Friday 6 April 2012

Farewell Peru

Well it was finally time to take my leave of Peru, and what better way than the Airline that is the Pride of Holland - KLM.
If you are vertically challenged, or under 12 years of age, then this is the Airline for you, as they have tailored the seat size and knee room specifically for Persons under 4' tall and sylph like i.e. its non existent. It was to put it mildly, a pretty miserable flight. You first get a hint of what is to come, when you go onto their website a few days before your travel so as to "manage your flight". Here you will find an amazing amount of options for seating, all of which come at an extra cost, for example  a seat in a row of 2, that will be an extra 96 Euros Sir, thank you so very much, or maybe a seat at the emergency exit with some legroom, as opposed to no legroom ? certainly Sir, please stump up 125 Euros. If you don't fancy getting ripped off, then its just the standard seat for you, and you better show some gratitude for that as well.




Air France, who allegedly have KLM as a Partner, used exactly the same Aircraft ( a 777-300ER for those who are even slightly interested), on the way to Lima, which had a seating plan in Cattle class which reads 2+4+2, where the Budget Airline partner KLM has a seating plan 3+4+3, and has more rows....Hmmm, even with my rudimentary understanding of Maths that did not herald glad tidings for the journey to come !


Once onboard, and shoe horned into your Seat beside....now how can we delicately put this....a Fat, Sweaty, Smelly example of the Human Race, who promptly put the seat back to recline before we had even taken off, KLM then assaults you with their Food. I can honestly say, I have absolutely no idea what I was served with, in fact, I would have preferred sucking the little hand towelette that came with the meal, and in retrospect, maybe I should have, as a) it had more taste (lemon!), and b) certainly more nutritional and calorific content, than the crap that was hidden under the foil of the plastic tray, actually, come to think of it (and I really would rather not), whatever that offering was, was stuck more to the underside of the foil when I peeled that back, than in the tray itself....oh yummy !
Amsterdam Schipol Airport could not have arrived soon enough, even the obese Object beside me must have thought so, as immediately upon landing and the Aircraft turning off the Runway, he wanted to crush me, as he tried to get out of his seat and open the overhead locker as the Plane continued to head towards the Air Bridge. It took 2 cabin staff to wedge him back into his seat while trying to explain to him in words of no more than 2 syllables that the Plane still had 2 miles of taxi way to traverse before coming to a stop....Knob !

Taxi Coming
So the moral of the story, is don't travel by KLM unless there is no other option, they really are the Pits. I would probably prefer to stick pins in my eyes before experiencing the quality of their service again !

As you can see from the photos, Crew change day was welcomed with a wonderful sunrise, smooth seas and baking hot sun, as we headed into La Cruz on our small Crew Change Boat. Once at La Cruz, it was a 2 hr bus journey to the airport at Talara, heading down the Coastal plain (see the last picture), before flying to Lima, and then back to Europe. Unfortunately as the day wore on, more and more haze became visible, so many of the Photos taken from the bus journey will need some post processing to make them reasonable.


Speaking of Post Processing, I use Capture NX2 for any touch ups I may do to my images, although I am now seriously tempted by this new version of Lightroom (4), as Capture NX2 is getting a bit long in the tooth. I am still struggling with Adobe products though, as I do not find them particularly user friendly, so I would be interested in anyone's opinion of LR4 before I waste any time and effort looking seriously at the 30 day trial on offer that Adobe currently do.
Have a good Easter for those of you who celebrate it, and for those of you who don't (Myself included), then have a great Holiday.

17 comments:

  1. Sounds like a fun trip!

    Hi P, I'm new to your blog so haven't really worked out why you were in Peru, where you delivering a fishing boat?

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    1. Hi Geoff, and welcome and thanks for commenting. I work in the wonderful world of marine seismic, so that is why there is a nautical flavour to most of my posts.

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  2. Ladies and gentlemen, we are now cruising at an altitude of misery unknown in previous generations. You have been packed into this aircraft meant for many fewer passengers so as we can maximize our profits. You will be served a meal, but this is only for legal reasons and we suggest, for your health, that you ignore this gesture from a bygone time. You are advised to keep your sense of humor, and your love of mandkind at all times. This flight will be over at some point in time but we make to claims as to the time itself. ENJOY YOUR FLIGHT!

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    1. HaHa, thats way better described than my drivel Kay. Sense of humour is what its all about....just a shame I don't have one !!

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    2. Oh, I thought your post was hilarious! I totally agree though, flying will make your lose your sense of humour in a heartbeat. And I really can spell, but you would never know it from my comments!

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  3. A wonderful read that reinforces my choice of years ago to never venture into the friendly skies again. My wife is of a different opinion. "Send me a postcard dear." As for post processing programs I just upgraded my Corel Paintshop Pro X2 to their X4 model. Liked the prehistoric version and now this new one even more. I don't do that much post processing anyway. They have free 30 day trial versions you can try on for size. Not for Mac users.

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    1. My Wife sounds like yours as she loves flying, whereas, I have had the excitement beaten the heck out of me now. Thanks for the PP information, I am just about to look at Corels aftershot pro which has been released. I will report back....

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  4. I flew from Amsterdam to Nice on a flight very similar to yours. I got to sit by a man who was passed out drunk and reeked and then they fed us cold raw runny salmon. Lovely! memories...... Have a great Easter for me, holiday for you!

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    1. Cheri, I think we should begin a bash Airlines blog !! The romance of flying has long gone these days, Kay G summed it up very eloquently.

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  5. Welcome back to terra firma and surviving the flight from hell! Now what...???

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    1. Now what ? the million dollar question, which my Wife seems to have no difficulty answering, as I have a list of jobs/chores as long as your arm to look forward to !!

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  6. You've just reminded me why I hate flying so much. Mind you last time I went by plane the pain in the wotsit was my own travelling companion who had to visit the loo 96 times on a two hour flight! She could have mentioned this might be the case before I let her sit on the inside.

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    1. Welcome and thanks for the comment Tracey. Your companion should have just bought a toilet ticket by the sounds of things....nightmare.

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  7. As usual, wonderful photos! And I can't stop laughing over your description of your flight. I haven't traveled much (the Dom.Rep., Mexico 5 times, Las Vegas) and hopefully one day I'll be able to travel more BUT, from what I hear from most people, I'm not in any hurry to catch a flight. Have a wonder holiday - after that flight, you deserve it!

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    1. Helene, Thank you for your kind comments, and I am glad I got you giggling. A very selective and excellent travel itinerary you have I must say.

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  8. Thank you so much for stopping by my photoblog and leaving a comment. I have just visited your blog and have decided to sign up to follow it. I hope you also check out my "Take A Hike" blog. You can find a link for it on my photoblog. I too love to take photographs. I love to hike with my dog Hiker so I take my camera when she and I go out.
    Kay

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  9. Hi, came here from KG. I totally agree re airline travel, soon they'll be charging us for oxygen. Your Flying Dolphins photos from an earlier post are wonderful!

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