Posted by AuntieMel on March 23, 2005, at 11:03:18
In reply to Re: more on the oil biz (not too long), posted by gromit on March 23, 2005, at 0:29:31
Kaz air:
The trip was a twoish week long stint in Atyrau, on the north bank of the Caspian. To get there, you had to take an 8 hour flight from Frankfurt to Almaty (the capital) and then catch a local flight halfway back. The trip going wasn't too bad, because I lucked into hopping a ride on an oil company charter.
The trip back was another story. Here I was in a place that turned out to be my least favorite place - one guy that went there had also been to Nigeria and said he would go back to Nigeria, but not Atyrau - so I would do nearly anything, including Kaz air, to get home.
Fuel shortages were common and foreign carriers had first dibs, so my flight was about six hours (and a day) late. But it was finally time to go.
I sat in the airport waiting room until I was given a chunk of cardboard my translator said was a boarding pass, and then followed the herds through "security" (ha!) and onto the plane, and old Russian Tupelov. Now, I'm a smoker and seriously addicted to nicotine, but as soon as I got up the stairs and to the door of the plane and caught a whiff of the jet fuel my first wish was: whatever you do, please do not turn off the no smoking sign. Luckily they didn't.
The stewardess herded us in, getting us to file into the seats, first come first sit, all crammed into the front with the back half of the plane empty. Lucky again! I got a window, and a seat belt that worked.
We took off, so far so good. Then they started serving the 'meal.' The stewardess came down the aisle and passed out bowls, and then came out with a huge pot of soup and started ladling it into the bowls. That's about when I pretended to be asleep. After the soup they handed out baggies with a sandwich and a couple of cookies - obviously just made in someones kitchen.
Flying along, I started looking around the plane. One, and only one, thing on the plane was in English. Way up towards the ceiling, above the emergency exit, was a round hatch that said, get this, "escape rope."
Hey, at least *I* knew how to get out. The rest were doomed.
So, flying a little longer, I noticed the plane was sort of swaying a bit from side to side. Not too bad, but noticible. Wonderful! Now they've got a kid flying the plane! Sure hope this one doesn't have epilepsy.
No joke.
By then I figured I wasn't going to make it home. But, at least this way was better than the slow radioactive poisoning I might have faced, had I stayed.
Coming into the airport, land in sight, I started to get hope again. But then came the descent.
Have you ever been on a jet that comes in for landing nose down? Me either. But the stewardess didn't look too worried and by then I wasn't capable of fear, so what the hey?
The flight ended with a chuckle of a sort. I looked to the back of the plane and every seat that was unoccupied had collapsed forward.
Like my boss had told me - they don't find oil in nice places. When I first went to Poland (wonderful place, go if you get a chance) I thought Americans don't know how good they have it. When I went to Kazahkstan I thought Poles don't know how good they've got it. I'll never complain about an American public toilet again.
poster:AuntieMel
thread:465800
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20050122/msgs/474563.html