Istanbul, April 25, 2022........ANZAC Day

 Two items before I get to the current day and the activities here. For those living in the Ottawa area, and wish to do so, VIA will soon have an open house at the Ottawa train station. When I passed through there last Wednesday, I saw this new train sitting on the first track. I noticed that groups were doing tours of the train, at least of one car.  Upon questions to staff, I was informed that it was the latest in train technology,and would soon be open to all for tours very soon.

Second. A few words on airline technology. Turkish Airlines is the oldest continuous serving airline in the world. My flight here from Montreal was on their newest model of aircraft...the A350-900 model. It seats 300 , and for my flight, that model was configured  mostly to economy class. I like to set the tv to route mode, and watch where we are going on the screen in front of me. There are three external cameras on this plane, one high on the tail looking forward, and two underneath, one looking down and one forward, both about midsection. One gets a view better than they would have with a window seat.

April 25 is known as ANZAC day, referring to Australia and New Zealand, and a part they played in World War one here in Turkey. Those armies were ordered here by Winston Churchill to fight the Turkish army (as it is known today...not then). Neither side wanted to fight, but the Brits wanted control of the waterway controlling the entrance to the Black Sea). The place is known as Gallipoli , and I visited there in 2012 on my first trip around the world. When I got to Australia, on April 25 that year there were parades and such in memory of the event and the Turks. Last evening at 11 P.M. we celebrated the ANZACS here. There was a parade, flags and loud band music everywhere......and 23 degrees. The above noted battles were the events that led to the establishment of modern Turkey by a man known as Ataturk, from where the name has its origin. So the party last evening was like Canada day back home, and again.....no alcohol. Way back at the times of the battles, the two sides shared food, visits and smokes, and generally enjoyed the time.....until the order came down to fight...then they would do some shooting, then back to the relaxed atmosphere. This is how it was explained to my tour group at the time of my visit. Each year, during normal times the ANZAC dignitaries come here for the celebrations. Turkey gave all of the various Unit battle flags to the War museum in Canberra, Australia.  I saw them during my visit. Tonight, another party.

Hello From Istanbul

Hello all, VIA was on time, and a shuttle was waiting at the Dorval station to take passengers to the nearby airport. I was early and the counter for Turkish Airlines did not open until 6;45 P.M. The flight was on time for departure, and at midnight, a large dinner was served. (Air Canada staff, please note.) I cleared customs and was at my hotel an hour after landing. (a breakfast was served one hour before landing, which was three in the afternoon here.) This is Ramadan, the Holiest month   for Muslims, which my friends here are. The adults do not eat from sun up to sun down. The sun sets at eight here now so my lady friend and her son Hussian came down to my hotel at nine, after their dinner with a birthday cake....(it was my birthday.) Since the hotel staff know me from my previous trips here, they joined in the action, and had cake also. Hussian did not know that the big bag I had with me was his large Batman robot that was to big to move when they moved back here in October. I announced to Hussian with a voice that all could hear , '' I am finished playing with this toy now, you can have it''. Hussian went wild. The three of us then went to a nearby park where the music was loud, and there were singers, performers and a full night market...people with tables selling everything one could imagine. We stayed until closing at midnight .M y friends went home on the train and I walked to the hotel. At no time did I see alcohol being served. Today will be more of the same after sunset.

Ottawa, April 18, 2022

 Hello All; It has been quite some time since I updated this site, but there were BIG reasons why. What was said in the last blog posting has been vastly changed, and the final situation only became clear two days ago. After being advised by the Thailand government office of tourism in Bangkok that Canadian tourists now did not need a Visa to visit for stays of less than thirty days, I booked the flights mentioned in the March posting. The Thai government then initiated a Thailand Pass, which was much more complicated to apply for than the Visa. The material requested has never been asked for by any other country as far as I can determine. When  one goes on the government website, and  tries to complete all the application requests, such as copies of all Covid Vaccination certificates, (not just one with three dates and all information), and so forth, you then are routed to a Hotel booking company. There are around 20 Approved hotels in Bangkok for this program, and all are expensive to book. A hotel that is normally say 50 dollars a night is now 450.00. This includes the hotel for one night, pickup at the airport, a PCR test (165.00 U.S.D.), taxes, etc. One must wait until a negative test result is received before you can leave the hotel area. This is all fine and good if you are determined to go. BUT...the government has apparently given those hotels the authority to accept or deny applications. In my case, a day after receiving a thank you for my interest in Thailand, and acknowledging my application, I received an email from Thai Tourism advising me that THE HOTEL HAS REJECTED YOUR APPLICATION, and for more details, contact the hotel. For the next two days, there were many emails between me and the hotel, Thai Tourism and the Hotel Booking company which I will not name.  That booking company is a great firm, but they had to advise me that they had tried to contact the hotel in question, and, "They are not answering their phone, and we have sent them an email." Now, five days on, still no information as to why my application for a THAI PASS was rejected.

I have advised my travel agent friends of the problems for any future clients they may have.

Now, I depart Ottawa on April 20 at noon, take a VIA train to Montreal and fly to Istanbul with Turkish Airlines flight 36 that evening. I return to Montreal on May 29 from Istanbul, where I will spend 40 days with my friends.  I will report in after getting settled at  the Ramada hotel in Istanbul