01/05/13

My journey today and tomorrow will take me from Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia to Muscat, the Capital of Oman in the Middle East. I will take 3 flights, spend about 18 hours between the flights in 2 different airports. I'll be keeping a detailed log about how I'm feeling and anything interesting I see along the way.

13:51

I'm waiting. I better get used to waiting. Over the next 100 days, around Asia, I spend over 3 of them either in aiports or on a plane. But right now, I'm waiting in the TV room of the hostel I stayed at in Darwin. The TV room has a plug socket, air conditioning and Planet Earth on. This is a winning combination for the next hour and a half until I get the bus to Darwin International Airport.

15:01

I had about a 30 minute nap whilst listening to David Attenborough talk about the monkeys of the Guinea rainforest. I woke up just as the episode called 'Shallow Waters' was starting. An episode which covers the great barrier reef and it gave me time to reflect more about my time here in Australia. It really has been amazing. Now, I'm going to collect my bag from the luggage room and wait downstairs for my shuttle at 15:30.

17:07

I'm through to departures and had to ditch my toiletries. A rookie mistake, but they've been fine throughout my domestic travel, so I figured it'd be fine. Wrong. I wish they'd have a little more respect for the honest people though, I forgot to remove my hair gel and it went through fine. If I had 'forgotten' to remove my shower gel, toothpaste and deodorant, my next 32 hours wouldn't be so stinky. The free showers in Singapore will still get used and I hope amongst the tons of other stuff, they'll provide some free shower gel too. One thing I have to remember is not to drink coffee this trip, every time when I feel tired and I drink coffee on a long trip or night at an airport, I get this horrible ill, anxiety feeling.

22:14 (Local time, Singapore) -1.5hrs

Holy s*** this airport is huge! So much to do for free, I don't know how I'm going to fit it all in the 11hours I have until my next flight! I've got my bearings, I know where I am and where I have to be at 7:55 tomorrow morning, I'm just waiting to put my bag into the left luggage so I have a bit more mobility. Saying that though, I don't think I really thought this through. All the cool stuff is in departures, and I can only get there 2 hours before my flight. Out here, there's just shops and cafés but it's still better than Hobart. The thing is, on my way from Hanoi to Bali in 3 months, I stop here again and I messaged a few people in Singapore to show me the city at night. I should have done that tonight! I'm not tired and I'm not air-side. When I come back through I'm air-side and I might be tired. I'm still going to go out and see it with an acting tour guide though. Just saying that I should have done it tonight.

23:21

I am a burning ball of white hot ember. My mouth is on fire. You have no idea what it's like to be so hungry and have to eat something so spicy. The only thing I ate today up until now was a bread roll. One 70c bread roll from Coles. Now, for about $3.50, I have this rather large Braised meat noodle thing. It started out really good, but as the chilli seeped through the noodles into the sauce they were bathing in, the heat intensified. Now, every slurp of this noodly fire pit sends my mouth straight to Beelzebub's lair, and I can only look at it, wishing I had some yoghurt or something to cool it down. I don't even want to think about tomorrow's toilet activities.

02/05/13

01:46

Skyped with my Dad for about half an hour, before he had to pack for America and I had to find a socket to charge my laptop. This was a lot more effort than I had anticipated, the sockets are inside pillars which are locked most of the time. After over an hour of searching between 4 floors in Terminal 3 and 2 floors in Terminal 2, I went back to terminal 3, only to find one about 20m from my check in desk. This is probably where I'll be for the next 6 hours. I can watch films, skype, blog, anything.

07:46

I cheated. I went to sleep at about 5:30 for just short of 2 hours. Between 1:46 and 5:30 I skyped with a number of people; Jim, Sarah Bowers, my parents (again) and Lisa. This occupied me until I was too tired to function, I hope it doesn't haunt me when I can't sleep on the way to Sri Lanka or at the airport with nothing to do. I woke up at 7:10, collected my bag and went to check in almost 40 minutes early. I could check in straight away. What time did they open? Oh well, I'm now in the famous departures lounge. The best in the world, making use of the free stuff they have on offer. First of all; Butterfly garden. Thought it would be bigger. Secondly, these calf/foot massage chairs. OUCH! That's where I'm sat now, OW! Getting one of the most painful massage of my life (second only to the one in Cairns).

11:20

I dipped into the cinema and watched a bit of The Bourne Legacy. Watching any of the Bourne movies at an airport is always a good idea, you walk through security feeling like a secret agent. I got to my gate and boarded my flight without issues, and now I'm sat on the plane, having just had a meal, drinking a Carlsberg and watching Taken 2 on the entertainment system. This is the highlight of my journey so far.

11:51 (Local time, Colombo) -2.5hrs

Sri Lanka really need to sort their s*** out. The flight was good, I watched most of Taken 2, slept for the rest of the flight and watched the last bit as we landed. A bit bumpy, but you can't help that. Before our landing gear was even down, we had people on the phone. And as soon as we touched down, people were stood up. I don't know if they don't understand the rules, don't understand the risks or just don't give a f***. Welcome to Asia! I'm glad I had a window seat so I didn't feel pressured to get up. Also, with 8 hours here, I have plenty of time. No rush. In the airport, there are signs for free malaria tablets at the health centre. I went there and they asked where I was going, I said Thailand, because I will be... and they said "no we don't have them". Weird.

13:51

Just watched 'Looper', pretty decent film. It had enough twists, turns and confusing time travel laws which I enjoy in a film. Felt like it went on for a while though, but I still have about 6 hours left. Think I'm going to do some Rosetta Stone and then take a nap. See how that goes. There isn't a lot to do here in Colombo Airport, a few internet booths and some shops/cafés.

18:27

The software couldn't pick up my voice over the background noise, so I went for a walk, went to the toilet, decided not to go to the toilet again and went for a nap. The nap lasted a satisfying 4 hours before waking up and making my way to my gate. It's air conditioned which is a nice surprise and as I sit here, the sun painting the sky a beautiful pinky orange, turning purple in the later minutes, made me realise, I haven't taken any pictures. But, without knowing Muslim law on photographs, I think I'll hold off until I see Rebekka. The way I've dealt with this journey so far, the times I've napped and how I've filled my time has been next to perfect. I've rarely felt boredom and I'm still tired enough to sleep on this final leg of the journey!

20:31

I'm on the final flight, the final leg of my journey from Darwin to Oman. We took off just a few miles from a thunderstorm which made excellent viewing out of my window seat. It was a bit bumpy and as we stabilised, food and drink were offered. I was starving as the last thing I ate was the food on the flight this morning. It only occurred to me when I had that thought earlier that I had some variety of sweet and sour chicken for breakfast. My body and food clock is completely screwed over right now. I obviously had a beer and the food, well, the food was pretty spectacular if I'm honest. I've had worse at a restaurant. When they came around offering tea or coffee after the food, I was the cheeky f***er who asked for another beer. They don't offer you another beer, but if you ask for it, they'll give it to you, I've got to remember that one! Just as I was writing that last statement, the wench in front of me put her seat back, almost crushing the screen of my laptop. I now have a floppy screen. Cheers luv! As I was saying, these 2 flights with Sri Lanken Airlines have been quite different in terms of quality. The food on this one was better, but we have no inflight entertainment. The most annoying thing is that on this flight, I've dropped my ipod out of reach, my ipod with my headphones so I can't even watch anything on my laptop.

11:49 (Local time, Muscat) -1.5hrs

I'm lying in a bed. I arrived here at 21:55, apparently 30 minutes early. After the last entry I zonked out, completely, waking only when the tyres hit the tarmac in Oman. I went through to immigration and saw a swarm of British people, instantly identifiable. It was weird how easily I could pick them out before seeing their passport cover. I stood there in self-amusement when I heard "Steve!". I'm not even through customs, immigration or baggage collection yet, what's going on?! Austin had come through to collect me. His job gives him clearance at the airport and I was whisked through immigration in record time. A short 20 minute drive to their house and I was able to shower and have a beer. Sure, this brought my beer total of the trip up to 5 but this one was 10 times better, sitting on a sofa, knowing my journey was over. For now.