At Terminal 2 Heathrow and the airlines seem to be running a massive social experiment on whether you can run airline operations with no visible staff and no support for customers if things are not going smoothly. The answer, which I could have predicted without experiment is clearly “yes, if volumes are relatively low and everything is working. Otherwise no.” By the time I get near the bag drop machines it’s complete Bedlam, with significant risk of a punch-up. Every case of “the computer says ‘no'” causes a complete breakdown, with no effective help to resolve things.

Fortunately I do eventually get to a machine which works for me, Security is very efficient, and I’m through quickly enough to have another short wait before breakfast is available. Full English downed, I feel more human. Once the rest of the group are also through we catch up before going to the gate. There a similar problem occurs: there’s no document check before we sit down, and Turkish Airlines then insist in doing the check before admitting you to the final boarding queue. There’s also no attempt to manage people coming forward by seat row or equivalent. The result is another massive and fragmented queue filling the gate concourse, and a pretty random arrival at the plane.

If this was a one off it would be bad enough, but the causes are so systematic you suspect it recurs on a regular basis, any time the early flight is fairly full. That they judge this acceptable is poor, especially when some simple steps could alleviate it, for example an email saying simply “if you are on the 6.30 please note check-in does not open until 4.00”. Very annoying.

On a positive note the flight is smooth and quick, making up a near 1 hr departure delay, although once we are on the ground in Istanbul taxiing to the gate takes well over 20 minutes!

Istanbul Airport is new, spacious and comfortable. It’s also unbelievably, eye-wateringly expensive. A large latte is €9.50. A sandwich €15. After a couple of hours Lee and I decide we need a change of scenery and fancy a beer, but make the mistake of committing to an order before understanding the prices. A 500ml Efes beer, brought from Turkey to the UK, costs about £6 at our favourite Turkish restaurant in Epsom. At Istanbul Airport it’s over €18. That’s at least twice Copenhagen prices…

To add insult to injury, the “other half” of the group, those wealthy enough to be enjoying the business lounge, are providing a running commentary on WhatsApp regarding the food, the refreshing showers, the softness of the sheets in the private suites, and whether the space is large enough to explore using a drone rather than on foot.

My revenge will be terrible, and served cold…

At the gate for the Ulaanbaatar flight, there’s another repeat of the queuing fiasco. The only good thing is I have carefully positioned myself and am in the first group on. Turkish Airlines obviously judge chaos acceptable. I can’t work out whether this is cultural, due to a lack of staff with good English, or that good staff have simply given up struggling with the systematic issues.

Another smooth flight delivers us early to Ulaanbaatar, although due to some odd lighting choices in the Economy cabin I get very little sleep. Mongolian formalities are commendably quick, but I have a long wait for my luggage, which seems to be following a “first on, last off” rule. The transfer into town takes an hour, plodding through the notorious Ulaanbaatar traffic, but eventually we reach the hotel, and I can finally get some kip.

Sadly the WiFi doesn’t work in my room, so after a couple of hours sleep I decamp to the bar to get comms (good word for it🍺🍻)!

Hopefully more photos next time!