A record-setting air-route: Sochi to Easter Island.

As mentioned, Easter Island – also known as Rapa Nui – had long been one of my dream destinations…

But only when I started planning the trip did I fully realize just how far it is ->

It’s… around 1500 kilometers farther than Australia! And I mean all the way to Australia’s east coast ->

But in the end I was starting out not from Moscow but from Sochi, where we’d just wrapped up another industrial cybersecurity conference. The best – and chosen – route ended up looking like this: Sochi > Istanbul (Rossiya Airlines), Istanbul > São Paulo > Santiago (Turkish Airlines), and finally Santiago > Easter Island (LATAM Airlines). Four flight segments in total, 35 hours door-to-door… A new personal record!

The journey began in sunny Sochi ->

A layover in Istanbul.

Since we were switching airlines, this meant going through passport control, collecting and re-checking-in luggage, then more passport control (grrr)…

Still, it couldn’t have happened in a nicer (or bigger) airport. They’ve really built a something special here ->

We took off in the evening ->

It was about a 13-hour flight to São Paulo, where we arrived at night again – the same night, since we were flying west. But it was just a refueling stop with some passengers getting off (and, I think, some new ones getting on); we didn’t even leave the plane.

Then another four-hour hop and we were in Santiago. Since the flight from Turkey had been slightly delayed, the layover was short, but we had to switch airlines again so it was all a bit rushed and nerve-wracking… Fortunately, we’d thought ahead and booked VIP service, so we were escorted from plane to plane lickety-split and it all worked out. If we hadn’t, we might easily have missed our connection: we reached the departure gate with just 15 minutes to spare before boarding closed!…

Next – another five-hour flight… Have you been keeping track? Thirteen hours to Brazil, four to Santiago, five to Easter Island. Plus two hours from Sochi to Istanbul – a total of 24 hours in the air!…

At last – our destination ->

Finally!

The other passengers were also glad to have arrived:

In all my many, many flights anywhere in the world, this was the very first time I’ve seen passengers exit a plane playing a musical instrument and singing! ->

Welcome to Easter Island!

Yes – I was excited!…

To be continued!…