Flights depart from Istanbul to Bishkek, but not every day, so the flight was full, and the vast majority of the passengers were, I assumed, Kyrgyz, plus a double handful of gringos, maximum. I've never flown on an airplane flight where I was in such a minority, and let me tell you, I stuck out like a sore thumb due to both the blond hair and my height. It was a very odd sensation. The last time I felt so odd traveling was when I returned from St. Petersburg, Russia, to Europe on a plane that was mostly full of Jehovah's Witnesses after one of their international conferences. Quite the curious sensation.

I had the window seat, and to my left sat a gentleman who was particularly endowed with halitosis and flatulence. Add to that broad shoulders and a not insignificant belly, and I can tell you I had much more physical contact with him than I would have voluntarily chosen. I would have preferred a crying child as fellow passenger.

I arrived at the Istanbul air port at 16:30, and my flight supposedly departed at 21:20, so let's call that five hours. The flight to Bishkek was a bit over eight hours. And from arrival time to my arrival at the apartment was about 90 minutes, so let's call this leg 14.5 hours.