Turkey, Belly Button of the World
It’s a last minute decision to visit Turkey, and for the first time ever, we decided to take a tour package for few reasons - Turkey located near to Syria and many of the destinations require long hours of driving (a total of 2,300km for this trip and I’ve clocked more nearly 140,000 steps in 9.5 days!), hence being in a coach bus with a group shall be better option for traveling with young kids. Besides, I was too busy to have time for proper trip planning.
We left KLIA airport at 10:15am, transited at Abdul Dhani airport and touched down Atatürk airport of Istanbul around 6:15pm local time (which is actually 11:15pm Malaysia time, Turkey is 5 hour behind Malaysia). The construction of the new airport has completed so this airport shall become a history by end of 2018.
Here's an overview of the itinerary for our 9 days journey:
↬Itinerary Overview↫
Day 1 & 2 Istanbul
↠ Hippodrome
↠ Blue Mosque
↠ Hagia Sophie Museum
Day 3 Canakkale
↠ City of Troy
↠ Permagon
↠ Ekslepion
Day 4 Kusadasi
↠ House of Virgin Mary
↠ Ephesus
↠ Pamukkale, Cotton Castle
Day 5 & 6 Cappadocia
↠ Göreme Open Air Museum
↠ Hunter Valley
↠ Kaymali Underground Museum
↠ Red Valley & Ortahisar castle on Jeep Safari
Day 7 Ankara
↠ Monk Valley
↠ Mustafal Kemel Museum
Day 8 & 9 Istanbul
↠ Dolmabache Palace
↠ Grand Bazaar
↠ Bosphorus cruise
↠ Topkapi Palace
↠ Spice Bazaar
【Day 1 Istanbul 】
Weather in Istanbul was just fine in early December, range between 7°c - 15°c daily. First dinner was typical turkey food, donor kebab at Taksim Kebab House, located near the Taksim Square.
Our hotel is just walking distance from the Taksim Square which offers many shops and restaurants, but after a long day we were just too tired to explore any further... not under such chilly weather.
Overnight Crowne Plaza hotel, a pretty up class and comfortable hotel, we had a good rest after a nice hotel shower. Was too tired after 13 hours of flight to even take a soak in the nice bath tub nor to explore the Taksim square on foot.
Crown Plaza Hotel - The hotel offers quality beds and the toilet is well equipped with all toiletries. Service was prompt and buffer breakfast was quite decent. Personally I would give it a 4.5/5 rating.
【Day 2 Istanbul 】
- Hippodrome
- Blue Mosque
- Hagia Sophie Museum
Istanbul is also known as Constantinopolis, the belly button of the world, it was part of the Roman Empire so the history trace back some 5,000 years ago. We started the morning by exploring the old town of Istanbul, the entire Istanbul is surrounded by hills, remains of the Roman city walls and along the way there are many mosques, with the oldest built nearly 500 years ago.
Complexes were traditionally built around the grand mosque, which consist of bath, library, university, schools, shops and houses, which is pretty much a self sustaining city.
The coach bus took us through Golden Horn bridge, where we saw many locals were fishing along the bridge, it seems to be a daily affair.
The old city walls was built in the 4th century by the Roman and it had been expended 7 times over the years. It ran as long as 20km and were supported by 20 towers and 50 gates.
Hippodrome
First stop, the Hippodrome, which is an amphitheater that used to be the heart of the city for chariot races and circus shows, located just between the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia museum. It has 2 obelisks that were gifted by the Faraoh hence the Egyptian inscription can be seen on the obelisks.
We stopped by here for lunch. Typical kebab with grilled beef.
The Blue Mosque, Sultan Ahmed Mosque
Built in 1616 and it’s made of over 24K ceramics. It has 6 minarets and huge dome hall. While it is currently under reconstruction for one of its minarets and the dome, the mosque is still well worth the visit. Interior of the mosque is open for visit, just remember to wear a scarf to cover up the hair (it’s provided at the mosque entrance for free too)
Hagia Sophia Museum, Ayasofya
Hagia Sophia museum which is a mosque that is nearly 1,500 years old, it was built as a church in 537 and was later converted into a mosque some 900 years later, its probably the oldest temple hence is also called the mother of all temples.
Upper deck is where the famous mosaic portraits of Mother Mary and baby Jesus are.
It’s amazing that an architecture this size was built in mere 5 years, its gigantic dome remains the 4th largest in the world till to date. What an architecture marvel.
The window from the upper deck offers an interesting angle of the blue mosque.
After another donor kebab lunch at a really cozy local restaurant in the old town, we began our 6 hours journey towards the east to Chanakkale, which is actually located at the border of Greece.
Freshly pressed Promeganate juice was really nice, for just Lt$10 per glass.
Overnight Çanakkale downtown, Kolin hotel, which is really posh and offer comfortable sleep, with generous spread of buffet dinner and breakfast. I really enjoyed the rich selection of cheese and the Turkish delights was surprisingly nice, not too sweet and quite chewy like nougat.
Kolin Hotel - For the comfort & rich selection of buffet, Kolin hotel definitely deserve a 5/5 rating, living up to its 5 stars rating. :)
Note: on the same day, could have include visit to the Topkapi Palace, Spice Market and Grand Bazaar which are actually located within walking distance. Do allocate about 30min to 1 hour for each of the place.
【Day 3 Canakkale - Troia & Esklepion】
- City of Troy
- Permagon
- Ekslepion
Troia
We visited ancient city of Troy (or Troia as local calls it) in the early morning, it’s the archeological site which was discovered by German archeologist some 100 years ago. The city was built over 3,000 years ago and the walls had been rebuilt 9 times over the years. Now I’ve learnt that Adobe is actually a type of bricks used for the Troy city, and also commonly used in Ottoman architecture.
The site is full of ruins of the city walls, marble pillars and is surrounded by lots Trojan oak trees, fig trees, and guarded by many handsome & friendly dogs.
Near the entrance stood a replica of the wooden Trojan horse that was built in 1990s by Turkey government, almost 3 stories tall and opened for visit. Do be careful with the steps as a little girl actually fell down and knocked her head hard on the wooden floor.
After that, we traveled 100km to next stop, Esklepion.
Pergamon
We travelled south towards Pergamon, the long and winding drive. We stopped by a place to buy olive oil products, we were told that Dalan and Rosen are both reasonable and widely popular local produces. We bought nothing but a nice toasted sandwich.
We had simple Turkish lunch.. pretty much chicken and beef satay. I had a stroll in the backyard and found this rustic looking bird house. Love it!
Esklepion
The home to the city of healing and named after the god of healing, Esklepios, who is the son of Zeus. Pretty much only the ruins that remain of the once huge complex, which hosted hospital, royal library, healing center, underground tunnel for spiritual healing and even a theater.
It's such a beautiful yet saddening sight to remind us that, no matter how strong you (a nation) are, if become too errogant, it will still subject to fall one day.
After the visit, we got some souvenirs from the handmade stores - blue eye or also known as evil eye, is a popular souvenirs of Turkey - it is believe to give protection from the evils. Then, another 3 hours drive to our hotel for the night. >.<
We overnight in Kusadasi at the beautiful 5 stars hotel, Charisma Deluxe, that is one of the seafront resorts. Hub tried the Turkish bath and spa which he said was a really good experience(USD$60-$75 for 75-90min), while kiddos and I had a good rest and foam bath in the hotel room.
That's one excited little C at the hotel lobby...
Charisma hotel - I’ll give it a 5/5 rating. Room condition was tip-top and buffet spread was pamperingly luxurious. The grilled fish and vegetables were so flavorful. Our balcony facing the open ocean which supposed to offer an amazing view in the day, unfortunately we had to leave by 7am before the sun rises.. -.-
【Day 4 Kusadasi】
- House of Virgin Mary
- Ephesus
- Pamukkale, Cotton Castle
After a satisfying breakfast, we headed to Leco leather for a short fashion show and leather shopping. I was picked for the cat walk on stage, LOL, what an experience. Had no idea how I look but well, it was unexpected but interesting.
They have some really nice selection of sheep leather jackets and coats, selling at 40-50% discount on their factory price. Many bought the jackets here but we decided to give it a pass, since we don’t really wear leather jacket that often back home, and don’t want the trouble of caring for such expensive leather.
Note: for DIY tour, I would give this shop a pass.
House of Virgin Mary
We then continued with a 20 minutes drive to the House of Virgin Mary in Ephesus. It’s a small stone hut built 1B.C, it is believe that Mary lived and died here.
Many visitors left their prayers on the wall in front of the stone hut. Does it really works? I wonder. We just snapped some photos as memory.
Ancient city of Ephesus
Ancient city of Ephesus, the first marble city built by the Romans which was the commerce center in the western Anatolia. The city is named after Ephesus, another son of Zeus the Greek god. Euphesus is a huge city with public bath, library, soup house, Odeon, temples, shops, and a gigantic size theatre for gladiator fight. Despite it has gone through earthquakes, one could almost imagined how grand and prosperous this city once was. After the visit, I was totally in awe. It’s hard to believe that over 2,000 years ago mankind had already developed the techniques to cut & crave the marble (using silk thread?!), mastered engineering and architecture design to build an extravagant city of this magnitude.
There are many interesting statues in Ephesus. Such as Nike, the statue of Victoria (for Victory); the temple of Fortuna (for fortune).
The gigantic library made of marble, with the 4 statues symbolizing wisdom, health and 2 other values I could not recall.
While Troia is guarded by handsome fury dogs, the city of Ephesus is guarded by fluffy pussy cats.
After a quick Turkish lunch, we began the 3 hour drive to Kusadasi where we will rest for the night.
This is a very blessed & futile land as it has ample supply of underground hot spring water. Along the highway there were acres and acres of fruit trees - peach trees, fig trees, orange trees, olive trees... all growing in abundance.
Pamukkale, the Cotton Castle
Pamukkale, the famous cotton castle that is made up of sodium carbonate pushed up from the ground and solidified after some times. While it is called cotton castle, it’s nothing soft; in fact hard as rock and some parts were painful to walk on... but it offers a really breathtaking. The lake, the cascading formation, the pure white-ish surface, and the turquoise blue hot spring water pools... it’s an insta-perfect spot for any instagrammer ;)
We had a good time dipping our feet in the hot spring water pool and walking about with our bare feet. It probably would be better to visit during spring so one can one in bikinis and swim suits :)
After leaving Pamukkale, it’s another 20 minutes drive to the nearby hotel, Pam Hot Spring resort. Initially we planned to take a dip in the indoor hot spring pool which is known for its mineral rich thermal water, but after seeing the water’s color - it’s brownish! We decided to just dip in the bath tub in our hotel room instead :)
Pam Hot Spring Resort - I’ll give it a 3/5 rating despite its a 5 star spa and resort. Room condition was ok but without providing shower gel / shampoo and the buffet spread was rather limited compared to other 2 hotels we stayed in. The hot spring pool was a disappointment with its dark brownish water that looked so unwelcoming.
【Day 5 Cappadocia】
From Kusadasi to Cappadocia (or the local called “Kappadokya”) is a long drive of 694km. We stopped by Dinar, a small town famous for its yogurt, honey & poppy seeds. We tried the Turkish coffee, rich but dislike tasting the fine coffee grinds in it.
The route that we travelled on is part of the famous silk road that was once the busy trading route for exchange of silk, leather, fragrance, spices, jewelry, ivory etc between the east and the west - the earlier days of global trading. It’s really hard to imaging how the people in olden days travelled thousands of miles with camels that can only cover 40km max a day with all their goods, with the thread of weather and bandits.
There are lots of valley in Cappadocia such as Hunter valley, Pigeon Valley, Monk Valley etc, which are all formed due to the volcanic activities in this area.
Cappadocia actually means “land of the beautiful horses”, there are indeed thousands of mustangs in this area. Weather in Cappadocia was colder than Istanbul, it was around 2°c at night and really chilly in the morning.
We called it a night at the Göreme Kaya hotel, it’s a cave concept hotel and well equipped with WiFi and all modern amenities. The dinner was excellent - Turkish style as usual, some dislike them but we were enjoying the grilled vegetables and beef goulash, they were really delicious!
We explored the town which is located just 5 minutes away on foot. Many small stores selling ceramics, carpets, jewelry and souvenirs. Lots of local eateries and some Chinese food too. We got some nice magnets and souvenirs here with a good price, and bought a nice Zultanite jewelry set as my early birthday present. Zultanite is a gem stone that is only available in Turkey, it’s yellow in color but changes color under different lighting condition.
Göreme Cave hotel - 4.5/5 rating. It’s a wonderful hotel as I mentioned above, it would be perfect if could feel a bit more cave like. But otherwise, it’s really a great choice for travelers.
Where we rested for the 2 nights.
Shopping at the downtown of Cappadocia. Love their colourful rugs and handmade lamps.
【Day 6 Cappadocia】
- Göreme Open Museum & Hunter Valley
- Kaymali Underground Museum
- Red Valley
- Ortahisar castle
Unfortunately the weather was no good so the Hot air balloon ride was called off. WTH?!! Anyway, we decided to take the Jeep safari for a ground tour to explore the nearby valleys.
Hunter Valley
First stop, Hunter Valley. Amazing view of the sediment formation and the stone houses that were built by the Christian settlers at least 2,500 years ago; literally, caveman house. These houses are no longer habituated nowadays but it’s amazing they are still well preserved after all these years.
West of Turkey, or known as Anatolia, it’s full of marble - where Ephesus and Ekslepion are with the giant marble wall and pillars; to the east, it’s full of timber; while in central Anatolia, which is where Cappadocia is located, there is not much natural resources except for hills and stones, so the people dug the rocks to make their cave homes. These cave homes provided perfect thermal insulation to protect them from the extreme weather on this dry land, which can go as low as -35°c in the winter. Besides, the food can be preserved for a very long time, up to weeks, when kept in door. So in this region, there are lots of dried fruits to offer - figs, raspberries, pomegranates, peaches, lemons and oranges.
Some also dug the ground to make their settlements underground, to protect themselves from the wild beasts and enemies. Many underground settlements were discovered over the years and some even with capacity to accommodate up to 10,000 people, it is literally a city on its own!
Next, we visited Kaymali, an underground city with capacity to host 3,000-4,000 people. It goes 7 storeys down but we only covered 4 storeys which already allowed us good glimpse of their underground living - with living hall, winery, food storage room, church and stables on the upper deck. It has narrow and long tunnels, purposely built such a way to prevent enemy attack. Each level has giant cylinder stone doors that weight like 500kg, to provide protection in event of enemy attack. Amazingly, there are holes in the wall that allowed communication between different levels.
Important: these underground settlements are not suitable for old folks or those with spine problems as it recovers climbing in some really tight area. It’s rather airy in there but maybe a bit tight for those who are claustrophobic. The kids handled it well, in fact they were having fun exploring all the cave rooms which are very much like maze.
Silk Gallery
Carpet weaving is the tradition of Turkey and is a tradition that the government still promoting. The carpets are made of cotton, wool and silk and take months and years to make. They are beautiful but come with a high price, between USD$1,000 to USD$5,000 or even more for a nice silk carpet.
If you are not a carpet lover, can just give this spot a miss.
Red Valley via Jeep Safari
We had a fun ride with the Jeep Safari tour (US$80/pax) since the hot air balloon ride was cancelled, this is the next best option to explore turkey and its valleys. We were on board a Pajero and the young Turkish driver took us off road along with other troop. Kiddos were thrilled with the off road experience. Visited few cave ruins and the breathtaking infinite view at the red valley in Cappadocia.
The Ortahisar castle (mid fortress) was simply breathtaking, with the cascading pigeon cave houses and deep valleys. Ortahisar Castle oversees the valley of Hallacdere, it was built in the Bezyntine era some 1,000 years ago, the view was simply breathtaking. maybe it’s not right to say “built”, as it was actually carved / dug out from the natural rock formation..
It was once used as a fortress for the city, and is called
“The tallest fairy chimney”. It was closed for some years due to soil erosion, and only reopened to visitor after restoration work in 2013.
Photos simply could not do this place it’s justice.
Explored the abandoned Orthodox Churches.
We ended the Jeep Safari tour with a toast over the Red Valley.
Traditional Turkey Dance
At night, we were invited to a Evranos, a place where one can enjoy belly dance while having food served, Whirling Dervishes dance and bottomless drinks, quite a pleasant way to end the tiring evening.
【Day 7 Ankara】
- Monk Valley
- Mustafal Kemel Museum
Unexpectedly, it snowed in the morning, we woke up to white capped stone houses in Cappadocia! I enjoyed my breakfast outdoor admiring the feather-light white snow.
Monk Valley
We took off to visit Monk Valley, or also known as the fairy chimney in Cappadocia which are natural formation of nature. The rocks on the top of the chimney are actually formed from larva and are hard.
It’s given its name as a monk used to live here back in the 3rd century and spent the rest of his life here. The rock formation is amazing, really wonder how would mankind decide to settle down in such a dry and deserted location on Earth.
This place started as settlement for some Christian settlers, the 2 churches that had been restored, Snake church and Apple church, have colorful wall painting that depict story in the Bible.
Found these little cuties...
It was snowing all the way on the highway, felt like we were driving through a Christmas town with the white capped pine trees and snow covered roofs, if only they hang some mistletoe and Christmas lighting it would be just perfect.
On the way to Ankara, we stopped by for the popular Turkish ice cream, Mado. We had the chocolate, pistachio, hazelnut and mango (E and his mango, sigh), all in for only Lt$18, very reasonable price.
Salt Lake was in view, it’s the major supply of table salt for turkey and in spring, the water turns into solid salt and one can literally just walk and run on the Salt Lake; and it never freeze in winter due to the high sodium composition. Interesting isn’t it?!
We stopped by for some turkish beef stew with rice.
Discovered some really interesting berries at the roadsite.
Amazing view of sunseting over the horizon..
Mustafal Kemel Museum
The museum was built in memory of the late President Mustafal Kemel who was a lieutenant in chief during the war in 1921. Huge memorial hall built to resemble the Greek architecture, there’s a Peace Park planted with 100 over trees to remind the need for peace. “Peace at home, Peace in the world”. Ironically, Turkey was an ally to the German during the World War I. Perhaps that’s why they seek for peace after the war.
The handsomely dressed guards change shift every hour. Very much like the Buckingham Palace (well, I suspect they copycat the idea :).
At the spacious garden. C resting with the lion statues which signifies courage and refusal to fight (or battle).
Super Mario jump time!
Citadel of Ankara is located above the old town of Ankara. Quite a notorious neighborhood apparently.
After checking into our hotel, Bera Ankara, a 5 star hotel located in the downtown, we had a quick dinner and explored the nearby shopping district on foot. There were some shops and shopping malls located just 500m away, so it was quite a leisure walk. Boots and jackets were pretty reasonably priced here, but we didn’t managed to find anything to our liking. Just got some nuts, chocolates and local beers, Efes, in the convenient store before heading back to the hotel.
It’s the coldest city in our trip, the temperature dropped to -2°c at night. Luckily we were adequately dressed :)
Bera Ankara Hotel - 4.5/5. Hotel room was nice & well equipped, we got 2 connecting rooms so the kids get to roam around freely. However the food was just mediocre compared to the others. The strategic location was a big plus point.
【Day 8 Istanbul】
- Dolmabache Palace
- Grand Bazaar
After a quick breakfast with sleepy eyes, we departed for Istanbul at 7am, the skies were still dark. It’s a 6 hour drive to Istanbul from Ankara, hence we still managed to catch some nap on the bus.
The coach bus traveled passed the city of Bursa and Koleji, a province that suffered earthquake back in 1990 with over 50,000 casualties.
Dolmabahçe Palace
Dolmabahçe Palace was built by the Ottoman Empire and is lavishly decorated with bacarat crystals, Turkish carpets, French painting and giant chandeliers. It was the official place used by the sultan to receive his guests of honor, and has the largest ceremonial hall in the world. Somehow, it reminds me of Versailles Palace in France, although much smaller in comparison, it was built to show off the wealth and power by the loyalties.
Grand Bazaar
From the Dolmabahçe Palace, we walked towards the Grand Bazaar, which has over 4,000 shops in 66 streets, its history traced back some 600 years ago and is the biggest indoor bazaar in the world.
In Grand Bazaar there are many stores offering jewelry, silk products, ceramic products, leather wears and Turkish delights. Can easily get lost in the Bazaar if you are not paying attention as all gates and shops look similar. :D
We managed to get some fine silk scarves and souvenirs here.
And this was where the unthinkable happened... E was hit by a taxi while walking towards the Sultan Ahmed Square! >.<“
There were a group of ladies (I presume they are beggars) sitting at the roadside blocking our way. E stepped out to the main road without realizing a taxi was coming from the back. I was walking with C behind him and nearly had my heart popped out when I witnessed the incident. I really screamed my heart out (that image of incident is still vivid in my mind).
Fortunately, the taxi driver wasn’t speeding and he managed to stop in time. At first E claimed he was alright and not feeling any pain (he probably was under shock) so we thought it was just a light knock. Later only we found out that the wheel of the taxi actually did rolled over his right foot, and his foot starting to swell and become painful after walking. Daddy and the tour guide sent him to the nearby hospital, after x-ray scanning, the doctor discovered that he suffered torn tissues on his foot, luckily no crack on his bone. Thank God it’s just a minor injury... but with that, the remaining of the trip he had to be carried.
Our helpful guide, Abdullah helped big guy to carry him on the last day of the trip. Thanks Abdullah!
【Day 9 Home】
- Bosphorus cruise
- Topkapi Palace
- Spice Bazaar
Bosphorus cruise
We started the morning by taking the cruise to have a different view of the city.
There are 3 bridges that connects Istanbul, one of which, Bosphorus Bridge was renamed to March of July 15th to commemorate the citizens who lost their lives during the coupe in 2016.
Bosphorus is the most expensive area in Istanbul with the house prices fetching USD$100mil or more! Bosphorus is very strategically located within a protected bay between Maymarus sea and Black sea, offering beautiful seaside view. This is also the meeting point of western turkey (the European side) and east turkey (the Asian side).
Topkapi Palace
From here, we walked to Tokkapi Palace, which was the administrative hub of the Ottoman for 380+ years. It has a small collection of weapons, administration hall and a large soup kitchen. The famous items on display here are the 86 carat diamonds and Turkish dagger which unfortunately that section has been closed for renovation for years.
There is a harem that used to house the concubines brought from different countries, choices of future wives to the generals (wonder is this setup under influence by the Chinese empire?)
The personal courtyard of the Sultan was decorated with 950kg of gold, but was subsequently removed when Dolmabahçe palace replaces its importance.
The so called famous Izmit tiles. They look pretty much like Chinese patterns with some creatures that look like kirin and Phoenix.
Aya Irini Aniti
Interesting, the oldest church is situated inside Topkapi Palace (it is no longer in service nowadays).
Spice Bazaar
Last itinerary of the trip, is to Spice Bazaar. It is quite similar with Grand Bazaar except it has much wider selection of spices, nuts and herbs - promeganate tea, apple tea, rose tea, saffron, pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts, Turkish delights etc... I managed to get some nice Turkish delights, tea leaves, coffee powder and ceramic bowls here.
Tips: Most prices at the Bazaar are negotiable unless they display a fixed price sign. I would recommend you compare prices from a few stores to avoid over paying for the same products. ;-)
We had turkish ice cream from this man who is a really entertaining merchant and he had been doing this trade for over 50 years. Imagine that!
With that, we ended our trip and headed to the Atatürk airport.
Useful tips you may want to know..
- Weather in turkey can vary vastly in winter, in day time we dressed down (around 12-17°c), while at night it may turn really cold and chilly (to 2°c or so), gloves, scarf, leg warmers & an extra jacket could be handy. Basically wear in layers, like an onion :))
- Check the weather for possibility of rain, and best to come prepare with a foldable umbrella and a cap for little ones.
- While we enjoyed turkey food and most of them time they do have choice of bread and barley (cook like rice), many of the other Asian tourists apparently do not think alike. We saw quite a few came prepared with their own cup noodles, milo drink and sambal cili. So, be prepared if you are typical Asian eater :)
- Generally Turkey Lira, US Dollar & Euros are accepted in store, while using of credit card is excepted it may come with a cost.
- Traveling in Turkey involved long hour of driving on ground. One destination to another is easily 2-4hours, and some part could be hilly & windy, such as the route to Cappadocia. So do prepare motion sickness pill for your little one if possible.
- Turkey is a Muslim country and majority of population here are Muslim, so do respect the culture and avoid bringing any non-halal food.
About Emirate Airlines, the true 5 star airline
We truly enjoyed the service and food on Emirate airline, their crews were attentive and friendly, and would go the extra miles to deliver excellent customer services. On our return flight from Turkey, E needed wheelchair service due to an unfortunate incident that happened in Istanbul (read on more and you’ll know why), the airline dedicated a personnel and wheelchair for him at every airport - when departing from Atatürk airport, when transiting at Dubai airport and upon arrival at KLIA airport. The Emirates ground crew at Dubai airport, Karl from Philippine, was especially helpful, explained the procedures and ensure we were safely boarded onto the plane. At 1:45am in the morning, it’s really heart warming to receive warmth service with a smile. We have travelled with many airlines in the past years, Emirate truly stands out amongst the rest.
Well, that’s all folks. Thanks for reading, don’t forget to like and share if you find this post useful! ;-)
pH
