Svalbard is like a different planet

Approaching Svalbard

If Earthlings ever inhabit another planet I would imagine it to resemble Svalbard. Remote, cold, barren, with hardly any vegetation, a tiny settlement with barracks for sleeping and communal buildings for eating, exercising, working and going to school. There would be perpetual sunlight (ok, I admit, there might be perpetual darkness during winter but let's not spoil the stereotype). There might be wild beasts to fear (any resemblance to polar bears is purely coincidental). On the same planet there could be an earlier settlement set up by the Soviets (quite possible, no?). Local natural resources would be used as a power source (coal mining, perhaps?). Private individuals could not settle on this planet unless they were employed by one of the companies that has interests on the planet and that is involved in tourism, coal mining or research.

***

Svalbard was so different from anything I have ever seen. The flight attendants warned us while we were still undoing our seatbelts that we should proceed to the airport building immediately after disembarking. I thought it weird that they would say that, after all, what else were we supposed to do?

Taking photos immediately after disembarking

I knew immediately what I was going to do as I stepped out of the aircraft. Considering how often I get to land on another planet I was going to take photographs, obviously! It's what everyone else was doing as well.

***

We only spent two full days on Svalbard which in hindsight was a mistake. I could have stayed longer. But when we planned our vacation, I was worried that it would be too cold and of course we knew it would be expensive so we thought it best to limit our time there. As it turned out, we had two beautiful sunny days, which according to our guides were unusually warm. We had pre-booked activities for each of the two days to ensure we had something to do. Now I have the urge to go back to spend at least one day there without activities, to stroll around town, check out the grocery store (do they sell vegetables?), visit the coffee shop and a restaurant that is not attached to our guesthouse.

Rest stop while hiking

Our first day was an adventure packed day that included kayaking across the fjord, hiking up a hill and doing the same on our way back. It was an unusually warm day which meant that we sweated more than expected and consequently would have needed more water than we took along. Everyone was dehydrated when we finally made it back.

But it was all worth it. The views from the summit were magnificent and we saw reindeer up close on our way. The guides told us that reindeer are completely unafraid because they have no natural enemies on Svalbard. Even polar bears prefer seal to reindeer.

Reindeer

Speaking of polar bears, we didn’t see any which according to our guides was lucky. The guides carried guns just in case, because occasionally they do encounter a polar bear.

On the second day we booked a boat trip to Pyramiden, a ghost town that was once a bustling state-run Soviet coal mining settlement. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, coal mining was not economically profitable any longer and in 1998 the inhabitants of the settlement were sent back to where they came from. Everything still remains there, the buildings, furnishings, schoolchildren’s artwork, posters advertising local events and so on. One of the buildings has been resurrected as a hotel where it is now possible to overnight.

Main street in Pyramiden

The population of Svalbard consists of mostly Norwegian and Russian nationals, followed by Thai.

Wait, Thai?

Yes, we saw many Thai people working as kitchen and hotel staff and as help on the tourist boat. I was reminded of the time when I was traveling in Thailand and local women asked me about getting a job in Europe. I guess Svalbard is one of those places where they come to earn money. I wonder how much they researched their destination before they decided to accept the job and if they had in mind such a cold and remote place. It therefore came as no surprise that for lunch on the tourist boat we were served grilled salmon and whale steaks, accompanied by sticky rice prepared by the Thai staff.

Lunch: grilled salmon and whale steak with sticky rice

***

So, Svalbard, will I ever be back? I definitely want to, although I’m not sure whether the weather was uncharacteristically warm during this summer of a heat wave across Europe and I might not have liked it as much in harsher conditions. I’m glad that I visited now because in future I expect the tourism industry to grow and it might become another of those places crowded with busloads (or cruise shiploads) of tourists with selfie-sticks everywhere.

It happened again: two more days and nights of travel adventures

The accidental tourist: sightseeing in Abu Dhabi

My flight back from Bangalore was at 4:20 AM. I so hate these early morning flights because you can't really get any sleep. In India you have to report to the airport three hours before the flight (trust me, you do) and it takes about an hour and a half to get from where I was staying to the airport which means I would have to leave the hotel shortly before midnight. So there was no point in having a room that night or going to sleep. I just went to the airport in the evening and hung around the departure area. I was able to read for a few hours but then I became too tired and just strolled around. During all this time, my flight was announced on the flight departure board and no delays were mentioned.

Finally they opened the check-in counters at around 1AM. An airline employee checked each of our flight tickets before they allowed us to queue for check-in. I was stopped with the explanation “We have delay ma’am. We will be rebooking on another airline.”

I couldn’t believe it! It was happening again!

Several other passengers were diverted as well and we were all instructed to wait by the side until our name was called. Right. And Santa Claus really exists.

After about half an hour, some of the passengers who were waiting in my group decided to approach the airline employee who was monitoring the entrance to the check-in queue. Eventually he started letting them in. What was that all about, I thought we were supposed to wait? I approached the guy as well and he said “To Munich? Yes, you can check-in.” Why then did we have to wait in the first place?

The worst airline ever.

At check-in, the lady instructed me to go to my departure gate for the flight to Munich immediately after we land in Abu Dhabi because my transfer time would be tight. So that’s how they handle a flight delay in India. They send the passengers off to Abu Dhabi and let them deal with it. Oh well, I was too tired by then to care.

After check-in there come lengthy procedures to get our passport stamped, our boarding pass stamped to indicate that our passport was stamped, security screening, another stamp on the boarding pass to indicate that we passed security, another gate to check that our boarding pass was stamped with both previous stamps and another stamp to confirm that it was so… I have never held a boarding pass with so many official stamps on it.

Anyway, by the time I reached the departure gate it was almost boarding time. Or not. The flight was delayed by an additional hour on top what was already announced. I was now sure that I would miss my connecting flight from Abu Dhabi to Munich. Arrgh… I dozed off sitting upright on the plastic seat.

When we reached Abu Dhabi, I decided to first go to the departure gate for the flight to Munich, just in case the flight might be waiting for transfer passengers or delayed. But no such luck, the flight had already left.

And off I went to the transfer desk. No surprise, there was a mob of waiting passengers in various states of anger, frustration and despair milling around the transfer desk. Some people were standing patiently while others just pushed and shoved towards the counter.

The worst airline ever. Why couldn’t they set up a proper queue and handle the passengers as efficiently as possible? Or, as one other passenger mentioned: Aren’t they supposed to be competent? It was just one big chaotic mess.

The only way I was going to get to the counter was to do what everyone else was doing: just push and shove like the rest of the mob. It took me just an hour and a half to get to the counter, which I considered record time. The lady behind the counter was sympathetic. She gave me two food vouchers, one for breakfast and one for lunch and told me to come back in the afternoon.

Ah well, all that shoving for nothing. But she did say that the crowds would disperse later in the day and they would have more time to handle my case. So I went for a coffee and croissant in one of the coffee shops in the airport that didn’t accept food vouchers. Vouchers were only accepted at the food court which was at that time packed with discontented passengers and I wasn’t feeling like eating fast food for breakfast. But thanks anyway, dear airline, for the vouchers which I never used, I guess it’s the thought that counts.

When I returned to the transfer desk in the early afternoon there was still quite a queue of passengers. At that time, the pushing and shoving crowd had already pushed and shoved their way to new flights. The rest of us, mostly Europeans, were now standing in a queue, each waiting our turn. Many of the passengers ahead of me were angry and they yelled at the airline employees behind the counter. One guy was especially hostile when they offered him a 2AM flight but no hotel for the night. They said take it or leave it and he stormed off. I hoped so much I wouldn’t be given the same option because I had already hardly slept the night before and I dreaded having to stay up until 2AM.

After two hours of waiting, it was my turn at the counter. The guy asked if I would accept a flight the next day, to Rome and then to Munich. He seemed surprised when I enthusiastically said yes. At that point it was much more important to me to get some sleep and I didn’t mind spending the night in a hotel. Because the airport hotel was already full, I got to stay in a luxurious hotel in downtown Abu Dhabi, courtesy of said airline, for which I still haven’t decided whether to name it as the worst airline ever. In the end, they did come through for me.

The Corniche in Abu Dhabi

So, Abu Dhabi. What am I going to do, what shall I see? There wasn’t much time left in the day and I had no idea where to go. I knew nothing about the city or the country. Middle Eastern countries were never on my travel list because as a solo female I wouldn’t consider going there. While I was waiting for my luggage to be retrieved from the luggage hold, I quickly Googled sights in Abu Dhabi. If I had more time I would definitely have visited the Ferrari theme park. But it was already too late in the day. Since my hotel was downtown, I just strolled on the seashore walkway, the Corniche. I have always been in awe of futuristic megacities and while Abu Dhabi doesn’t quite compare to some of the Asian cities or the nearby Dubai, I was still impressed.

In the end, it all turned out well, I returned home eventually (just 27 hours later than planned) and I got to visit Abu Dhabi on the way as well. Not so bad from the worst airline ever.

Now, should I fly them again? And hope that after their crappy customer service I would be compensated with an unforgettable travel experience?

Two days and two nights of travel adventures

Dubai airport First Class lounge

I never thought I would exceed my travel adventure story about the 50 hour journey from hell that took my family and me from Luang Prabang to Bangkok almost two years ago. But as a travel adventure story, this one comes a close second: how I traveled from Ljubljana to Bangalore over two days and two nights, a total of 46 hours.

Spoiler: it wasn't completely bad, there was a silver lining after all.

It started on a Saturday morning with a 6 hour train ride from Ljubljana to Munich. The time passed quickly enough as I was reading the Lonely Planet guide and making plans what sights I would visit when I arrive on Sunday. It would be the second time in India for me, after 19 years and I was full of anticipation what has changed since then and what hasn't.

I arrived at the Munich airport two hours before my 10PM flight. And I was surprised to see that the eight check-in counters for my airline (name of airline withheld because I still haven’t decided whether it is the worst airline ever or the best) were open and the airline employees were sitting there, doing nothing. There were no passengers to check-in. All the passengers were standing in one giant queue along the entire length of the hall. One glance to the flight display board clarified it all: my flight was cancelled.

My heart sank. India, you were so close, but now you seem so far away!

All I could do was to switch my mind to Asian travel mode, be patient, get in the giant queue and wait and see what happens next. After one hour of waiting I realized that I was still standing on the exactly same black marble tile on the floor of the hall as an hour ago. The queue hadn’t moved a bit. The situation was starting to look less and less hopeful.

An airline official came out to assure us passengers that the one airline employee who was issuing replacement flights at the head of the giant queue wasn't the only one on customer service duty. Supposedly there were four more employees working in the back office. At the rate it was going, I wasn't sure by when they would be able to process all of us.

Still, there was nothing to do but wait. All of us who were waiting were in the same situation and soon we were looking out for each other’s luggage so that we could take turns strolling, getting drinks (OK, beers, it was Munich after all), going to the toilet, calling friends and family, Tweeting about our misery and doing whatever else one does when in a situation like this.

Shortly before midnight they announced that the counter was closing and that we should come back in the morning.

What?!

And they couldn't have told us sooner that there was no way they were going to process all of us who were waiting patiently for the last four hours before they close the counter? At that point some passengers lost their tempers and words flew and I started composing in my head something about the worst airline ever. To placate the tempers, the airline employees at least made an effort to take down each of our telephone numbers, promising that even after they close the counter, their travel office would still be working and they would find us replacement flights and they would call us during the night to tell us what time to report back in the morning for our new flights. They specifically instructed us to keep our phones switched on so that we wouldn't miss the phone call of salvation.

Right.

For the record, I did keep my phone on just in case someone actually would call. But I also set my alarm so that I would wake up early enough to be back at the counter first thing in the morning when it reopened. With all the wasted time standing in the queue and having to get up early I only got 4 hours of sleep that night.

The next morning I hurried back to the counter. Three people were already there ahead of me, but compared to the situation from the previous night, that wasn't bad at all. Again I waited patiently while each passenger was issued a replacement flight after some deliberation about the best option with various airlines which of course took time. We were also informed that we are not entitled to food vouchers because those apply only when a flight is delayed but not in our situation when the flight was cancelled. So we don't get to eat although we do get to stand in the queue for endless hours.

The worst airline ever.

At last it was my turn at the coveted counter! The employee who was handling my situation was actually quite nice and promptly informed me that he can’t find me a replacement flight. I just stood there, speechless, determined not to move until he figures something out. He then asked his colleague which airlines fly to Bangalore. Now, I don’t know much about airline ticketing systems but shouldn't they have a functionality that tells them which airlines service a given destination? His colleague pulled out her smartphone and Googled it! I’m serious. The results were a bunch of Indian domestic airlines that weren't much use in getting me there from Munich. The two of them then disappeared into the back office, for all I know probably to use one of the airline aggregator sites that I use when I book my own flights.

A whole hour and fifteen minutes later the employee that was servicing me finally, triumphantly, emerged from the back office with a piece of paper. He apologized profusely, saying I’m sorry over and over while handing me the form and explaining that the only possibility that he could find was to book me on a different airline in first class.

First class. In my confusion I quickly checked my mental calendar to cross off the possibility that it was April fool’s.

First class. On a night flight. And I would be entitled to use the first class lounge. A dream come true.

Yes, it may sound silly, but I have been dreaming that one day, perhaps, before I die, I might get the opportunity to experience the comfort of a first class flight. This ever since my many night flights to South Africa, when they made us, the cattle class passengers, board the airplane through the front door so that we had to pass through the first and business class sections, where we could clearly see how some other passengers would spend the night in comfort, while we would be squeezed in our economy class seats.

I was still struggling to believe it came true. They booked me on first class. The best airline ever.

It's funny how in my first class reverie I immediately forgot about the non existent food vouchers and the sleep deprived night behind me and that my flight was in the afternoon which meant I would still have to hang around the airport for several hours.

I got to fly on the Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft currently in the world. It’s a beast of an aircraft and I imagine it must take exceptional skill to fly a machine of such enormous size and weight. Surprisingly, boarding is relatively quick due to the fact that they open four doors, one each for first and business classes on the upper deck and two for economy class on the lower deck. So the unfortunate souls who have to fly economy class don't even see the luxury of us privileged first class passengers.

And the first class seat! It’s not even a seat, it’s a cabin, complete with a minibar. After takeoff I reclined my seat into a flat bed. Unfortunately I didn't get to experience any food service because I instructed my personal flight attendant to not wake me up for food as I preferred to sleep.

First class cabin

What a journey! Like so many travel adventures before, I never would have imagined such an ordeal possible until it actually happened.

But wait, would it have occurred to me that something of a similar proportion could happen again on my way back? No?

To be continued…