the terror goes to tehran (Iran)

Salaam

A quick weekend away to…… Iran!!! (“some people think I’m bonkers”, does this ring a bell??) Yeah, I went to Iran, and it was great, haha!! David, a ‘penpal’ (as we would call it in the old days) whom I’ve never met, was going to meet me somewhere about 2hours away from the airport, sent me a taxi driver to pick me up. I had no visa, and no local address, neither my two phones worked there (Iran is very roaming unfriendly), but hey, I always manage
So, then I met David, who is a very sweet guy.
He took me around the North and South of Tehran, which is such a massive city, yet absolutely gorgeous, nothing I EVER imagined it to be. Hugged by mountains, decorated by long, tall trees, celebrated by
rebellious people, women who are forced to be covered (including me). The traffic is also mad, but the fastest moving I’ve ever seen. People drive soooo fast, even scooters and bikes(without helmets ofcourse) zip through cars as if they’re in a video game.

David and his brother (who is a very skilled driver), took me go-carting. The Iranian girls even go to a place like that in high heels. Wait, let me draw you the picture first. As ‘covered’ as these women are, there are a lot more going on behind the ‘scenes’. Most women had nose jobs done (you’re not cool if you haven’t), their eyebrows are slim and perfectly tinted, thick lipstick and upright postures (well yeah, similar to most Arab countries ie Egyptians, Lebanese, Dubai locals). You might find two cars driving in front of you very slowly, occupying most of the road space and you cannot pass, and find no one hooting at them… David told me this is the ‘dating system’. In those few seconds, this would be where the phone number exchanging takes place. They will meet later that night, and sex is guaranteed. Mmmm, interesting. It is also normal to have more than one girlfriend or boyfriend. Women even made a pass at David while I’m sitting right next to him, haha. There is no party scene, no clubs or pubs, no alcohol. But people find a way to entertain themselves, and it gets pretty wild.

I was really surprised by how beautiful the city is, especially at night. We smoked shisha at a popular peak, overlooking the city lights and listening to classical Iranian music. And I’ve found a vegetarian Iranian dish that blows my mind! (luckily I can get it in Dubai also). So all and all, it was a pleasant experience. Not recommendable to go there without the help and knowledge of a local, as the people don’t speak much English and don’t seem very approachable. A few days before my arrival, there were elections, so the place seemed a bit unstable, but it smoothed out by the time I got there:) And unfortunately for me, on my return back to Dubai, everything worked out fine, until we got stuck inside the aircraft for 7 hours!!! (technical reasons) and therefore I missed my work flight to JNB, had to see my manager etc etc.

Now, I’m off till Dec3, going to Goa (India) for 3 weeks (of which 2 weeks is for yoga teacher training) and then hopefully Madagascar for 10days, if I get a travel partner.

The year is nearing to its end again, wow. I hope you are all healthy and enjoying the interesting weather.

Love to you,
Khuda'afis
A

Simply Asia (Bangkok and Shanghai)

Huhloh

Huan jing

...and as that song goes: "Some people think I'm bonkers!" I know how the singer feels, hehe:) Because what have I been up to again lately?? Mmm...

So,
I only had one day off after Dusseldorf (which I forgot to mention last time - I planned on visiting my dear friend in Amsterdam, but unfortunately the itenary from the metro system was incorrect and it didn't work out, so I just rested. Then the Bangkok-Hongkong trip.. It works like this: We fly to BKK, stay for a day, don't check out (yay, no packing and unpacking), then shuttle to HKG and back. In HKG we leave the aircraft and get to wander around in the airport for 4 hrs or go to our own lounge where we get free snacks, drinks and internet. Back in BKK we stay another day. Throughout this, we keep handing over/being handed over the aircraft to the other crew we saw the day before, the once ahead or behind in the same trip.

Bangkok: What did I do in Bangkok?...mmmm...well...the usual.... massages, shopping and eating like a pig. Went on the skytrain for the first time in Thailand. Excellent!
And.... then I went to Patpong. This is an area... a 'district' I've always wanted to experience. I went to go watch the famous/infamous ping pong shows. All by myself, coz crew were either sick or tired. These places are superdodgy stripclubs, except that they don't strip, they are already naked when you enter and are hanging around on the stage like jellyfish in a tank. Then one comes forward and gives you the 'show' of your life! Now, I've heard all kinds of stories, but I will only share what I've experienced myself. The highlighted is not for the sensitive. (Ma, stop reading, heehee) One girl put ping pong balls up her punani(hahahahaha) then shoots it back while a 'floor'person picks it up with a fishnet. One pulled a string out that never seemed to end, one sucked water from a bottle and transfered it to another and then came to put the two bottles on my table asking for money(gross), one sucked rings with a tube and put the rings over a bottle. It's a freakin sex circus!!!!! After 20mins I couldn't watch anymore and tried to leave. This wasn't so easy. They tried to con me like they do all foreigners, I threatened them, they threatened me and after much negotiation, I left safely. It's all part of the journey. Ok, tick, done!:)

Shanghai: Went to the Jade Buddha Temple (wish I could share the video clips), lots of open praying and chanting going on. Then went walking for 2 hours in an area where I honestly saw NO foreigners, just little Chinese people. Just my style;) Saw many males without their shirts on (it was very hot and humid), saw the usual 'stunts' of families on scooters, crazy traffic and stinky roads. I must admit, I'm not a fan of China. I don't get the 'rhythm', whereas places like Thailand and India etc, I feel I just fit in!!

Hope you enjoyed:)

Ramadan Karim!

Take care Chinas

Alta

free fremantle, Perth (Australia)

Heya!



Whooooosh, my life is a tumbledryer and my head is spinning. LOL! I have been partying way too much and unfortunately alcohol was involved. I had another absent at work (missed my flight), a kick under the butt and now it seems Alta is back on track. So, let me tell you a little bit about Perth.



I successfully swapped my London flight to go to OZ instead and it was good to be back in Australia, even though it was a direct 11 hour flight. It is winter there now and the weather was glorious, stunning. I got up early in the morning and took a train to Cottlesloe... a cute neighbourhood right on the ocean. My map led me to the beach, I sat there for a while and counted about 34 surfers in front of me, around noon on a Monday. Then I decided to go further (bought a day pass train ticket) and went to Fremantle, the last stop. A harbour town. Perth, especially Fremantle has a lot of history with the Dutch and the little town itself looks European. I had lunch at the waterfront and a walk through the park and to my amazement in front of me which I thought were seagulls, on a closer zoom, they were actually white parrots. Everywhere. In the trees, on the grass...




I found the people very friendly, especially the elder ones. Reminded me of the uncle and aunts from my own little hometown:) Had a walk through the CBD and it was so much like Cape Town. It's amazing how much Australia is like SA, just without the crime. I miss hooooome!!!



I'll be coming home the end of the month, finally, after 6 months!! For a few days. Meanwhile, I'm going on a Bangkok trip tonight, then China and a visit to good old Jimmy in Dar E Salaam (another London swap)



Hope you are all good. Am looking forward to meeting up the ones I can:)



Mwah mwah

See ya later

A

Houston, we have a problem (Houston, Texas)

Howdy, how ya'all doing?

So imagine this.... I get up at 05h30 Saturday morning... I get ready for work....I fly...I work...I rest and sleep for 4 hours in our crew rest....I work some more...I wait and stay up while passengers are sleeping....I walk around listening to the cruising of the aircraft....I shit a little in my pants during turbulence...I visit the flight deck crew...I'm tired...I'm being silly with my crew to stay awake and positive....and by the time I sit in my jumpseat and hear the captain say we must get ready for landing, I look on my watch...it's around 2am, Sunday in Dubai...!!!! I have been inside an aircraft for 17hours and flew back in time... it's Saturday, 4pm in Texas, people are still waiting for the evening to come. I should be sleeping... but hey, things to do, places to see:)


So me and the First Officer (an Afrikaner) and a Polish girl hired a car and off we go on our own little roadtrip to the NASA Space Center. It's like a NASA museum and it was awesome to relive the first landing on the moon, see the spaceships from inside... how they lived, ate and showered... the highs, the disappointments (there were a few theatres showing videos - like the explosion of one of the spaceships) etc... We even got to see the real life simulators that they use today.

Then off we went to Galveston.. a little island about an hour's drive. The scenery and everything changed and we found ourselves in a gorgeous little American neighbourhood with white picket fences,
double storey wooden houses with big American flags hanging from it, being a Sunday we saw lots of Harley Davidsons and even a bike gang (yo yo yo American brother style). The weather in Texas is hot and humid. Being used to living in a painful sauna right now, that weather was heaven! We walked along the beach (the water is brown) and had some local Texan beer at a pub and made friends with the locals and ended up at a "Waterfront" style harbour and had a beautiful seafood feast.

The next day (2days layover) we went to the Cheesecake factory (for the ones that don't know me really well..., I'm a sucker for a good baked cheesecake) :) . This was in the Galleria mall which is very well known in Texas (there are TWO Macy's!)

Me and Anna were looking for cowboys (man, this girl is just as crazy and adventurous as me, if not more) and we finally found one in civil clothes. When he asked me where I'm from, and on my reply he ofcourse responded: "You don't look black to me". Don't LOOK black, wtf?? I said: "Sir, you need to get out more often" We didn't even bother to explain where Poland is:)

Overall, the trip was amazing, as I mentioned before... everything in America feels like I'm living in a movie.

I hope ya'll have a great weekend
Take care now
A

overlayed (Dar Es Salaam, Paris and Rome)

Hey!

Hoe gaan dit??

forgot to tell you guys...

I went to Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) again last month, and guess what?!? I went to that same island, and I found Jimmy the Rasta again;-) It was a lovely reunion, and we spent a few hours together again, and this time Jimmy gave me his mobile number (he has been keeping in contact with me by sending a sms once a month from a different number, au).

The shells he picked up for me this time, were much bigger, the weather was amazing as always
Oops, and I forgot to mention that I went to Paris again, last month at some stage, or was it the month before? (it was my very first flight/layover with my new career - a year and half ago) and it was good to be back there and fall in love with it all over again. We just went into town again, saw different angles of the city and of the Eiffel Tower and went inside the Notre Dame:)

Then I went to Rome..
and it was a walk through history itself. Rome was definitely not built in one day,

hehe. I did not find the Romans as nice as the people from Venice and Milan, and therefore don't like the place as much.

I am going through a phase of not being too excited about my layovers and therefore it reflects in my newsletter, which I'm lazy to write:) Forgive me. I know you have been waiting for this a while... and yes.. I will definitely still send you photos of the new uniform.

My motorcycle license application is strong in progress, and Wednesday I'm going for my final test. Wish me luck;-)!

I miss Cape Town, and all you beautiful people

Rock on!

Alta

pearl of Africa (Entebbe, Uganda)

Oyotya (aw-yaw-tia -> i struggled with this at first)
(btw. the greetings I use in my letters are actual words that I learn and use onboard or in the country,
and the response from the locals are great!)

And apologies for sending some news only now, thanks for bearing with me - I am going through a silly phase and get lazy to write. Nevertheless, I'm back with little news...

Went to Uganda (swapped my Heathrow for it), Entebbe. Similar to Kenya, Tanzania and Ghana - dirty roads covered in red dust, bikes and crazy taxis (saw an accident between a scooter and a bakkie which blocked our way, so our busdriver went over the pavement to get us at the airport in time, haha), people very friendly, huge Indian community as there were 4 Indian channels on tv, and a Hindu temple in Kampala (the area we stayed in). All I aimed to do in Entebbe, was to see Lake Victoria, and we happened to stay right next to it, haha (it was the backyard of the gorgeous and stunning resort we stayed at), so I didn't leave the resort. We witnessed the friendliest, beautiful and social dragonflies ever! They followed us like curious puppies and even paused for a couple of photos. Wow! At night you could hear birds, frogs and crickets. And there were many horses at the stables. The weather was perfect! The crew was lovely! It was a transit flight, which means we stop in Ethiopia first (where I learned some more words again, lol)

I had 7 days off and planned on coming to Cape Town or at least any other continent, but unfortunately flights were full everywhere, so I am staying in Dubai. I picked up a flight to Rome (yay, finally) also. So, more news to come later

We have new uniforms, which were launched on the 7th of June. I love it!! Makes me feel corporate and sexy at the same time;-)



Best wishes to you all


Werabe
Tulabangane
--
A
Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes - Walt Whitman

little piece of heaven, Zanzibar (island off Tanzania)

Jambo

Habari



Inhale slowly, aaaah exhale even slower. Tons and endless amounts of fresh crispy air, clear headed, tensionfree and no traces of jetlag. An amazing and most relaxed holiday I’ve experienced so farJ I have been dreaming of this and am still fantasizing on the memories of it…



Karibu to Zanzibar! Pookie and I (by the way, we want to be together and still love each other dearly, it is just not possible for us right now) explored Zanzibar Town (Stone Town – a world heritage site) on arrival. Very interesting historical creation of Arabic architecture (old wooden doors), small alleys, many scooters, cats with beautiful eyes, black women in abayas (those black dresses), rastas, old buildings that are peeling, spice markets, fish markets and random people trying to sell random stuff.



Then we went to the North (Kendwa – close to Nungwi) where we sat on the beach as a romantic couple watching the stunning sunsets every evening (stayed there for 3 days), ate good food (I gained some weight), (I) slept an average of 9 hours daily excluding the many times I fell asleep on the beach or a hammock, long walks and generally chilling and listening to music.



We mutually felt it was time to move on and explore other parts of the island, so we went to the East coast to Jambiani. We basically had a beach and lodge to ourselves living in a village (May is low season, apparently the worst time to go – blah blah, luckily I never listen to these things, because we had amazing and perfect weather). Our bungalow was right on the beach (5meters away) and we spent our nights sleeping outside on the stoepbed covered by a mosquito net (they chowed me alive nonetheless). Went for a tour to the village Kizimkazi and into the deep, deep sea where we swam with dolphins!! Had lunch in a local’s home, wow!


Life is slow on the island and we chilled. Content.


Finally back at the airport, I checked my roster online (I’m on standby remember) and saw that I have a rest day the following day, so the Pookies stayed one more day in Stone Town where we experienced the night markets (where they sell freshly catches of the day and freshly squeezed sugarcane juice). Explored a new area and enjoyed our last moments together, the weather was gorgeous.



Back at the airport I had an interesting experience. In my flight to Dar, I sat right behind the captain, haha (smallest aircraft I’ve seen and been on – seats only 12) and no co-pilot, a passenger sommer seated himself next to the captain. A 15-minute flight cruising at an easy breathable 7000ft!!



Aaaaaah, life is wonderful



Upendo,

Alta