Turkish Airlines, Dublin – Manila (via Kapakli!)

We have been planning to go and visit the Philippines since before the pandemic. We had even booked flights for 2020, little did we know, so this adventure has been much anticipated. Neither of us had flown Turkish Airlines previously, so we didn’t quite know what to expect. The weather had caused some disruption – ice and snow delaying flights, but we were hoping all would go smoothly for us as the weather seemed to have settled.

We had opted for the ‘Strict Vegan Meal’. This was a dinner of spinach curry and rice, green beans in tomato sauce, a bread roll and a fruit salad. It was pretty decent. I also found H!p Oat Milk Chocolate in the WHSmith outlet in Terminal 1 after security too.

Our flight was delayed by a couple of hours so we missed our connecting flight to Manila. This was due, apparently, to pipes being frozen so they couldn’t get potable water on the plane. Some confusing information from staff at the airport made it seem like maybe we could still catch the flight, they were just directing us to a service desk. Most others on the plane were also had connections they’d missed, so it was a long wait, around an hour, before we got to speak to someone.

Initially they offered a flight from Istanbul to Manila via Dubai, after accepting this option (I was not convinced this carried a huge risk of more delays and this more complications) then they said that wasn’t possible. Then they offered the same flight we were supposed to catch, but the following day. I was trying not to get stressed and at the same time manage my own and my partner’s emotions at this point, we were both tired and he doesn’t deal well if things go off plan. However, I think I almost cried at this point, and then our customer service person (who was trying his best under stressful circumstance!) came up with spaces on a flight that evening that arrived in Manila on the way to its final destination – Mactan-Cebu.

After boarding passes bring printed, we were offered a complementary room in a hotel for the day including breakfast and lunch, whilst we waited for our flight. So at around 6am Turkish time, we hopped on a minibus heading to a hotel with other tired passengers for a rest. After about half an hour, one of the other passengers asked the driver how long the drive was, and he said an hour and a half. I thought I must have misheard. I followed the journey on the satellite navigation on my phone, and saw we ended up in a tiny town called Kapakli in the north of Turkey, in the plains of Eastern Thrace, halfway between Istanbul and the Turkey/Bulgaria border.

Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Cerkezkoy, Kapakli

The hotel itself was nice, well laid out and with lovely staff. I wonder if they are used regularly by Turkish Airlines for these circumstances, they were extremely organised and accommodating. Our ‘room’ was, a suite, with a mini kitchen, double bedroom with en suite, bathroom and a single bed in a living room area too. It was a nice place to rest, get some food and recuperate.

Breakfast and lunch had vegan options luckily. Breakfast was a buffet with vegetables, Lunch was a set menu, but we managed to communicate that we didn’t eat meat or dairy. 

Istanbul – Manila

A two hour transfer back to Istanbul Airport, navigating the humungous terminal, we had some time to try and find some grub. We espied some spaghetti that looked vegan but they were only taking cash, and since we hadn’t planned on staying I had no Turkish Lira to hand. We settled for a Veggie Delite sandwich from Subway, it was adequate.

Flight slightly delayed and due to this not being the original flight on our booking our requested vegan meals were not available, we were able to have a bread roll for our breakfast, and dinner was a vegetarian option, some pasta with sauce – I managed to scrape the cheese to the side. We were given a little pouch with an eye mask, slippers, toothbrush and toothpaste and compression socks. It was a nice touch that the pouch was canvas and not disposable plastic. I wish I had worn the compression socks as my ankles ballooned on this flight and took several days to de-bloat! Finally, we landed in Ninoy Aquino International Aiport in Manila, early afternoon. Happy to be reunited with our luggage and in our country of destination, and ready for the next leg of our journey…a flight to Palawan and our first proper destination.

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