Trabzon’s bazaar area

Arriving and domestic transfer in Istanbul

With only 4h between meals onboard the flight from Male to Istanbul, I took only half a sleeping pill instead of a whole one.  I enjoyed 2h sleep horizontally on three seats and managed to doze for a further two.

Surprisingly Turkish Airlines served 2 full meals on the 8h flight instead of one full meal and a snack.

We landed around 0350, which was about 45 mins ahead of schedule.  I was bursting for a sit down at the loo and managed to do that as soon as I disembarked.

Parked at the furthest gate, it was a long walk to the transfer desk where I got a standby boarding pass for the 0730 flight to Trabzon.  This enabled me to get to the domestic departure area around 0500 and use the lounge.

The lounge wifi didn’t work properly for me and the airport wifi was down.  I wasn’t as productive as I had hoped.  But still, I managed to check the weather forecast and book my excursions in Trabzon.

Standby woes

After over an hour at the lounge I made my way to the departure gate for my standby flight to Trabzon.  I was told to return to the gate desk at the end of the boarding process.

Unfortunately, the flight ended up being full.  They took about 8 standby passengers and I was one of perhaps two that got turned away.

The gate staff told me to go to the help desk at a nearby gate to be shifted to the next flight but there, a the “Care Point” the man seemed rather unhelpful by telling me I was at the wrong place.

I had to go the transfer desk near the shop “Trio” of which there were two.  And despite my best attempt, there was no transfer desk.  I returned to the Care Point where one of the staff somewhat begrudgingly took me through to the hallway towards arrival baggage claim.  This route wasn’t part of the normal passenger flow as no one would typically move from the departures area to the arrival hall unless offloaded.

At the transfer desk, I was told to return 45 mins before the next flight scheduled for 0930.  Being in a somewhat of a “no man’s land” in terms of passenger flow, I stayed put to avoid going through security again.

Just before I was about to return to the transfer desk in the hope of the boarding pass, the first man from the airside Care Point called out to me.  He was just passing through and had chatted to the Transfer Desk staff and it appeared I had been onboarded for the second flight to Trabzon.

He kindly walked me to the gate through the one-way system using his security pass, so that I didn’t have to do the roundabout domestic transfer route (either way there was no security to clear).

While he (and his colleague) had initially seemed unhelpful, it appeared to be just his mannerism and it’s often the case with the airline and airport staff with English as a second language.  On the other hand, the people at the bazaar with every incentive to make money from the tourists are full of charm and personality!

With the hassles of standby travel today, I was glad to be without checked-in baggage.  Otherwise there would be another level of complication.

Finally flying to Trabzon

I made it to the boarding gate for the first bus load to the 737-8 MAX at very remote gate.  We left on time and surprisingly only a sandwich was served for the 1h50 domestic flight.  I recall last year getting a snack box for a 1h15 flight to Constanta in Romania on Turkish Airlines.  Just comparing, not complaining, as I’m used to receiving nothing inflight!

It was a hazy descent over the Black Sea area, with the snowy mountains not being too clear.

With no luggage, I was out of the small airport terminal in no time onto the waiting bus into the city, hopping off at Meydan.  It was a short walk to the Cebeci Grand Hotel where I would stay for four nights.  Checking in around 1200, I was fortunate to be given a room immediately.

Trabzon’s bazaar area

I rested briefly before wandering out to explore around 1400.  I wasn’t far from the busy pedestrian streets with lots of shops, banks and eateries.

I found the Carsi Camii (Market Mosque), the Bedestan (covered bazaar) and the Tas Han (caravanserai) dating from around 1533.   There was also a hammam in the area.  None of them looked particularly historic, especially tucked amongst the contemporary buildings.

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I tried to be virtuous by having a light dinner of lamacun (which came with a salad).  However, it wasn’t quite enough and the additional item I ordered, the kir pidesi, was rather heavy.  I walked dinner off and enjoyed the atmosphere that the city had by night.  I had written the place off as without much character during daylight hours.

I finished the night by doing some work online and submitted my e-visa for India.