The first thing I check whenever I am in a new place (or hotel) is how clean is the bathrooms and that is exactly what I did and I liked what I saw, a neat very clean bathroom with ample of towels and cleaning items. After settling down in the nice beds, I immediately took a shower and it was refreshing to have a nice bath. After that we were trying to decide whether to go out and find a burger area to eat our dinner but we decided that we were too tired to do that and ordered in room service. While the order was given, my daughter was playing with the remote and of all the 25 channels on the Television, only 1 (BBC world service) was in English, the rest were in Turkish or French or with Turkish subtitles.
Anyway after eating our burger (which was really big, delicious and fulfilling) we decided to hit the bed to wake up in the morning when our bus was supposed to be here by 8.00 to take us to the airport. In the morning, since we had only our carryon to pack, we went downstairs to get our breakfast and it was a big one with all kinds of things to choose from. After eating, our bus came and we headed back to the airport. After checking in with the immigration, we decided to eat burgers and some ice cream and then headed towards the final check in with our boarding passes and passports in hand to catch our flight to the U.S.
Just a note that I did not tune in to the internet for the at least 7 days and was really fine with it. You should try it too, it is not that difficult.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
On the lighter side-Travel- Turkey
After an almost three hour journey, we reached Istanbul Ata Turk International airport. After going through the boarding passes for our connecting flight the next day and arguing with the staff of the Turkish airlines, we finally got our seats next to each other. Then after paying USD 20.00 each for a 90 day visas (each country which is suppose to get a visa on arrival in Turkey if you want to enter it will have different rates for visas of different durations. We came out of the immigration area and went straight to the Turkish airlines hotel reservation and converted some US dollars in Turkish Lira and boarded the bus to our hotel. As we exited the airport, we saw rain for the first time in 12 days and it was refreshing.
Our hotel was on the Ankara side of Turkey and the airport was on the Istanbul side. During our trip to the hotel, most of the people in our group were deciding to go to visit some famous landmarks in Istanbul and we decided that we were too tired to do any sight seeing on this trip and will come back when we come there exclusively for vacation. After reaching the hotel and getting keys to our room, we went upstairs to find that the room was filled with smell from someone smoking. We then had to call the reception desk to get it sprayed to clear the smoke.
Our hotel was on the Ankara side of Turkey and the airport was on the Istanbul side. During our trip to the hotel, most of the people in our group were deciding to go to visit some famous landmarks in Istanbul and we decided that we were too tired to do any sight seeing on this trip and will come back when we come there exclusively for vacation. After reaching the hotel and getting keys to our room, we went upstairs to find that the room was filled with smell from someone smoking. We then had to call the reception desk to get it sprayed to clear the smoke.
On the lighter side-Travel- Iraq-13
At the first check point, we were asked to put our luggage on the ground and we were suppose to go and get physically checked by the guards while our bags and the buses were checked by dogs. After that the bags were again put back in the buses and we reached the final departure lounge where again we were subject to physical checkup and the bags again checked by dogs but not in front of us. Just to point one thing out that all the checking were done physically by the guards, while the men side was more relaxed, but on the women side my wife was saying that they checked thoroughly touching and squeezing the bra areas and the underwear area to make sure everything was fine. I happen to saw some U.S. officials at the airport by the way they were sporting tattoos.
After the physical check up, we proceeded to get our bags and get our boarding passes and then spent some time in the departure lounge. We were all dreary eyes and just wanted to take the flight as soon as possible to our next destination to Istanbul, Turkey. After our gates were announced and another round of security check up of our carryon luggage, we proceeded to enter the plane and leave the most amazing journey of our life behind.
After the physical check up, we proceeded to get our bags and get our boarding passes and then spent some time in the departure lounge. We were all dreary eyes and just wanted to take the flight as soon as possible to our next destination to Istanbul, Turkey. After our gates were announced and another round of security check up of our carryon luggage, we proceeded to enter the plane and leave the most amazing journey of our life behind.
On the lighter side-Travel- Iraq-11
When we reached the Samarra shrine, it was a sad view to see that the signs of destruction were still there. Although they are trying to rebuild it, but still it is really sad that even the people who are not in this world are not immune to the hatred of few crazed individuals. These individuals think that they will live forever or there will be party on the other side when they die. Hopefully, these individuals despite their vicious agenda will never win how much they apply their violent ways on peaceful people. We went inside the shrine and first did our prayers and then before entering the shrine we gathered to hear the story of how our Imams laid their lives and also the last Imam went into hiding because the ruler of that time wanted to kill him like he had done it before to his father. We stood there in respect and then after the recitation was done by the guide, we went inside the dome to pay our respect. It made me very sad and very mad at the same time to see the condition of the shrine and I prayed to God that it becomes again the beautiful shrine that it was before the bombing the next time I come back to see it. After paying our respect to the father of the hidden Imam, we went downstairs to the area where it is said that the hidden Imam Mehdi went into hiding from the forces of the then ruler. There it is said you’re your prayers are answered. After praying there, I came outside and started to heading back to our buses. On our way back to the buses, since it was so hot that we had to stop by some shop to get as much water and sodas as we can to quench our thirst.
After boarding our buses we headed towards Karbala and reached there a little after dark. After reaching our hotel and eating dinner. We went to our rooms to get rest and sleep to wake up again early in the morning for another trip to Baghdad- the capital city of Iraq which was 90 Kilometers (about 60 miles) from Karbala. Same as with Samarra, we encountered numerous check points and tanks along the way to Baghdad. Since the shrine was in a dense neighborhood of the city called Kadhimiya, we had to disembark at a bus stop to again walk to the shrine.
After boarding our buses we headed towards Karbala and reached there a little after dark. After reaching our hotel and eating dinner. We went to our rooms to get rest and sleep to wake up again early in the morning for another trip to Baghdad- the capital city of Iraq which was 90 Kilometers (about 60 miles) from Karbala. Same as with Samarra, we encountered numerous check points and tanks along the way to Baghdad. Since the shrine was in a dense neighborhood of the city called Kadhimiya, we had to disembark at a bus stop to again walk to the shrine.
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