Home Is Paradise...

And I am finally to be back home, back home after being on the road, in Morocco, for just about a week. And there's more relaxing like home...

Taking off from Istanbul earlier this morning, we flew north of the Black Sea coast of Turkey. And I hoped I would catch a glimpse of the Caspian Sea, as we headed into Kazakh airspace...

It was just about daybreak as we flew over the Caspian...

The disappointment of not seeing the Caspian Sea was more than made up by the breathtaking break of dawn...

We had already flown over Georgia and Azerbaijan by then... Both these are countries I would love to visit one day...

Time to rest as we zip across the Steppes of Kazakhstan...

And now here I am, at home, resting with some Moroccan sweets from Maymana's shop at Casablanca Airport, sipping a strong brew of Assam tea and watching the House of Cards! This is bliss...

Plane Spotting At IST -- Part IV

A four and a half hour long flight brought me into Istanbul's Attaturk International Airport or the İstanbul Atatürk Havalimanı and that couldn't be bad for Plane Spotting...

Being the homebase for Turkish Airlines, you mostly see Turkish Airlines planes here, but there are some exotic birds to be found, if you are lucky...

Finding our gate...

An exotic find - Turkish Government's Airbus 319...

Aegean Airlines Airbus A320 next to an exotic Air Astana Boeing 767...

I love the Turkish tail...

Saudi Arabian Airlines Airbus A330...

We've reached our gate...

Time for some relaxation in Istanbul - I had 4 hours here before boarding for Incheon...

A Turkmenistan Airlines Boeing 777 as we line up on the runway to head to Incheon!

I Don't Want Nirvana! I Want Great Food, Always! -- Part XXXIX - Istanbul Never Disappoints....

Even a short transit in Istanbul never disappoints, as my second transit here stands testimony...

After the first experience last week at the Turkish Airlines lounge, I had to return again, to enjoy yummy Turkish delights, well not quite "Turkish delights" literally...

My old time favourite - Süzme Mercimek Çorbası or the Turkish lentil soup, topped with sumac and paprika with an assortment of salad vegetables and mezze...

Turkish pide - this transit couldn't get better...

Dessert time...

Time for Turkish tea and desserts with a bit of reading as I wait for my boarding call...

And here I am at my gate, all set to head to Incheon...

Up In The Air .... Part 57

And here I am Up In The Air, onboard Selçuklu, Turkish Airlines' Airbus A330 operating as TK 618 today, from Casablanca !

A smooth liftoff from Casablanca powered by the two Rolls Royce Trent 600 engines...

The shadows of clouds on the ground are amazing!

Indeed this trip to Morocco will remain a memorable one for years to come... 

Setting course for Istanbul, heading towards Algerian airspace...

And soon we are over the desert...

The rugged hills of the Algerian Sahara Desert...

The flight plan consciously avoids overflying Libya...

We will fly over the city of Tunis (known for the world famous ruins of Carthage) and Sicily before the approach into Istanbul from the Balkans...

What a shot!

The glow of dusk filters into the cabin...

Approaching Sicily...

The approach into Istanbul...

Imagine the power packed inside this engine!

On finals...

Moments to touchdown...