Hotel Visit, Bishkek

I stayed at the hotel Visit, Bishkek, from June 15, 2013 to June 19, 2013. Pros: close to the city centre and the university. Cons: unexpected and non-indicated half-steps all over the place - I had at least 4 chances to break my neck going from the entrance to my bed, one on these already inside my room; no facilities for disabled, no lift, no hair dryer, weird TV facilities - they called me at about 12 at night, because the satellite receiver in my room was providing the signal for other rooms, and was off ...

Guest house Elita, Karakol

I stayed at Elita from 19/06/2013 till 22/06/2013. Pros: not far from the University, friendly staff, internet access. Cons: very slow internet, no facilities for disabled, very high steps on the staircase at the entrance, no hair dryer in the bathroom, weird changes in the floor level, unexpected threshold in the bathroom, need to order the breakfast one day in advance - no buffer breakfast available.

Ashgabat International Airport

On our flight from Ashgabat to Frankfurt at around 1 am on May 29 we got our passports checked and our luggage scanned multiple times even before we got to the registration desk, and aditional times after that. It seemed that they had a passport check point in every corridor that connected one zone of the airpot to another. The waiting zone was full of cigarette smoke, as it was allowed to smoke and ventialtion was insufficient, therefore, we went to wait to another hall that served 4 more boarding gates. We almost missed our flight sitting there -- there was no billboard to announce boarding anywhere in view, and they boarded all of the passengers that were in the correct (smoke-filled) waiting hall without making any radio announcements. The Airport does not have a tax-free shop; the only existing shop sells Turkmen carpets, but we did not check if it was open.

Getting a shower at the Irkutsk airport

Boarding today on October 15th, 2011 for the S7 #777 flight to Moscow at the Irkutsk International Airport, we the passengers were let out of the bus in front of the A320 plane, under rain, and had to stay there for some 5 minutes, exposed to the elements. Our clothing got quite wet, while we were waiting for the ground crew to leave the plane and our colleagues walk up the staircase, in small groups, probably to avoid the staircase collapsing. Some of the ground crew staff also got pretty wet, probably to keep us company.

The airport has no boarding bridges, while the boarding staircases offer no protection from elements either.

Thus, be prepared for a free shower when it rains in Irkutsk ...