A Short Trip To Kota Bharu

My sweet niece was offered to do her degree in Kota Bharu and I decided to visit her a month after her registration to see how she was doing. I didn’t plan to visit so soon after returning from my trip to the Caucasus and Italy but I reckoned I should visit her before she got busier with studies. So after browsing, I decided to fly Firefly there and back by cattle airline. As I didn’t want to take leave again so soon after my September sojourn, I decided to fly after work on Friday, 5 October 2018, and return the following afternoon (la niña has classes on Sunday anyway).

I decided this would be the perfect time for me to try out the SkyPark Link. You need to first obtain a token from the counter near Gate D (next to myNEWS.com) then go to the waiting area near KFC. Wait until you are called to go down to the platform for the train. The token was given without charge so the ride was free then.

Upon exiting the station at Subang, you have to walk across the unmaintained car park and take the overhead bridge across to the terminal building but fret not, there is a lift if you have big bags. I was running late so I hurried to clear security but had to turn back and go to the Firefly counter to get a tag for my long umbrella. Having got the tag, I panted back to clear security and rushed to the gate (fortunately only metres away but I was the last to join the queue). I boarded and was seated in no time.

We landed at 20:10 and after a quick visit to the bathroom, I went to meet la niña outside. She then arranged for Grab to take us into the city. We went first to Sun Two Restaurant, a Chinese restaurant that sells halal food, for dinner. After dinner, we walked to ParkView Guest House. We were there for all of five minutes when the skies opened up. Phew, Alhamdulillah.

It sounded like it rained all night.

On Saturday morning, I ventured out after morning prayers. I walked to Chinatown before turning back and making my way to the market. There were already a lot of people at the market buying, selling and transporting fresh produce. I stopped by the bus station to get the bus schedule before returning to the guest house.

We had breakfast after showering and packing up. The guest house provides bread and butter and jam for breakfast and while it was simple, it was better than nothing at all. We left with our bags after breakfast and walked to the market where I bought some batik sarong, pelikat sarong for dad, a couple of caftans for Akak and myself and a couple of prayer sarong. Then we went to Kota Bharu Trade Centre for a quick visit.

We had early lunch – the restaurant I usually eat at hadn’t yet opened – then made our way to the bus station. It was at first cloudy and I decided to take the bus direct to the airport (although this would mean spending a long time there) but then the sun broke through and I thought I might as well check out la niña’s campus.

We alighted at the bus stop opposite Pantai Timur Hypermarket and walked in. I couldn’t enter her campus though or her hostel. After performing prayers at a prayer room opened to the public (and a visiting cat too!), I met up la niña in front of her hostel block to say goodbye.

I then walked back to the bus stop, stopping at the hypermarket to buy a bottle of mineral water en route. I waited a while before the bus showed up.

I was not happy to discover that the cattle airline does not allow long umbrellas to be carried on board. I would have to check it in and as it costs more to pay for check-in items at the airport than a brand new umbrella, I reluctantly said goodbye to my umbrella and left it behind.

My flight took off on time (thank God for that because the next one was delayed by 30 minutes) and we landed at KLIA2 at 18:50, in time for me to exit the plane and perform evening prayers by the time I got to the prayer room.

Oh and I met a Taiwanese girl on the bus back to KL Sentral. It was her first time in Malaysia and I remembered the batik sarong in time to give her one as a souvenir ;)

After my trip last year and discovering Kuala Pilah also offers gold jewellery at competitive prices, I thought my days of visiting Kota Bharu were over but it looks like there will be more trips in the future. Well, I don’t mind doing that until la niña finishes and obtains her degree, insyaAllah.

Post September Sojourn: Thoughts on the Airline

I take a few factors into consideration when deciding to fly: the flight schedule, the layover if any, the cost but of course and the airline. For my trip to Azerbaijan, I decided to fly Etihad as the ETA in Baku was in the early afternoon and the cost was about RM2,000 less than Qatar (and Qatar’s ETA was in the evening when I checked). I last flew Etihad in May 2016 and was actually looking forward to flying the airline again.

My first problem was when I tried checking in for my flight. On the website, it says online check-in is open 48 hours before the flight. However, when I tried, I found that while I could check-in, I could not select or change seats as the airline now charges for ‘desirable’ seats and my seat was only resolved less than 24 hours before my flight out after I tweeted about it. (The same problem recurred for my return flight; again I had to seek help and tweeting the airline didn’t help.)

I was pondering if I should bring my inflight socks (I usually wear socks to sleep) and had almost decided to ditch them before changing my mind at the last minute and it was a good thing too because Etihad no longer provides amenity kits. I asked a cabin crew about it and she said they had done some research and found that the amenity kits are not fully utilised by passengers: some only wanted the toothbrush/toothpaste, someone wanted the socks only, and there are those who didn’t want the kits at all. I don’t know about you and they may not be much, but I find the amenity kits useful.

Another thing I noticed was the absence of menus for the economy class (perhaps it should be renamed economoney eh). But I did find a menu for snacks that you can purchase inflight. That struck me as strange as Etihad should be a premium airline and not a low-cost or budget airline. I remember once we had a main meal and even snacks in between (ice cream was served and instant noodles too!) besides the snack brown bag (usually served when the lights are off and passengers were mainly asleep) and you could decide whether to have the snack inflight or bring it along with you.

I sometimes change seats once all passengers have boarded and the door has closed but on my return flight, I was told that while I could move seats, I would have to pay extra if I wanted to sit at the middle front row (where there are four seats and where the bassinets are fixed if you’re travelling with babies). I thought it was strange as the seats were empty anyway with no one willing to pay extra money in advance to sit there. One British couple decided to make a big fuss about it all and while I concede they had a point, they were also not doing themselves any favour by drawing attention to their grouses.

And while I wasn’t one to avail of the service, Etihad has also withdrawn its complimentary chauffeur service for first and business class passengers.

So while the airline has introduced changes like Business Class Studios, FirstClass Apartment and The Residence, the airline is in decline (unless their focus now is just on business and first class passengers).

Will I fly Etihad again? Like I mentioned earlier, I still have to take factors like schedules and cost into consideration so if Etihad flies to certain destinations that no other airline does or Etihad’s ETA is more favourable, I would still fly Etihad. And if Etihad can fly me at a lower cost, yes, that is a factor too. As much as I like to collect air miles whenever I can do it, I’m not really brand loyal. I flew Turkish Airlines to Algeria because it was not only one of the few airlines to fly to Algiers but it also offered me the most economical fare. Never mind that Turkish Airlines is a member of Star Alliance and not oneworld.

September Sojourn: Part V

Soundtrack: Killing Me Softly

Sunday, 16 September 2018

I slept through my alarm and only woke up half an hour later. I hurriedly performed prayers then had a quick shower before heading out to Castel San Pietro. In contrast to the previous afternoon, there was no one there at all and I had the place all to myself. A man did show up shortly after but I didn’t see him again. I spent maybe 20 minutes up there before returning back to the apartment.

I left at 10:00 and made my way to Viale Girolamo Cardinale where the Flix bus stop is. Needless to say, I lost my way or missed a turn somewhere and ended up walking for 50 minutes! I didn’t have any Verona map with me and had to rely on Google map. I finally reached the bus stop huffing and puffing and panting from exhaustion and the heat. The bus arrived on time and after loading our bags, we were good to go.

We reached Mantova about 40 minutes later. I got down at the bus stop at via Legnago and slowly made my walk across the river Mincio to the city. It’s a beautiful walk because the city is sprawled in front of you across the river. I made my way to Palazzo Ducale and then to Piazza delle Erbe and sat soaking in the atmosphere. It’s a pretty compact city centre which was good because I had planned to depart by the 13:29 train for Modena. I stopped at a place selling sliced pizza and bought some. The owner didn’t speak English so I pointed and asked if any was vegetarian and telling her I wanted ‘piccolo’ size. After my light lunch, I continued to the station.

The ticket office was closed and I couldn’t understand how to operate the machine and after trying to get help from some locals, I went to the platform. I sighted a train conductor and bought my ticket from him. We reached Modena at 14:42, enough time for me to perform prayers in the train en route.

I asked for a map from a local and armed with the map, walked to the city centre. The Cathedral of Modena, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. There were a lot of people at Piazza Grande with a stage and a woman speaking into a microphone. People were sitting voluntarily to listen so it must be a political sermon or something.

I returned back to the station to wait for my 17:41 train to Milano Centrale (I had bought the ticket online a few weeks back). I was not amused when I checked to screen again to find the train ETD delayed by 55 minutes. I didn’t feel like walking into te city again so decided to just wait. After a while, I checked the screen again and this time, it showed my train was delayed by 100 minutes and a few other trains delayed as well. One was delayed by 245 minutes! I wanted to ask if I could change my ticket but the queue at the counter was perpetually long – probably because of the delays.

A regionale train pulled up and I hurried back to the platform. I approached a lady train conductor and asked if I could board the train. She said I could but it would be better to wait for my train as it would be faster. I told her I didn’t want to wait anymore as I had waited long enough and who knew when my train would eventually arrive. She repeated that while I could, my original train would still arrive at Milano Centrale first. Somehow I doubted her because the screen showed my train was still delayed. She also said there were many delays because there was a woman who was in the tracks (thrown? Suicide?) somewhere and it caused a chain reaction.

Being a regional train, it of course stopped at various stations and before, the seats were all occupied. I was so glad I boarded at Modena where there were still a few empty seats available. We finally arrived at Milan at almost 21:00 and I rushed to the Terravision bus stop for the bus to Milan Bergamo. I apologised for being late and explained that the train was delayed and the driver and conductor accepted my story. Alhamdulillah.

The bus left at 21:15 and we arrived at the airport about 50 minutes later. I immediately headed for the washroom to freshen up and perform ablutions. I ended up performing prayers at the nursery room (one lady was there charging her phone so it wasn’t as if I was stopping any nursing mothers). Just as I finished, a man came in and wanted to use the WC. Jeez. Then I walked around to find a seat. Sleep? Elusive as usual.

Monday, 17 September 2018

I got up from the uncomfortable seat and went to the RyanAir check-in area to have my boarding pass checked and stamped. Then I went to clear security. I was not happy to be asked to remove my jade bangle and other bracelets. WTF? It’s never easy to take off and put jade bangles. I refused and told the officer to take them off for me if he insisted on it. I was waved through after they ran a wand over me.

I went to the washroom to ‘dry clean’ with body wipes and changed clothes before performing ablutions and prayers. I was not happy when I looked at the screen and found that my 06:30 flight was delayed to 11:30. Like seriously? By five bloody hours? Had I not cleared security, I could have gone over to Orio Centre for at least 90 minutes. Having no choice, I sat down to wait with other fellow passengers.

At 10 or so, there was an announcement for us to collect meal vouchers from a counter so we all trooped up to queue. We were each given two €5 vouchers for us to spend at a coffee shop. I asked what accounted for the delay but the two ladies at the counter couldn’t answer me, instead saying the flight was now at 12:00 @$&&#+!!&() I was thoroughly sick of croissants, buns, sandwiches and the like by then so only spent €5 on chocolates and water. Then I went to one of the two public power plugs available in the whole bloody terminal to charge my iPad (you have to pay at other power points, WTF).

I almost lost track of time and suddenly heard an announcement for my gate. I grabbed my things and hurried over downstairs, cleared immigration and rushed to my gate. The queue was long and slow and we only boarded the bus well after 12:00. I tried to doze off during the flight; after all I had a poor night.

We landed at Stansted about two hours later and had to take a train to the main building. The queue for non-EU citizens was short so I was able to clear passport control quickly. I went down to the bus station but the snotty woman there wouldn’t accept my ticket which I bought a few weeks back as I had already accepted the terms and conditions even though I explained I was held back by a five-hour delay. Damn you. So I had to fork out £12 for a new ticket.

I got down at the stop at Bishop’s Bridge Road near Paddington Station at 15:25 and walked ten minutes to my hotel. My mate was meeting me and I had managed to inform her that I would be delayed. Still, she was leaving for Nottingham that evening. We spent some time in the room before venturing out into the warm London evening. Dinner was had at Noodle Oodle, a halal Chinese restaurant. There was just enough time for us to return to the room where my mate performed Maghrib prayers before leaving for the tube station.

After she left, I went for a walk around before returning to my room. I rang home and was about to doze off when I had a sudden violent tummy upset. It returned again and all pharmacies were already closed, Boots Bayswater being the last to close at 12 midnight. I took some Smecta (only realised it had expired) and had some black tea. Still, I couldn’t help being thankful that I was in a hotel room and not in an airport, train or bus station; I was able to lie down and not having to move with my bags; and I had quick easy access to a clean bathroom.

Tuesday, 18 September 2018

I woke up for prayers and ended up staying awake trying to claim compensation for my delay. I showered and had breakfast (with ORS) before finally leaving after 10. It was late but I was afraid if I would be purging again. I took the tube to Bond Street where I wandered around (not fruitful) and then walked over to the Salvation Army shop before walking down to Selfridges. I was luckier at Selfridges and after paying for my purchases, went up to fourth floor to the Tax Refund. I decided to perform prayers while waiting (Selfridges has a prayer room, how cool is that?!) but my number was called when I was performing prayers. I went to ask for a new number and was advised to go to the machine and do it online as it would be faster than waiting as the queue had grown by then. I had help from a Malaysian-born Chinese man with my form.

I was relaxing in the lounge and browsing the WiFi when I had another sudden violent tummy upset and rushed to the washroom. I only left about ten minutes later, praying that would be the last time I needed to use the bathroom in a hurry. I walked to Marble Arch and rode the tube to Bank station. From the station, I walked to Sky Garden. It was a blustery day and I sat shivering as I waited to enter the building. At 15:20, I went to join the queue and we went inside to wait for the lift.

The lift whisked us up to level 35 (you could access levels 35 and 36) and the view was magnificent. The sun came out then so the city shone below. I walked around and up the stairs to level 36 before coming down the other set of stairs. I spent an hour there before going down.

I took the tube to Temple and walked to the library of the London School of Economics but was not able to enter. I walked on to Holborn and rode to the train back to Queensway. After buying dinner from Tesco, I returned to my room to rest.

Wednesday, 19 September 2018

I woke up at 04:45 today and performed prayers after a quick shower. I then had a light breakfast before finishing packing up. I left at 06:10 and walked to Queensway and rode the tube to Notting Hill where I changed lines and trains for the District line to Earl’s Court for the Piccadilly line. I wouldn’t normally have taken this route but this was what the travel planner on Transport for London suggested. I reached Heathrow 54 minutes later and went to drop off my bag. I also asked if I could change seats and as it was an A380 and a few empty seats were still available, my request was accommodated. Alhamdulillah! After dropping off my bag and getting the boarding passes, I went to the VAT office to submit my form. The queue was slow what with some people still trying to fill up their forms with their miles of receipts.

I returned to the departure level after submitting my VAT form and cleared security check. I then browsed the shops but was in no mood to shop. We were called to board at 08:30 and I was happy to find my seat was in the third row and very close to the cockpit.

I was sitting that close to the cockpit!

We landed at Abu Dhabi after 20:00 local time. We had to wait a while for the First and Business class passengers to get down and disembark before we could follow suit. This time, we didn’t have to take a bus to the terminal building. I just had time to freshen up and catch up on social media before making my way to Gate 6 for my flight back to KL.

We were served dinner and then I tried to sleep. I only managed a brief doze before I was wide awake again.

Thursday, 20 September 2018

We landed at 10:20 and I was home about four hours later. As usual, I set about tidying up the kitchen and dining areas, even dad’s clothes drawers before unpacking. I was done by 16:00 and had an afternoon nap.

And that was my trip to the Caucasus and Italy and a little bit of London.

September Sojourn: Part IV

Soundtrack: Who Let The Dogs Out?

Thursday, 13 September 2018

I woke up early and had my shower and performed prayers. I had laundered some clothes the evening before and was not happy to find that they were still damp that morning despite the hot weather. Unless it had rained sometime during the night but the ground didn’t look all that wet. I collected my clothes and switched on the stand fan in an attempt to dry them up.

I left just after 07:30 and walked to Colchis Fountain. One of the stray dogs approached me and started following me. Normally I would have just ignored them but this one persistently followed me and after a while started growling and baring his fangs. Then it came nearer and tried to bite my suitcase. What the hell? I shooed it away but it came back and if anything, more aggressive than ever. I raised my voice and shooed it away again but it was relentless. Fortunately for me, a man passed by and he helped call the dog off. And guess what? The dog didn’t even bark at him. Huh, even dogs have double standards.

After taking pictures of Colchis Fountain, I turned back and walked to the marshrutka behind Meskhishvili Theatre and in front of Din Mart. The marshrutka was there when I walked past on my way to Colchis Fountain and the friendly driver waved at me. I paid 1 Lari and got in. The first marshrutka out to Gelati Monastery (schedule in this post), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was at 08:00 and while I should probably have taken the next one at 11:00 so that I could ride the 12:00 marshrutka back to Kutaisi, I had a plane to catch that afternoon and had no idea of the marshrutka schedule that passes the airport. I had brought my suitcase along as I wasn’t sure if I had enough time to return to the guesthouse to get my bag or not and it seemed best to just have it with me although it did mean having to lug it with me.

 Meskhishvili Theatre

Colchis Fountain

Marshrutka to Gelati with the picture of the monastery

The marshrutka climbed up and pretty soon we were on a higher elevation to Kutaisi. It took about 20 minutes to reach Gelati Monastery and the workers who were restoring the monastery exterior were already at work. I was done after about 20 minutes and that was after having to lug my bag behind me. Now came the question of how I could get back down to Kutaisi. As usual, I trusted that Allah would show me the way so I walked out. Outside, the stall owners (to be honest, I didn’t notice the stalls when I arrived) had started hanging their wares. I must say they were friendly and tried to converse with me so I was a bit surprised when one man spoke English to me. I asked if I could take a train back to Kutaisi and he said no (I did read about it but didn’t save the info on my iPad). He then said he would be going to Kutaisi and that I could come with him. I thanked him and gratefully accepted the offer. He told me it would be another 20 minutes or so and I assured him it was fine. So I stood there looking at how they started opening their stalls and this was a bit cruel of me but I did wonder who would want to buy such rubbish like the cheap trinkets they sold. They even sold small footballs with club emblems on it. Who would want to come to the monastery and on the way back to the bus decided to stop and buy one of those balls? Or perhaps there had been demand before and hence why the supply was on offer?

Gelati Monastery

We finally left and it turned out there were two other passengers: a man and one of the women who opened the stall and tried to chat with me earlier. The man dropped me in front of Meskhishvili Theatre and he was pleasantly surprised when I gave him 5 Lari. He didn’t ask for it and 5 Lari was more than the marshrutka but I reckoned it was still less than what a cab ride would have cost me. I then took bus no. 1 to McDonald’s. After buying a bun from a roadside vendor, I walked behind McDonald’s and found some marshrutkas there. The marshrutka for the airport was in the last parking spot so I sat and waited. I didn’t have to wait long as the marshrutka left at 10:32 and we reached the airport 25 minutes later.

I had a long wait at the airport but hey better be early and wait than late although if it’s anything I dislike, it’s to arrive too early at the airport. I sat down, read my book, dried my clothes in the sun (didn’t work so I had to go to the bathroom and stood drying them at the hand-dryer).

The airline counter was supposed to open at 15:20 or so but remained closed until 15:50. You can just imagine the queues that had already formed by then. As Wizz Air allows only one bag on board, I had paid for the fare that enabled me a check-in bag and one bag on board. I went in immediately and had to endure a check; the security people even asked me to take my scarf off and I said no so I was led to a room and was subjected to a rough check by two wenches. After that, I went in and performed prayers near Dunkin’ Donuts before the crowds rushed in. And oh, there’s no exchange office in there so I couldn’t sell off my Lari. Dang.

The flight took off at 17:45 and we landed at Rome Fiumicino earlier than scheduled at 19:15. The immigration process was fast even though we landed around the same time as an airline from China. I didn’t have to wait long for my bag and after emerging, went in search for the washroom furthest away from where we exited the baggage area. I was so happy to note sign for the prayer room and after freshening up and performing ablutions, went in search of it. It was a proper prayer room (not a multi-faith prayer room) with three prayer mats. Imagine, at Rome Fiumicino, the airport for the capital city where the majority of the population are Roman Catholics!

After prayers, I went to the designated bay for Terravision. The bus arrived late but it didn’t take long for us to reach Rome Termini. I wandered around first as I couldn’t decide if I should have any snacks then decided to just head for my Intercity night train to Ferrara. I found my compartment and there were already four exchange students from Chicago in there and a local man. The train departed on time and I managed to somehow doze off amidst the chatter of the excited students. But sleep didn’t last of course because I could never sleep on moving trains or planes.

Friday, 14 September 2018

I got up a few times during the night to check if the train had arrived at Ravenna (I needed to change trains at Ravenna). We finally arrived at Ferrara around 04:40, enough time for me to change platforms for the 05:16 train to Ravenna. I would be returning back to Ferrara later that morning but the station was closed and so was the left baggage facility if there was one. The train arrived on time and I performed morning prayers in the train.

We arrived at Ravenna at 06:19. I freshened up before walking out to the city centre (station was only coming to life then so I didn’t bother looking for the left baggage and just took my suitcase along). The city was also just waking up then.

As the seat of the Roman Empire in the 5th century and then of Byzantine Italy until the 8th century, Ravenna has a unique collection of early Christian mosaics and monuments. All of its eight UNESCO World Heritage buildings– the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, the Neonian Baptistery, the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, the Arian Baptistery, the Archiepiscopal Chapel, the Mausoleum of Theodoric, the Church of San Vitale and the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe – were constructed in the 5th and 6th centuries. I managed to visit five out of the eight buildings (didn’t manage to visit the Arian Baptistery, the Archiepiscopal Chapel and the Mausoleum of Theodoric).

 Mausoleum of Galla Placidia

 Basilica di San Vitale

Neonian Baptistery

 

Battistero Degli Ariana

I hurried back to the station and purchased a train ticket to Ferrara. The train was delayed by 10 minutes and we reached Ferrara at 11:45. It was already getting hot by then and it didn’t help that unlike Ravenna, Ferrara city centre was quite a bit of a walk from the station. I noticed most of the locals have bicycles: the nonnas, the young adults, working people... This Renaissance city has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage, thanks to its beauty and cultural importance. I walked to Palazzo Municipale before making my way to Castello Estense. I spent some time at the castle before taking another route back to the station. Before going in, I decided to find some lunch and after walking half-way back into the city, I turned back and had a pizza slice from a halal shop near the station. It was just OK.

Castello Estense

The train left at 14:57 and we reached Padua at 15:49. I made my way across the canal and into the garden to my Airbnb host’s apartment at via Porciglia. It was a slightly hot in the apartment. I got acquainted with Antonio, my host’s husband (I thought her dad at first, opps!), as Cristina was out. After settling down, performing prayers and having some tea, we went out. I had earlier asked Cristina where I could print my boarding pass and Antonio was going to show me the shop and a bit of the city centre.

We first went into Chiesa degli Eremitani, a 13th century nearby before continuing on to the print shop. Antonio also had a boarding pass to print and you could either bring your thumb drive or email whatever you want to be printed. The shop charged him 5 cents. We then continued on to the city centre and I was pleasantly surprised to note that the city has many beautiful buildings. Antonio showed me around then left me to wander the city on my own.

 City Hall

 Torre dell'Orologio

 This is one of the oldest universities in the world

 via Daniele Manin

via Roma

I bought a tuna ball from a street vendor for dinner before returning to the apartment. Cristina was back then and after a brief chat, they left me to my devices. They went out for dinner and I couldn’t help wondering how trusting you need to be to leave your apartment with some stranger. They made up my bed (sofa bed) and drew the hall and kitchenette curtains to give me privacy. I went to bed after 23:00.

Saturday, 15 September 2018

I was woken up at 05:15 by the sound of rain and hurried out to the balcony to collect my clothes which I washed the previous evening. I got up again at 06:00 to shower and perform prayers. The rain was heavy with thunders and continued until after 07:30. I was planning on going out for a morning walk before returning for breakfast but my plan was dashed. Instead, I waited until after breakfast before going out. I headed first to print shop to print my boarding pass (got charged 10 cents, why?) before continuing on to Prato della Valle, a large prominent square which Cristina mentioned the previous evening.

I had a bad tummy upset throughout the morning and suspected the tuna ball was the culprit. I had to take some anti-diarrhoea pill when I came back. It was quite bad and I was praying that I would be able to continue my journey that morning without mishap.

I left at 11:10 and hurried to the station. I had to queue to buy the ticket; I knew the 11:40 train to Vicenza would cost me €4.65 but the ticket machine demanded €14.90 from me, outrageous!!! So I queued and got my ticket at 11:32. I quickly made my way to the platform. We arrived at Vicenza at 11:57 and it was so hot! I didn’t spend a long time at Vicenza. After walking through the city all the way to Teatro Olimpico, I turned back and returned to the train station. I was also disappointed that the Roman ruins couldn’t be viewed – the chap at the Tourist Info office told me the ruins are either in private residents’ properties or buried.

I took the 14:59 train to Verona Porta Vescovo and arrived in the hot afternoon. I took a while to get to my Airbnb host’s apartment at via San Nazaro and then struggled to contact him to open the doors. After some time, I managed to get him to open the doors and up to his apartment. After a brief rest and prayers, I walked to Castel San Pietro for a view of the city. There were a lot of people up there. Unfortunately for us, the sun was in our eyes and made it difficult to take pictures. I vowed to return the following morning.

I crossed Ponte Pietra and walked to Piazza Elbe. There were a lot of people everywhere, it being Verona and on a Saturday and there was the Tocatì Festival too when I was there. So if you’re planning to visit Verona, bear all these in mind (I only knew of the Festival just before I arrived) as finding accommodation would be a challenge.

I didn’t linger long at Piazza Elbe although when I was there, there was some foot racing which I caught the tail-end of. I proceeded to Casa di Giulietta and again there were a lot of people in that small courtyard. I was content to take pictures from outside and left after fifteen minutes and made my way to Arena di Verona at Piazza Bra, a well-preserved Roman Amphitheatre. It is still in use today and when I was there, a performance was about to begin with security guards outside the perimeter.

I walked around the amphitheatre before deciding to return back to my Airbnb. It took me a while though to get my bearings again and finally traverse a route back to my Airbnb. Back at the apartment, I had a shower, laundered my clothes, performed prayers then settled down for a snack. My host was out and still hadn’t returned by the time I hit the sack.

To be continued

September Sojourn: Part III

Soundtrack: Georgia On My Mind

Tuesday, 11 September 2018

I had a nightmare where I was with an evil person and we were hurting each other with our hands. I woke up feeling pain on my wrists as if someone had indeed held them tightly and hurt me. It was 03:40 then and even though I tried, I couldn’t sleep thereafter and finally at 05:00, I got up and headed for the shower. Performed prayers and freshened up then waited for breakfast. Lot had told me the bus times back to Tbilisi were at 08:10, 10:00 and 12:00 noon if I recall correctly. She had advised me to take the first bus out as it would be too hot after that and as I had more or less covered the main sights, I was ready to leave.

I left at 07:20 and walked to Kilikia bus station about 1.5km away. Lot had told me I didn’t have to cross the road (my map told me otherwise) and as she had taken the bus to Tbilisi before, I trusted her. So I was not happy when I asked around and was told I needed to take the bus across the road. I had to go down stairs into the underpass to the other side and my heart just sank at the sight of the horrible bus station. It looked straight out of the 1970s and only one woman seemed to know a bit of English, well, enough English to point out the marshrutka to Tbilisi to me. I approached the driver and asked if he was going to Avlabari and he said he was heading for Ortachala. I asked where I could get the bus to Avlabari and he replied in Armenian and gestured. I asked if it was across the road and he seemed to agree so I headed back down the underpass. This time I asked the drivers themselves and was again told I needed to go to the other side. So there I went again down and up the stupid stairs. I had just about given up at that point and told the driver I would ride in his marshrutka even though he was headed for Ortachala bus station. I paid 6,500 Dram for my fare.

We left the sad excuse of a bus station at 08:44 and after some time, stopped at a supermarket in a town that looked like the rain had just stopped minutes before. The driver told us to change money there and I took the opportunity to use the bathroom. I bought some chocolates before selling off the remaining Dram and received 5 Georgian Lari.

The border control was smooth and we had to take our bags to enter Georgia (as what happened early the previous pre-dawn). We reached Ortachala around 14:20 and after a while, I ended up sharing a cab with another woman who was in the same marshrutka from Yerevan. The driver gestured that I was to pay 10 Lari for the ride to Avlabari. She and the driver got into an argument – I tell you, Georgians talk really loudly that I had problems differentiating if they were talking or arguing – and I started getting uncomfortable. So it was with relief when I spotted Isani metro station. The argument had by this time reached a peak and the woman got out and not to be outdone, I got out too and gave the driver 5 Lari. He started protesting and I told him 10 Lari was to Avlabari metro station and as I was getting off before then, 5 Lari should more than suffice. Then I turned and walked away before he could start shouting at me.

At the station, I paid for 3 Lari – 2 Lari for the card and 1 Lari for the value in the card (each trip costs 0.5 Lari)– and rode the train until Avlabari. At Avlabari, I had to ask a few people the direction and no one knew English. Finally I said ‘Abano?’ (short for Abanotubani which is the district in Old Tbilisi where my guest house was) and threw out my hands and one guy pointed the way. I walked down the road and was not amused to find a road construction ahead. Luckily, I met three teenagers and one of them told me the bridge ahead was closed but I could detour and use an alternative road. So I followed behind them down the hill. Whoa, I thought, it’d be a torture walking up this hill to Avlabari the next day.

I reached Red Fox Guesthouse about 15 minutes later and it was half-way up another steep hill. I didn’t realise Old Tbilisi is hilly! I forgot to save the safe box code in which Tamara, the owner, had left my room key so I struggled a bit. Thankfully, a British bloke came out and I asked if there was WiFi. He confirmed there was so I got in and used the WiFi to access my email for the code. I could have sworn I had saved the code but it turned out I didn’t. Anyway, no harm done.

After performing prayers, I went out to explore Old Tbilisi. It was a charming area with sulphuric bath houses (bain in French means bath so I gathered that bano is Georgian means bath too) and I enjoyed strolling around the bath houses before climbing up to the Central Mosque and down again and wandered around the streets. Then I walked across the Metekhi Bridge and walked along the Mtkvari River to the Bridge of Peace. I crossed back the river and wandered around before making my way back to the guesthouse. There are a lot of Muslim tourists and a few halal eateries so it’s really a Muslim-friendly city. I also noted with a little amusement those who approached me during my walk trying to sell of wine tours could speak English but it was so hard for me to find anyone who could speak English back at Avlabari just ten minutes away.

I arrived back at the guest house just after 20:00, had a shower and performed prayers before going down to the kitchen to have dinner. A Georgian couple had also returned to their room and I could hear their loud conversation. Either the walls were thin or it’s just their nature to speak loudly!

 A bathhouse

 Chreli Abano

Bridge of Peace

Wednesday, 12 September 2018

I went out early in the morning after showering and prayers. I always love going out for a brief morning walk and have the place all to myself. True enough, hardly a soul was out and about unless you count the workers who were already hard at work sweeping the pavement and clearing rubbish. I don’t know why more people don’t do this but in a way it’s great because I get to enjoy a peaceful morning and I can take pictures without being disturbed.

I returned back to the guest house and met Tamara, the owner. I had to wait while my breakfast was being prepared but it wasn’t a long wait. At times like that I would fantasise having my own small guesthouse to run but I doubt I have much patience to deal with annoying guests.

After breakfast, I returned to my room to retrieve my bag. I left it at the reception then walked over to Liberty Square metro station. While it wasn’t a hilly route, the station was much further than Avlabari. But it was OK because I didn’t have my suitcase with me then. From Liberty Square, I rode the metro to Didube (pronounced as Dee-do-bay) as I wanted to get a marshrutka from there to Mtskheta. Oh my, I wasted about 20 minutes walking around trying to find the counter. Hardly anyone spoke English and I don’t speak Russian. Finally I tried to locate the buildings in this post I read and saved the night before and eventually located the blinking counter. And guess what, the lady behind the counter could speak English!!! I paid GEL1 and boarded the marshrutka. It left at 10:30.

We arrived Mtskheta about 20 minutes later and I headed for Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I walked around the cathedral before entering. Interestingly I found a bilingual epitaph in Georgian and Arabic scripts which I later found was for Tamar, the first wife of George XI, a Georgian monarch who had to nominally accept Islam before he could be confirmed as a viceroy by the then king of Iran. After that I walked out to the small bazaar outside to River Mtkvari (it looked more like a lake instead of a river) and across the river high up the hill was Jvari Monastery. There were many taxi drivers outside the cathedral offering to bring you to Jvari but I couldn’t spare the time.

 Svetitskhoveli Cathedral

Tamar’s tomb

I strolled back through the bazaar and set about locating the marshrutka stop for the ride back to Tbilisi and just about managed to board one. It was 11:55 then and we reached Didube at about 12:20. I rode the train back to Liberty Square and walked back to the guesthouse. After performing prayers and a light lunch, I left and walked up to Avlabari. I had thought about it on the walk back to the guest house and decided I didn’t fancy dodging tourists and lugging my suitcase up the cobbled streets to Liberty Square. From Avlabari, I rode the metro back to Didube and from there, I boarded a marshrutka to Kutaisi. The fare was GEL10.

It was supposed to be a 3.5-hour trip to Kutaisi but we were asked to change marshrutkas about 31km outside Kutaisi. The second marshrutka was newer, cleaner and more comfortable and I got down at the last stop which was just outside McDonald’s about five hours since I boarded the marshrutka in Tbilisi. There were other marshrutkas there heading back to Tbilisi and Batumi which is a city by the Black Sea. It’s tempting to go there (then I can say I went to both the Caspian and Black Seas in one trip) but I was going to fly out from Kutaisi the following afternoon so no Batumi on this trip. I wandered around and finally walked into McDonald’s in search of someone, anyone, who could speak English. I’m not the type to really speak out but needs must. So I marched to the counter and asked if anyone spoke English. Thankfully, the manager and one of the girls at the counter spoke some English and they helped me with the bus info. I had to go into McDonald’s again to ask where I should wait for the bus no. 1 to the city centre. She brought me out and pointed across the road and told me to wait outside a pharmacy. The marshrutka came within seconds and I reached the city centre minutes later. I got down at the first stop after we had crossed the river and walked to my guesthouse. And my, there were so many dogs around. I had to walk carefully around dog poo and potholes before reaching the guesthouse. I opened the gate and saw a Siamese cat. What a relief!

After putting away my bags, I ventured out to find a moneychanger to change my note into smaller denominations to pay for my room (my host didn’t have smaller change). It was approaching dusk then and when I returned to the guesthouse, it was already dark.

The owner had some guests or neighbours over and yes I could hear their conversation. It sounded somewhat like Japanese at some point. I was too knackered and managed to fall asleep.

To be continued