I will be flying from SFO to Narita on April 12.
April 23: Narita-Bangkok
July 12: Singapore-SFO
In between? Not sure other than a month will be in India and 3 weeks in Bangladesh. I'd like to spend a few days on the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia or Ko Pha Ngan in Thailand. I am definitly going to explore Malaysia some more as well. When I was there back in 2002, I only was there for about a week. I want to spend some more time in KL and see what else the country has to offer.
I also have this desire to go check out Laos but it is a bit out of the way, and it seems silly to just go up there for a few days. We'll see...
Monday, February 19, 2007
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Yikes
My plan right now for my upcoming trip to Asia is to purchase a ticket in Bangkok to fly to Dhaka. Rumor is the cheapest airfare is Biman Bangladesh. Well after reading the following, I am officially nervous of flying that airline:
Riyadh to Dhaka and back - my second time. After the many delays and poor service at the counter (one advantage being that if your vacation is very short, you have it extended by the delays and you can blame it on the plane to dodge your superior's wrath!) I was in a queue for over 3 hours just to get through immigration! I finally boarded the plane which was parked way out on the tarmac and got there by the bus shuttle service. Was winter so I was spared the heat (this flight didn't have very good air-conditioning I think it was one of the older planes) but it can get quite stuffy. The cabin crew quite friendly and chatty. The seats had very little legroom even for my 5’6 frame. I had to push the neighboring passenger off my shoulder - thrice, well we really can't blame him the seats didn't recline and were cramped. Food was ok considering I’ve tasted worse. Toilet seats were bad and lets not forget the train of ants on the toilet wall; I saw tiny roaches crawling on a another flight! I received my luggage 2 days after I reached Dhaka. I had some clothes and personal amenities in my carry-all, so I survived - but most of the other people on my flight were not so lucky... If your traveling in winter and it's one of the newer planes, at night I suggest you keep your outerwear as it can get quite chilly (provided there is air conditioning) , and blankets are in short supply. On one of my flights most people had turned in their jackets which were kept in a compartment behind the projector screen, there weren't enough blankets to go around and so many people shivered, mercifully children were given priority, as for myself I had my jacket on - a cabin crew member suggested holding on to it - thanks to her. Well it's a very small fleet and so I guess not too much in the way of funds. As to whether I'll ever fly it again I don't know, but in the mean time I'll put it on my list of airlines I'd fly only out of dire necessity.
Then you have this beauty:
I guess I can only echo the complaints below and be thankful that I made it back to London in one piece. Journey to Bangkok uncomfortable and delayed for only 10 hours - (I understand now that this really is a walk in the park when flying with Biman). Return journey was not so smooth - after spending two days trying to reconfirm my already paid for tickets and finally giving up I was allowed to fly from Bangkok to Dakar. Bad mistake - why didn't they leave me in Bangkok where you can organise things normally - alas my path had been chosen - I was to land in Dakar and get told that I am not allowed to leave - great - its not like I have a job to go to and I could think of nothing better to do than spend the rest of my days rotting away in possibly the worst airport in the known world. 9 hours of hard negotiation, a call to the British Embassy, and some serious negotiation with the London office meant that I was able to board the flight 9 hours later with only 20mins to spare. If this had not happened I would have been trapped in Dakar for between 3-5 days. I am not a religious man but I must admit I was praying with everyone else at takeoff when I saw the decor and found a piece of the plane (not sure which) under the seat in front of me - I carefully replaced this and tried to forget that I ever saw it - an unscheduled stop in Dubai (clearly to drop off all the passengers that they had over booked onto all the already paid for tickets) meant the flight from Dakar to London took 17 hours - match this with a non-reclining seat - air stewards smoking on a non-smoking flight and distinct uncertainty if we were going to make it, made for an experience I will never forget. Long live Biman since my return you have made me appreciate every minute of every day that I am still here.
And lastly:
New Delhi to Dhaka: without doubt the worst airline I've ever flown. On a scale of 0-10 with 0 the worst and 10 the best, Biman rates -10. My check-in experience was horrendous. There was no order or organization and the process took over an hour - a good thing the flight was running a few hours late.
Link
Riyadh to Dhaka and back - my second time. After the many delays and poor service at the counter (one advantage being that if your vacation is very short, you have it extended by the delays and you can blame it on the plane to dodge your superior's wrath!) I was in a queue for over 3 hours just to get through immigration! I finally boarded the plane which was parked way out on the tarmac and got there by the bus shuttle service. Was winter so I was spared the heat (this flight didn't have very good air-conditioning I think it was one of the older planes) but it can get quite stuffy. The cabin crew quite friendly and chatty. The seats had very little legroom even for my 5’6 frame. I had to push the neighboring passenger off my shoulder - thrice, well we really can't blame him the seats didn't recline and were cramped. Food was ok considering I’ve tasted worse. Toilet seats were bad and lets not forget the train of ants on the toilet wall; I saw tiny roaches crawling on a another flight! I received my luggage 2 days after I reached Dhaka. I had some clothes and personal amenities in my carry-all, so I survived - but most of the other people on my flight were not so lucky... If your traveling in winter and it's one of the newer planes, at night I suggest you keep your outerwear as it can get quite chilly (provided there is air conditioning) , and blankets are in short supply. On one of my flights most people had turned in their jackets which were kept in a compartment behind the projector screen, there weren't enough blankets to go around and so many people shivered, mercifully children were given priority, as for myself I had my jacket on - a cabin crew member suggested holding on to it - thanks to her. Well it's a very small fleet and so I guess not too much in the way of funds. As to whether I'll ever fly it again I don't know, but in the mean time I'll put it on my list of airlines I'd fly only out of dire necessity.
Then you have this beauty:
I guess I can only echo the complaints below and be thankful that I made it back to London in one piece. Journey to Bangkok uncomfortable and delayed for only 10 hours - (I understand now that this really is a walk in the park when flying with Biman). Return journey was not so smooth - after spending two days trying to reconfirm my already paid for tickets and finally giving up I was allowed to fly from Bangkok to Dakar. Bad mistake - why didn't they leave me in Bangkok where you can organise things normally - alas my path had been chosen - I was to land in Dakar and get told that I am not allowed to leave - great - its not like I have a job to go to and I could think of nothing better to do than spend the rest of my days rotting away in possibly the worst airport in the known world. 9 hours of hard negotiation, a call to the British Embassy, and some serious negotiation with the London office meant that I was able to board the flight 9 hours later with only 20mins to spare. If this had not happened I would have been trapped in Dakar for between 3-5 days. I am not a religious man but I must admit I was praying with everyone else at takeoff when I saw the decor and found a piece of the plane (not sure which) under the seat in front of me - I carefully replaced this and tried to forget that I ever saw it - an unscheduled stop in Dubai (clearly to drop off all the passengers that they had over booked onto all the already paid for tickets) meant the flight from Dakar to London took 17 hours - match this with a non-reclining seat - air stewards smoking on a non-smoking flight and distinct uncertainty if we were going to make it, made for an experience I will never forget. Long live Biman since my return you have made me appreciate every minute of every day that I am still here.
And lastly:
New Delhi to Dhaka: without doubt the worst airline I've ever flown. On a scale of 0-10 with 0 the worst and 10 the best, Biman rates -10. My check-in experience was horrendous. There was no order or organization and the process took over an hour - a good thing the flight was running a few hours late.
Link
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Attempting to do it w/out a guidebook
I am going to attempt to do this trip w/out a guidebook. Well some of the trip at least. I've already gotten the LP guide to Bangladesh (thank you Faizun). I also think it would be a little too much to attempt to get around that place without a book. I might be a little daring but not THAT daring. I will probably do the same for India as well.
Southeast Asia and Japan though? Nope. I figure with Japan, I can a) get a lot of info from the internet b) it actually has useful tourist offices. And hey, it might force me to use the Japanese I've been learning for the past 9 months.
As for southeast Asia, I've been there before. In addition, there is a lot of english speakers in the tourist industry there, so I think I'm pretty safe. In the case of Malaysia and Singapore, English is used everywhere.
Today I will be purchasing a notebook to keep notes and whatnot. I am also writing a list of items I need to obtain before I leave. Only two months to go, ha ha.
I figure this "method" will force me to ask for help and assistance- something I HATE doing of course.
Southeast Asia and Japan though? Nope. I figure with Japan, I can a) get a lot of info from the internet b) it actually has useful tourist offices. And hey, it might force me to use the Japanese I've been learning for the past 9 months.
As for southeast Asia, I've been there before. In addition, there is a lot of english speakers in the tourist industry there, so I think I'm pretty safe. In the case of Malaysia and Singapore, English is used everywhere.
Today I will be purchasing a notebook to keep notes and whatnot. I am also writing a list of items I need to obtain before I leave. Only two months to go, ha ha.
I figure this "method" will force me to ask for help and assistance- something I HATE doing of course.
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