Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Breakaway

I was absolutely thrilled when my flight ticket to my next holiday destination which I booked at the recent MATTA Fair arrived today. Another dream holiday came true within a short span of time. The last one month has been a hectic month for me having to work long hours till late nights and on weekends and this holiday is something I very much look forward to - away from work and to rejuvenate.

My preference was to look for a free and easy package rather than a tour package. Unfortunately, most of the travel agents offered tour packages with very packed itineraries for a 9-day tour. One thing I learnt from this kind of package is, one will not have the opportunity to enjoy and truly appreciate each places as the tourist guide will hurry you to keep with the time and itinerary. MAS Golden Holiday offered a free and easy package but the travel period was up to May 31 and it’s way too soon for me.

After collecting and reading a whole lot of travel flyers and brochures, I stopped at several booths to enquire further about airfare and flight availability to this destination. I was a bit panicky when a few travel agents told me that there was no more seat available on the dates or even the month I planned travel. Alamak…and it was only the 2nd day of the MATTA Fair. They told me I should’ve have come the day before. It was quite understandable as April to October is high season as it will be summer there. An agent at one particular booth was very helpful enough to check all airlines to this destination from MAS, Qatar Airways, Emirates and even Uzbekistan Airline, nada.

I was very disappointed but I thought I should just make one more stop and tried my luck at one particular booth offering attractive airfares from Emirates. Probably their quota for low fare seats is still available. I let out a sigh of relieve when the agent told me that there’s available seat in early August. It may be a month later than my original planned date but I decided to grab it. Furthermore, I like traveling in Emirates not only because of their excellent in flight services and good food but also the variety of tv, movie and radio channels to choose from.

So, from August 3 – 11, I will be at City of The World’s Desire marveling at the beauty of Aya Sofya, The Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and exploring the Grand Bazaar, just to name a few. I will stopover at Dubai for 2 nights before heading home on August 13. This will be my 3rd visit to Dubai and I am planning to take the opportunity to try out skiing at Emirates Mall which I did not do during my last 2 visits. Gee, it’s like I know I’ll be coming back to this part of the world…

Now that my flight ticket has been confirmed, what’s left to do is to make hotel arrangement and planning my itineraries at Istanbul. If any of you fellow bloggers out there have been to Istanbul, Turkey, I would be most grateful if you could share your experience and provide some tips and info to help me plan my holiday. .