Day 1

Our journey from London Luton to Istanbul, Turkey

On Tuesday 5 May 2009, our parents dropped us at our school, (South Harringay Junior School) where we were met by our assistant head teacher. We boarded our coach and drove to London Luton airport.

We arrived at Luton airport at 7am and headed to the departure lounge. We checked in at easyJet desk and saw our luggage disappear! After a quick breakfast we passed through the customs and headed to the passengers waiting area. The children kept an eye on the information board while the adults kept an eye on the children. Shortly the children shouted “gate 15” and we were on our way to gate 15, where we saw our easyJet waiting for us.

At 9.35am we boarded easyJet EZY2383 to Istanbul, Turkey airport and we finally took off at 10.10 am.

Captain Richard Parris and First Officer James Smith were flying our plane and in the cabin were 3 cabin crew with 149 passengers.
Same facts about our plane:-
Boeing 737-700
Take off speed – 162 miles per hour
Cruising speed 530 miles per hour
Flying at 32,000 feet

Approaching Sabiha Gokcen Airport we could see the beautiful and modern city of Istanbul.

After 3 hours 20 minutes, we landed at Sabiha Gokcen Airport at 3.30 pm, local time.

We cleared passport controls, collected our luggage and met our local representative and made our way to the hotel.

We travelled through Istanbul (Asian side) to Istanbul (Europe side).

On our way to the hotel we saw number of mosques.

We reached Cinar Hotel at 5pm.

We freshened up and met all the children and teachers from the other participating schools. We then met a school teacher from the Turkish participating school and walked along the coast in a stunning sunset to the school.

On arrival at the school, we were greeted by the school’s headteacher and the senior leadership team and taken to the school’s dining hall for school dinner!

The headteacher welcomed everyone and the dinner was served.

After dinner we went back to our hotel and fell asleep!!!

(c) Blog and photos by Dinendra Haria Photography – (m) 07985 928 849