After our wonderful dinner with our hosts, we drove out to the airport to catch our 11:30 pm flight to Izmir. I was really startled at how many flights were departing the city at this time of night. We had an annoying experience checking our luggage. The maximum weight for domestic flights is 20 kg, but they calculated our weight as a group at 10 x 20 = 200 kg. My suitcase happened to be the last one to go onto the conveyor belt to get tagged and it weighed 17 kg, but they said that our group had reached their weight limit and that my case put us over by 10 kg. (Really?! 1 kilo per person and you're not going to check my bag...) Our Turkish friends argued vehemently with the desk manager, but to no avail. So we unpacked my bag and distributed my shoes, Turkish Delight (very heavy!), toiletries, and other misc heavier items to members in the group to carry on. Never mind the logic that all of this additional 10 kg is getting on the same plane, just up above instead of down below. Go figure. After we arrived in Izmir I recovered all my items and repacked.
The airport in Ankara was quite polished. It even had a mini pond by the eating area. One unusual aspect is that you have to go through security twice, once at the door to the airport before you get your boarding pass and check your bags, and again after you check your bags. None of our liquids were confiscated, so it was unclear if this was because they didn't care about liquids or were not very thorough.
Needless to say I was pretty dang exhausted by this time and really just wanted to sleep, but did they dim the lights and let people doze for the 45 flight? No. Lights on full brightness, snack service provided complete with very loud crinkly plastic wrap, and several young children who should have been in bed hours ago. (ok, rant over...memo to self: need to get more sleep!)
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