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I felt a distinct frisson of excitement as I boarded the flight and took my seat. This was no ordinary flight. Not only was I about to experience the unparalleled luxury of flying business class on Aviakompaniyasi Kyrgyzstan, but I was taking my first ever flight on a Tupolev, or to be more precise for airliner geeks, a
Tupolev TU-134A. I tried to put my finger on what I was enjoying the most.
Was it the miniature doorway that was around shoulder-height? Was it the interior that was straight out of a 1960s BOAC advert (if you ignored the carpet, which was straight out of a yurt)? Or perhaps it was the way the lights dimmed and flickered every time the pilot adjusted the flaps. Maybe it was the galley we passed through on boarding, which had a bakelite telephone and a 1970s built-in kitchen. Maybe it was the knowledge that the country which produced this aircraft had ceased to exist 17 years ago.
As I took my seat it reclined automatically, which turned out to be a bit of a habit. I was served a luxury plastic cup of fizzy water, and the announcements were duly made in several languages while a stoic steward waved cards and seatbelts around. We taxied up to the runway. The stewardess nearest me took her take-off seat, on a padded box in the galley, and clung to the sink for dear life. The engines cranked up to a scream and we were off, lumbering along like a G-plan dining suite towed by a lawnmower. And we were up, in the air, seemingly impossibly for the speed we'd managed to attain, and climbed slowly (and I mean slowly) over the Persian Gulf.
I should have slept, but I didn't want to miss the experience. In time I was served a glass of paint stripper and given a delicious meal of kevlar moulded into the shape of chicken and served with a medley of leatherette vegetables. The dessert looked like bath sponge soaked in blood, and tasted only slightly nicer. And then I slept, safe in the knowledge that I was in an antique Soviet airliner flying over Afghanistan.
Kyrgyzstan turns out to be easy. I was issued a multiple-entry tourist visa on arrival with no fuss, got through immigration and customs in no time, and within minutes I'd found an ATM and a taxi.
I'm now in a ghost town enjoying the cool air at 3000m above sea level, and I can't tell you how happy that makes me.
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Christine and Terry
Going East
Thanks Matt
We're sitting here simply boiling in Khiva and facing a 5.00 am flight from Tashkent to Bishkek tomorrow. Not sure if I was more pleased to read about the no hassle getting of a visa or the cool, cool air. Where did you stay in Bishkek? Christine