Plan on a long day plus when you head to Central Asia. Our route was Denver to Washington to Geneva to Istanbul to Ashgabat--about 36 hours in total. With every flight at least 1 hour late, making our arrival in Ashgabat 4 a.m. this morning.
Since we travel a lot, we use the United Club wherever there is one and the Star Alliance lounges wherever there isn't. For those of you who use the United Club a lot, you know that it is truly minimal--often minimal comfort because of the crowded lounges and, most certainly, minimal and unappetizing food.
So, I wanted to tell you about the airline lounge par excellence which puts the United Clubs to total shame (as virtually all other lounges do)--the Turkish Airlines lounge in Istanbul. This marvel is 2 giant floors with comfortable chairs and couches for real lounging (and sleeping for the very weary), showers, concierge service, and food stations everywhere--pasta bar, pizza bar, mezze (Turkish salads) bar, huge dessert bar, cheese, breads, and more. Not to mention the bars located throughout the club with Turkish (very good) and European wines, beer, water, soft drinks and juices. For our 5 hour layover, this was a welcome gem indeed.
More on Ashgabat in my next blog, but our arrival was the coolest part of the day, at 86 degrees F. Today it blasted up to 104, which we expect tomorrow as well. When we bring a group next year, we'll come in October, a lovely (so we're told) time of year. We were very happy to clamber into a lovely, well-air conditioned hotel room early this morning and grab a few hours of sleep before heading out to see the sights.
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