’ve joined them too. I walked down to Victoria Coach station and waited for my 13:00 National Express coach to Gatwick. I didn’t realise the coach was also going to Heathrow T2&3 en route to Gatwick.

At Gatwick, I checked in at the counter as I was unable to check in online. I then sat down reading until 18:00 when I decided to go in. The machines couldn’t scan my boarding pass so I had to return to the counter for the lady to come to the gate with me. Duh!

The gate info was only released at 19:40. We boarded shortly after. I was happy to find no one else sitting with me so I got to stretch out and lie down during the flight. Dinner was quite generous. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

To be continued

Eurasia Trip 2026: Part I

This trip was planned at the end of December 2025. Routes were discussed, plans were made and altered before confirmed, air tickets were monitored and accommodation at various cities were booked. The U Ass attack on Iran in end-February 2026 threatened the trip but I was determined to go through it because I wasn’t going to let some orange bugger determined how I lived my life or affect it. Flight tickets were bought online during the MATTA Fair in early April 2026.

Two weeks before the flight, we received notification from Trip.com that the airline had rescheduled our departure by almost 12 hours so I quickly accepted the flight change and scrambled to find accommodation for the extra night. This also meant having to buy coach tickets and burning the train tickets I’d bought earlier. And ten days before I was supposed to fly out from somewhere, another airline cancelled the flight and again, I had to find either an alternative airline or route or departure date.

Thursday, 21 May 2026

I made my way to KLIA T1 in the afternoon and met up with my niece there. We’d tried checking in online the evening before; however, we received message that we could not proceed with online check-in but to proceed at the airport. The queue was slow, only two counters were opened. We made our way to the satellite building after performing evening prayers. We took off just after 22:00.

Friday, 22 May 2026

We landed in Abu Dhabi slightly ahead of schedule and went through the transfer process for the gate to the next destination. We boarded at 01:30 and I tried to sleep but only managed to catch brief spells of it.  

We landed at Rome Fiumicino at 06:20 and quickly made our way to the immigration. We’d purchased bus ticket to Termini for 08:10 and didn’t want to miss the bus. Alhamdulillah, we managed to clear passport control by 07:30 and our bags were just coming out when we reached the bag carousel. We went to freshen up before making our way out and to the bus stop.

We arrived at Termini just after 09:05 and walked to nearby Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore, one of Rome’s four major papal basilicas. Then we walked to the water fountain outside Giardino Nicola Calipari before returning to Termini. We also bought metro ticket from a tabacchi as I didn’t want to buy it at the metro station.

We rode metro line B to Tiburtina and walked to the coach station. Our 11:25 FlixBus arrived ten minutes late. There was an early drama when some idiot sat in our seats but I asserted myself and demanded that he move. We stopped after two hours at a rest area to use the facilities.

We arrived at Pisa Pietrasantina at 16:55 and walked to Piazza del Duomo or Piazza Miracoli where Battistero di San Giovanni, Cattedrale di Pisa and Torre di Pisa are. This was my fourth visit to Pisa and the third visit to Piazza del Duomo. We spent half an hour there before walking to our Airbnb at via Santa Lucia. The apartment is at the second floor.  We freshened up before venturing out to the city, across River Arno. Dinner was bought from Conad and we returned to the room to have it.

Saturday, 23 May 2026

An early start today. We left the Airbnb at 09:10 and walked Pisa Pietrasantina for our 09:40 FlixBus to Florence. The bus was only five minutes late but made up for it by arriving early at Firenze Villa Constanza at 10:55. This was my fourth visit to Florence and the first time I arrived at Villa Constanza and rode the tram. We bought tickets for the tram and rode the tram to Valfonda stop. We walked to Student Doner Kebab to have early lunch there before trudging to Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. This is one of the landmarks of Florence.

After that, we trudged to Giardino dell’Orticoltura and rested there before walking to our Airbnb at nearby via Vittorio Emanuele II. The apartment is at the fourth floor and we gasped as we struggled up with our bags. The apartment comes en-suite with its private terrace so I guess that’s the price one has to pay to get a terrace.

We ventured out at 17:30 and walked to Ponte Vecchio. It was a busy early evening in the city. We turned back and had gelato at Venchi before walking back.

Sunday, 24 May 2026

Another early morning. We left the Airbnb at 09:15 and walked to Santa Maria Novella station for our train to Rome. We’d received notification from Trip,com that there’d be a slight delay with the train arriving three minutes late. The journey was smooth and pleasant bar an irritating kid who couldn’t stay still.

We pulled into Termini at 12:15 and trudged to our Airbnb at via Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. The check-in time was 16:00 and we’d planned to leave our bags in the kitchen as agreed with the host; however, the staff allowed us to enter our room just before 13:00. We ventured out again after prayers at 14:15 and took the metro to Spagna for the Spanish Steps before taking the metro to Ottaviano.

We walked to the Vatican and then to Castel Sant’Angelo. We then took Ponte Sant’Angelo across River Tiber and walked to Campo di Fiori. We had late lunch or early dinner at Istanbul Kebab near Largo Argentina. Then we went to check out the cats at Largo Argentina and were disappointed to see only four of them. We then rode bus no. 87 to Labicana (Merulana) stop then walked back to the Airbnb.

Monday, 25 May 2026

I woke up at 03:00 to have my predawn meal. The silence was broken by someone’s snores (our neighbour). I had an early shower before performing morning prayers.

We ventured out after 08:30 and walked to Labicana (Merulana) stop to get the bus no. 87 to Piazza Navona. From Piazza Navona, we walked to Pantheon, Obelisco della Minerva (Elephant and Obelisk) and on to Piazza Venezia and Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II (Monument to Victor Emmanuel II). Then we walked to Foro Romano and Foro di Traiano (Trojan Forum) and Foro di Augusto before walking on to Colosseo. There were so many people around the area. We spent 30 minutes there before walking back. It’s such a hot, hot day today.

We rested before venturing out after 20:50 for Fontana di Trevi. We took the bus and walked to the fountain and arrived at 21:50. Then we waited for the barriers to be lifted and the crowds to be allowed in. Well, you can still visit during the day but there’s a ticket applicable these days.

We took a different bus and walked back to the Airbnb. I was in bed by 23:30, knackered from the heat and 17 hours of fasting.

Tuesday, 26 May 2026

I woke up at 03:00 for predawn meal. Another day of fasting, it’s the Day of Arafah today. I had a short nap at 05:45 for about two hours. We packed and left the Airbnb at 09:55.

We took the metro to Piramide and walked around the area before making our way up to the Keyhole of the Order of Malta (Buco della serratura dell’Ordine di Malta) and sited about 40 minutes for our turn. Next, we walked down to the Mouth of Truth but I wasn’t going to join another long queue! We crossed over to the Temple of Hercules Victor and Temple of Portunus then walked up past Teatro di Marcello en route to the Turkish kebab restaurant.

I left my niece to her lunch while I walked to Campo di Fiori. There were many more people there compared to when we visited on Sunday afternoon of course. I tried to find the shop selling Murano accessories which I saw on Sunday but couldn’t locate it. Dejected, I walked back to the Turkish restaurant and just in time too as my niece was only just finishing her lunch.

We took bus no, 87 and walked back to the Airbnb. We’d checked out so we sat in the kitchen while the staff deep cleaned the kitchen.

We left for Termini at 18:30 and went to find Conad supermarket for La Niña to buy dinner. The bus arrived and left at 20:45 and we reached Rome Fiumicino at 21:30. I went to find prayer room to perform prayers then we went to find some seats to rest.

To be continued