Intrepid Day 2 (10-April) - Flight to Trabzon

S6shot-The crazy bunch before boarding

We started a little bit early on a Tuesday since we had to get to the airport for our flight to Trabzon.

I didn't have enough sleep the night before, but thought it best to get some shut eye on the plane. 

The morning started with Jason running back to the other hotel they stayed at the night before because he left his jacket. Suley was able to ask the hotel to send it over, which was a big sigh of relief. I was glad the group was really chilled about it and when Jason got his jacket, everyone were just happy that it made it. 

Over breakfast, I was able to have some chat time with Gai, Gav and Fi. They asked what happened with my Cuba plans. So I gave them a run down of the few months leading to my holiday dates. I then figured out where exactly in Sydney they lived. The day before, Fi and I discussed about our back issues. We also learned Mau just had her knee operation. But all was good and sometimes we just laughed about it through the trip. 

We boarded the van and headed for Ataturk Airport, which was just a fair 30 minutes from the hotel. I was hoping to quickly go to the train station and take a photo where the Orient Express stop was, but because of the mist, decided to hold off on it. 

We got there with a bit of free time. Suley left his laptop in the van but he was quick in retrieving it back. We all joked, "Who's next?" in forgetting something. All was well. Good that the group could laugh about these things rather than be so uptight and "on the dot" kind of outlook. Before boarding, I asked that we had a group photo. Why not. This was the first Black Sea & Beyond Expedition. And yup, my first time to get on a plane with total strangers and embark on a journey. Definitely special and memorable for me. 

We got on the plane and I shared the row with Jason and Suley. I started scribbling on my notebook, Jason got on his tablet to watch a movie and Suley reviewed his books. As we approached Trabzon, Jason and I talked about a few things mostly about politics and social media. I also told them that this was my first time to fly with strangers. lol. Suley just smiled and said Thank you for making this special trip with us. 

We got off the plane and I could feel the cold breeze already. Excitement in the air.