Airport closed

Airport closed

The main airport in Palu, capital of South Sulawesi province, was shut after the tsunami struck and was expected to stay closed for at least 24 hours, complicating any disaster relief efforts.

Friday’s tremor was also felt in the far south of the island in its largest city Makassar and on neighboring Kalimantan, Indonesia’s portion of Borneo island.

The initial quake, which was followed by a series of powerful aftershocks, struck as evening prayers were about to begin in the world’s biggest Muslim majority country on the holiest day of the week, when mosques are especially busy.

Indonesia is one of the most disaster-prone nations on earth.

It lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where tectonic plates collide and many of the world’s volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

Earlier this year, a series of powerful quakes hit Lombok, killing more than 550 people on the holiday island and neighboring Sumbawa.

Some 1,500 people were injured and about 400,000 residents were displaced after their homes were destroyed.

Indonesia has been hit by a string of other deadly quakes including a devastating 9.1 magnitude tremor that struck off the coast of Sumatra in December 2004.

That Boxing Day quake triggered a tsunami that killed 220,000 throughout the region, including 168,000 in Indonesia.

The disaster was the world’s third biggest quake since 1900, and lifted the ocean floor in some places by 15 meters.

In 2010, about 430 were killed when a 7.8 magnitude quake triggered waves that pound the isolated region of Mentawai, off the coast of Sumatra.

More than 600 were killed in 2006 when another large quake triggered a tsunami off the coast of Indonesia’s most-populous Java island.

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Mayhem in The Airport

Instead of grabbing a beer (inspired by Kim) and checking out my week, I am going to interrupt this regularly scheduled program with a little something different. You may know already that I spend a lot of time in airports. This week was an especially airport / airplane filled one! So, instead of looking what I did this week, we are going to do List Sunday, where I let you in on a few of my Travelers Peeves, Airport Style.

Air Force One - in SFO on Tuesday!

- People in the waiting area who sit in one seat, have a bag in another and their feet (or purse or food or...) in another. Especially when the airport is really busy. There is no need to take up more than one seat. The ones who lie down on the seats are equally as annoying. Common courtesy people!

- That guy who talks back to the flight attendant when she tells him that he cannot have three carry-on bags.

- People who have three carry on bags. Or people who, since you can only have two, have two of the biggest bags ever. And when the bags don't fit into the overhead, the people try over and over and over (while holding up the whole plane) to stuff the too big bag into the bin.

- People who take up a whole bin to themselves, whether or not they have three bags. They put their coat, their hat, their purse, shopping bag, suitcase and travel pillow into the bin so that it fills up the entire thing. Or they put their roller-board sideways, even though the attendants keep telling them, "wheels facing out!"

- That guy (and there always is one) at security who forgets to take his laptop out of the case (a no-no), who puts his case on top of the laptop (a no-no), who forgets to take his change out of his pockets, forgets to take his watch off, forgets that he has to take his coat and shoes off (annoying). I ALWAYS get behind that guy. Is this his first time flying? If it is, I forgive him. If it's not, get with the program. We are all trying to go someplace. Literally.

- The people in zone 4 who stand up right in front of the podium as soon as the flight crew says, "we are going to begin by boarding people with small children..." and then continue to stand there throughout the boarding process, even though they are NOT people with small children, nor are they in Zone 1, 2 or 3.

- The people who are in Zone 4 who get IN LINE when Zone 1 is called. Then when the attendant says, "sir, we are only boarding zone 1 now", he looks at her stupidly, and stands there for a while before finally getting out of line (and then getting back in once Zone 2 is called).

- The lady behind me when boarding who keeps touching (pushing) me / my back, as if by doing that, the ENTIRE LINE will move faster.

- The guy who keeps talking on the phone after the flight attendants say to turn the phones off. And then once they ask him again to please get off the phone, he looks at them disgustingly and keeps talking. (I love the campy gay attendants who give them attitude and say - Get Off The Phone, "SIR"!)

- People who stand two abreast on the moving walkway. "WALK-way" people! One of you needs to walk or both of you need to stand aside.

- People who are sitting behind me who put their feet on my armrest. It has happened!

- People sitting beside me who are kind of oozing over into my seat. I even had one guy snuggle up to me with his back towards me and his butt over the line. Too close for comfort.

- People who try to talk to you when you clearly (earphones, book, flat black stare) don't feel like talking.

- People at baggage claim who stand right up next to the conveyor, so then I can't see my bag and when I do see it at the last minute I have to lunge in and try to get it. I admit to "accidentally" knocking my bag into these people if they are inconveniently in the way of my bag extraction. (I like the places where they put the yellow line around the conveyor and you have to stand behind it and then you can step in and get your bag once you see it heading your way.)

- People who make out on the plane. Right next to me. Really? Are we 12?

Well, that was fun. I am sure there are many more, and maybe next time I should stop being so negative and make a list of things I LIKE about airports and airplanes. But this is more fun.

What are your airport and airplane pet peeves? If you don't travel a lot, what are your "crowded places" pet peeves (bar / restaurant / train station / elevator)??

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Up in the Air: Barcelona to Tel Aviv

ISRAEL-CATALONIA CONNECTION:  Spanish Catalan surrealist painter Salvador Dali created the Candelabra of Peace, pictured above, which is displayed at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport. 

July 27, 2011 -- After traveling around Europe on high-speed trains for two weeks, my next destination was Israel. I flew from Barcelona El Prat Airport to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport on Spanair. The flight across the Mediterranean Sea takes around four hours.

The two airports have a lot in common. They have both undergone renovations and expansions -- Barcelona added Terminal 1 in 2009 and Tel Aviv added Terminal 3 in 2004. Both airports are also accessible via commuter rail, although the train at El Prat only stops at Terminal 2 so you need to take a connecting bus to get to T1. It is about a ten minute ride from the T2 train station to T1 on the connecting bus.

Renowned postmodernist architect Ricardo Bofill designed the new terminal at El Prat and it is impressive. The layout brings in the natural light from a region blessed with lots of sunshine. And everything feels very open and expansive so passengers never feel claustrophobic or constricted, even while waiting at the check-in stand or security line.

Here are passengers at Sants railway station waiting to board the Rodalies commuter train bound for Barcelona El Prat Airport. Rodalies is the commuter rail service that serves Barcelona, and its metropolitan area as well as other parts of the province.

One big difference between El Prat and Ben Gurion is the level of security. It took less than five minutes to pass through the security checkpoint at El Prat with no tension or feeling of suspicion. Ben Gurion on the other hand is the most secure commercial airport in the world. With enemies of the Jewish State all around, the Jewish State's only international airport has no alternative but to be the safest place to fly to on the planet. That's why it can take a long time to get through Ben Gurion Border Control and it can take even longer to exit Israel. They don't take chances. It can be a maddening experience for a Jewish American like myself or any visitor to The Holy Land for that matter. Who wants to be looked at with suspicion? Who wants to be singled out? Who wants to feel uncomfortable or make other people feel uncomfortable because they were born with darker features? It is not fun at all. But it is a necessary evil that millions of innocent people have to go through humiliating security procedures because of the very real security threat of a handful of medieval-minded Muslim fanatics.

Before going through passport control, international travelers walk through the concourse at new Terminal 3. Visitors are greeted by Jerusalem stone on the walls and biblical mosaics. It is an impressive entrance to Israel.

And after sitting for twenty minutes and then being asked questions by the border control security (something I've gotten used to when traveling abroad alone) and getting my passport stamped, I was officially in Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel!

Israel Railways operates the Ben Gurion Airport Railway Station, located in the lower level of Terminal 3. The commuter train station is easy to get to from the other terminals and zips you from Ben Gurion to central Tel Aviv, Haifa or Modi'in. Here is the train at Tel Aviv Savidor Central Railway Station.

Since it was late at night and the buses stopped running (Tel Aviv does not have a subway system) I hopped in a Sherut (shared taxi in Hebrew) for the fifty shekel ride to the Florentine district where my hostel was located. The taxi ride was a real adventure, but that is a story for my next blog post on Tel Aviv.

Here are more photos of the trip from Barcelona to Tel Aviv. Click here to see the set on Flickr.

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IGI Airport Delhi becomes larger and modern

India is a country many tourists love to travel due to geographical and cultural diversity. It has mountains, sea beaches, deserts, plains everything and culturally at the first sight tourists get a SHOCK. So many people, lots of traffic etc etc... but at the same time you get a chance to experience the power of meditation, yoga, historical forts, handicrafts etc.

Despite all those plus points there are few negatives that were always high lightened like Airports are not advanced, slums etc. The airports problem seems to be taken care by now. AS the Indian prime minister launched the Terminal 3 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport it became the sixth largest and most modern terminal in the world. Others in the top list include:

• Dubai
• Beijing
• Singapore
• Bangkok
• Mexico City

For more information I will nor recommend a link what ask you to travel to India and experience it.

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Best airport lounge - Lima airport

VIP lounge of Lima's international airport has been voted the world's best for 2010 by independent airport lounge programme Priority Pass. Please check for the images and you will get to know yourself why this has been ratd as one of the best.

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Worlds worst & Best airport

Once again London's Heathrow Airport has been voted the worst airport in the world. It has been voted as worst airport second time. Singapore's Changi gets most number of votes to be listed as the best airport in the world. These results were outcome of a poll conducted among 14,500 frequent fliers in the world. The voters to the survey were all frequent travelers who have taken on average 17 flights in the past 12 months.

Charles de Gaulle airport of Paris retained the second place in the worst airports list whereas despite $1 billion overhaul Los Angeles International Airport was rated third in the list.

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