Almaty Adventure: OZ, LH and TG in F

[calvinoeh]

It’s time again for our yearly “epic trip of the year” thanks to Dividend Miles from US Airways. This time we’re going to Almaty, Kazakhstan. It took a while to convince the wife to say yes to this trip. What is there to see? What is there to do? Is it like the movie Borat? Honestly at that point of time, I didn’t know much about Kazakhstan and was more interested in the First Class experience and other destination we would be visiting as part of this trip.

As usual, the full trip report will be available via my blog with the tentative installments below:

Introduction
Bangkok Layover
Hong Kong Layover (Novotel Nathan Road & Bo Innovation)
HKG - ICN on Asiana Business Class
Seoul Layover
ICN-FRA on Asiana First Class
Frankfurt layover (Ibis Frankfurt Centrum)
FRA - ALA on Lufthansa First Class
Destination Almaty - Impressions
Destination Almaty - The Attractions
Destination Almaty - The Food
Destination Almaty - The Hotels
Destination Almaty - The Surprise
ALA-FRA in Lufthansa First Class
2nd Frankfurt layover
FRA - BKK on Thai First Class with Lufthansa First Class Lounge visit
BKK - HKG on Thai First Class
2nd Hong Kong Layover with review of Novotel Citygate Hotel
Conclusion


Was planning on writing the report while on the trip but it might take longer than usual since I forgot to bring my camera cable and can't transfer pictures.

[calvinoeh]

It’s time again for our yearly “epic trip of the year” thanks to Dividend Miles from US Airways. (Our Moscow trip was the first of such trips). This time we’re going to Almaty, Kazakhstan. It took a while to convince Lydia to say yes to this trip. What is there to see? What is there to do? Is it like the movie Borat? Honestly at that point of time, I didn’t know much about Kazakhstan and was more interested in the First Class experience and other destination we would be visiting as part of this trip.

As usual, we are maximizing some interesting routings in First Class thanks to the way some countries are put in North Asia in the US Airways redemption chart. (Too bad that Russia is no longer in North Asia – would love to visit St. Petersburg or return to Moscow). The start of the trip as usual would be in Hong Kong. To get to Hong Kong from Penang, we are taking Air Asia as prices on full service airlines like Malaysia Airlines, Singapore, etc were priced almost double what I could get on Air Asia. Instead of flying direct to Hong Kong, we had to fly on Air Asia through Bangkok (which include an overnight layover) since prices on the direct flight was super expensive due to the holidays in Malaysia. Figured stopping over in Bangkok and staying nearby Suvarnabhumi airport itself and enjoying cheap massages and Thai food before we started of the trip proper wouldn’t be too bad.


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[calvinoeh]

The first part of the trip involve flying on Air Asia from Penang to Bangkok, spending an overnight in Bangkok and then leaving to Hong Kong early the next day. The flights on Air Asia was the typical Air Asia flights - not enough leg room, packed but cheap enough to bear for the couple of hours.

We stayed nearby the Suvarnabhumi at Kriss Residence Hotel. Since it was only for a couple of hours, we decided to go on the cheap. The rooms in the hotel was clean and adequate and even included free transfer to and from the airport all for a rate of ~800 Baht a night. The Novotel at the airport would have cost 5 times more!

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[calvinoeh]

We stayed at the Novotel Nathan Road in Kowloon, Hong Kong for our one night layover in Hong Kong. The hotel is easily accessible from the airport via public bus A21 and getting of the #10 stop. The hotel is located in the Jordan area giving easy access to the plenty of restaurants and shopping. The Jordan MTR is also a 5 minute walk away which would give easy and cheap access to other parts of Hong Kong.

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[calvinoeh]

After a good morning run on Avenue of the Stars and a good breakfast of noodles and porridge, we headed back to the airport on the bus. We got to the airport before the Asiana counters were open and just browsed around the shops in the terminal while waiting for the counters to open.
Hazy day in HKG

Saying hello to Bruce.
After being promptly checked in, we headed first to the Singapore Airlines Krisflyer lounge (instead of the Asiana contracted CNAC lounge). This was our first time visiting after the renovation a couple of years ago that merged the first and business class lounges together. The lounge has plenty of space with a large area with provided computers and an eating area. The food and drinks in this lounge was pretty good – love the beef brisket and champagne! The one major area of disappointment with this lounge was that there were no toilets or showers (similar disappointment in the Krisflyer lounges in Singapore) – not sure what SQ management is thinking of not having toilets in their lounges.

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[calvinoeh]

We took the KAL limousine bus service from the airport to the Grand Ambassador Hotel (associated with Pullman) where we would be staying for the night. The bus service was really convenient with a counter manned by a English speaking attendant that was really helpful in guiding us on which bus to get and where to wait for it. The seats on the bus were comfortable and reminded me of first class seats on flights in the US.



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[calvinoeh]

I'd like to begin this part of the trip report that Asiana First Class lived up to the hype and expectations. It was definitely a WOW experience on our part. The service both on the ground and in the air was outstanding. The food in flight was one of the best we have eaten and being a lover of Asian food, it was comforting to be able to have a good warm bowl of rice in flight. The only slight disappointment was the quality of champange (no Dom here) but I did try a really good glass of Grand Cru.

As expected, there was no line in the first class check-in counters. We were promptly checked in and told that we would be the only ones in the first class cabin today. We were then escorted to the staff entrance of the security check point where again, there was no line. As this was our first time flying out of ICN, we browsed through the airport and duty free before proceeding to the first class lounge.



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[calvinoeh]

This would be our second time in Frankfurt but our first time actually heading to town having just stayed in the Lufthansa FCT for 6 hours during our first visit. We headed to town using the S-bahn from the airport. It was pretty easy - follow the signs to the trains in Concourse B terminal 1, buy tickets from the ticket machine choosing the "Frankfurt City" option in the menu (English available) and 20-30 minutes later, we were at the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof or Main Central Station.

From the train station, it was 15 minute walk to the Main River where our hotel Ibis Frankfurt Centrum was located. The hotel was good value for money especially those on a budget. The rooms were slightly bigger than what I expected for an Ibis, the beds were REALLY comfortable and the good location right by the river and a 20 minute walk to Romerberg.


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[calvinoeh]

We took the cab (~25 Euro) instead of the train back (7.90 Euro) to Frankfurt airport figuring it would be nice to experience what a First Class check-in experience would be like through the First Class Terminal and were not too keen about lugging about bags to and from the train station. The cab ride took only ~20 minutes from the hotel and before we knew it, we arrived at the FCT. We were met at the door by a Lufthansa staff with our luggage promptly collected. Another 2-3 minutes to verify our flights on the computer and to pass through security, we were inside the terminal and having breakfast. Talk about efficient – no lines, TSA and long walks!


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[calvinoeh]

Let me first debunk the generalized misconceptions of Kazakhstan. Before we arrived in Almaty, there were some concern from both of us - is it like the movie Borat? Is the country safe? How modern or backward in the country? After 4 days in Almaty, it was nothing like we what we thought it to be. Almaty was a modern city with pretty good road infrastructure, layout and is even less chaotic then cities like Bangalore or even Penang. Almaty feels more so like any city in Europe than Asia. People were well dressed and there were probably more Porsches, Hummers, Mercedes and Ferraris than in Penang!

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[calvinoeh]

We stayed for 4 days and nights in Almaty. We researched on the internet before the trip and ended up hiring a guide from City Tours for about ~$600 USD for both of us 3 of the days to take us on a city tour, Charyn Canyon and Issyk Lake. $600 USD is not cheap but decided against trying to figure it out by ourselves would be too difficult due to the lack of English speakers. It turned out to be a good decision as the tours were pretty good especially the excursion to Issyk Lake due to having a really good guide that went above and beyond by explaining the history, culture and background of Kazakhstan.

The city tour was your "typicall" run of the mill city tour showing the highlights and monuments of the city like Panfilov Park, Medeu Gorge and Kok Tobe Hill. The excursion to Charyn Canyon was underwhelming due to maybe unfair comparisons to the Grand Canyon and it took a good 3 hours on a bumpy road to get there. We did however really enjoy the trip to Issyk Lake. The lake was blue and clean and it was really nice to get some clean air and hike/walk around the lake. I was definitely interested in coming back to Kazakhstan to visit other lakes for some camping and hiking!

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[calvinoeh]

There are many restaurants with a large variety of cuisine ranging from Kazakh, Chinese, Indian, etc in Almaty although some might not have an English menu. Interestingly, there is a KFC and Pizza Hut but no McDonalds in Almaty. Prices for eating out is on the expensive end with prices similar to what you find in Europe and the US. We had all our breakfasts in the hotels since it was included in the rate and lunch was included on the days we took the tour.

The most interesting and unique meal we had was when we visited a traditional Kazakh restaurant at Kok Tobe Hill. This was at the end of the city tour so we had our guide with us and she did a great job in ordering and explaining the food to us.To most of the world, horse meat is a delicacy but in Kazakhstan, it's everyday meat and actually preferred to other meats since it is leaner and supposedly much healthier. We definitely liked the horse meat and tasted like a very lean and flavorful piece of beef. We also had for the first time, camel and horse milk which was an acquired taste. We did finish our bowl of milk but let's just say it's not on our drinks to order next time the opportunity arises.

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[calvinoeh]

We stayed for 4 days and nights in Almaty. Instead of just staying in one hotel, we ended up splitting the stays to 2 hotels - Astra Hotel for the first 3 nights and World Hotel Saltanet for a splurge and to take advantage of the hotels.com free night offer.

Hotels (as with most things) in Almaty are extremely expensive! Astra Hotel which was a mediocre 3 star hotel costs about ~$100 USD a night. On the high end of things, we paid ~$200 USD a night for World Hotel Saltanet which was a 4.5-5 star business hotels. Other hotels that we researched like the Holiday Inn and Intercontinental costs between $250 to $400 USD a night.

Astra Hotel
The room itself was the size of a typical Ibis/budget hotel and seemed pretty new. The carpets were slightly stained and dirty but other than that, the room was pretty clean. The bed however was too soft and it was hard to sleep when one of us was tossing around in bed. There was a flat screen TV in the room but there was only one English channel. It was a "unique" experience watching shows like CSI which were dubbed over in Russian.

There was also a gym and small pool in the basement but it was pretty grungy so we didn't use it the whole time we were there. The good thing about the hotel was that there was free internet (which was pretty fast) and the breakfast was decent. Would recommend the hotel to those on a budget if you can take the soft beds.



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[calvinoeh]

It so happened that it was my birthday when we were in Almaty. I wasn't planning on any big celebration since the trip itself was already a celebration in my mind. I was completely caught by surprise when we stepped in our room at the Saltanat to first notice a what I thought was a larger room than what I had booked. I was then perplexed as to why there was a chilled bottle of champange on the desk in the room. Lydia laughed immediately when I jokingly asked if the champange was on the house.

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[calvinoeh]

If there was one part of the trip we could redo, this would be it. For those who are following this trip report for advice on Almaty (I believe there are a few who are flying to Almaty thanks to the "no YQ fare"), please heed the following advice:

*If you're traveling on the Lufthansa flight that leaves at ~3am in the morning, don't be a cheapskate (like us) and pay for another night.
*Do NOT get to the airport early. You should be okay if you show up ~1.5 - 2 hours before the flight. It's also an easy 20-30 minute ride to the airport at that time.

Since our flight was scheduled to depart at the ungodly hour of 3.30 am in the morning, we paid half a day rate for the late check out at 6pm. We walked around Almaty, had cake and coffee and dinner before running out of things to do to kill time. We spent the rest of the evening back in the hotel lobby using the free Wifi and more coffee. The pre-arranged hotel airport transport (~$50 USD for both of us) promptly picked us up at midnight and 20 minutes later, we were at the airport.

We got to the airport way too early. The check-in counters for Lufthansa were not opened yet and similar to airports in Colombo and India, we were told to wait in the waiting outside the check-in area. We made our way to some empty seats and killed time with what would be a common theme for the rest of the night - Angry Birds!

The check in counters finally open about 2 hours before departure. Check in was prompt and we tagged our bags all the way to Hong Kong. Getting through immigration however ended being a slight adventure. The immigration agent in their limited English wanted to know where our final destination would be and whether we needed visas for Germany. Did they like us so much that they didn't want us to leave Almaty? Guess they don't see too many Malaysians flying on Lufthansa?

The Almaty departure hall was a dump. It's small for one thing for seating is limited. In comparison, I would guess that the B1-B4 departure hold rooms at Changi is even bigger. We quickly found our way to the only business lounge in the airport and with no one manning it, we simply walked in and parked our butts on the sofas that must have been form the 80s. The lounge was simply underwhelming - no internet and there was a counter where I think the drinks and food would have to be paid. There was no Lufthansa staff around to bitch on this so we just spent the rest of the time playing Angry Birds and browsing the magazines. We did see some other Lufthansa passengers walking in but they quickly just walked out.


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