London Heathrow - Abu Dhabi - Islamabad

I never sleep well the first night of any trip, and I have been awake since 01:00 this morning. It’s a relief when the alarm goes off at 05:00 and we can drive to the Short Term Car Park and wait for someone to collect the car and park it for us while we are away. We don’t have long to wait, and the driver casually asks us where we are heading off to. He is very surprised and delighted when he hears we are going to his homeland of Pakistan.

We head straight for the check-in desks where there is a long line of people waiting at the Economy counters, but no queue at the Business Class desk. The boarding cards offer a new experience, with both flights on the same card. We are also relieved to find that “Lounge Access” is printed at the bottom of the card.

From the Special Assistance desk a porter takes us through security (where the plethora of leads in David’s rucksack causes a little bit of a stir and end up getting swabbed for drugs), and onto the Etihad Business Class Lounge.

Etihad Business Class Lounge

The service here in the lounge is quite incredible: extremely attentive and friendly, almost gushing. We start by having breakfast in the dining area. David chooses a few items from the buffet, whereas I order Eggs Royale from the menu.

Eggs Royale - one of my all time favourite breakfasts

From there we continue to the more comfortable seats and order cappuccinos while we wait for our flight to be called.

Etihad Business Class flight from London to Abu Dhabi

We have ‘pre-board priority’ on two counts this morning: business class tickets as well as Special Assistance, which means we are the first passengers to board the flight.

Our seats are on the upper floor, which has its own entrance with no stairs necessary to climb

The seats are as comfortable as I expected. Not being used to such luxury travel, this is all a bit of a novelty for us.

Not only do the seats recline to flat beds, and any position in-between, we also have varying lumbar support, and can adjust the cushion firmness. The most impressive attribute, however, is the massage feature.

Before take-off we are served champagne (or a soft drink for those who don’t drink alcohol).

Soon after we are airborne, the crew come around with mixed nuts and another drink. I stick to water this time. The nuts are slightly salty and served warm.

At the same time she introduces herself to us and asks how we would like to be addressed during the flight (sir/madam, Mrs Howard, or Grete – I choose the latter) and takes our food order. Not only is there a good choice of dishes on the menu, but we are also asked when we would like to eat. Both David and I choose the Steak Sandwich to be served as soon as it is ready, and David also asks for a main meal later on in the flight.

Comprehensive menus featuring food and accompanying drinks

The stewardess brings starched white napkins for covering the tables before placing the food on the trays.

The steak sandwich is meltingly tender and very tasty, encased in warm crusty bread.

I choose to follow this with cheese, crackers and a glass of Graham’s 10 Year Old Tawny Port.

Both the red and blue cheeses are tasty, whereas the Brie is rather boring. There is what I guess to be a chutney in solid form like a jelly, which is tasty and goes well with the cheese. The port is so good that I ask for a second glass.

After a decent nap, I wake up feeling very hot, and order myself a Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream.

I love being able to choose what to eat and when.

David still sleeping

When David’s main meal arrives, he is still feeling full up from the steak sandwich, and realises that he probably shouldn’t have order anything else.

Beef tenderloin with truffle mashed potato, asparagus, carrots, mushrooms, and jus. While very tasty, it is apparently all a little overdone, including the vegetables

I love all the little touches:

Two different types of bread in one

Olive oil for the salad in its own glass bottle

Salt and pepper in its own compartmentalised container

David dessert of Peach Bread and Butter Pudding with Raspberries, which he claims is as nice as it looks

As we start our decent and the seatbelt sign comes on, the young child across the aisle from me (maybe somewhere between age five and seven?) is struggling to comply with instructions. He is unable to sit still for more than ten seconds at a time, he undoes his seatbelt 17 times between the seatbelt sign came on and it is time to get off (yes, I did count!), and presses the button to bring the blind up and down at least that many times. His parents (his mum is sitting in front of him and his dad in front of me) seem to completely ignore him. I think the air stewardess has spent more time talking to him during the flight than his own parents.

Abu Dhabi Airport

A wheelchair and porter is waiting at the exit from the plane to take us to the Business Lounge. At one stage David pops off to the toilet, and instead of staying put in the place where David left us, the porter continues pushing me through doors and along corridors. We later realise why, as David would have had a major problem getting back into that area through a security door. The porter (and I by default, of course) waits in an area where it is easy for David to eventually find us again.

The Lounge

Much larger than the one we visited in Heathrow (not surprisingly as Abu Dhabi is the home airport of Etihad Airways), and it covers three floors. We just stay in the one area, however, as it will be easier for the porter to find us again when we need to board the next flight.

Unlike the staff in the Etihad Lounge at Heathrow, who were service minded to the point of being gushing, the people manning this lounge can best be described as “indifferent”, with not as much as a hello, or even any eye contact as we enter.

It's not exactly busy!

There are many counters serving various types of food, chefs cooking meals to order, and a cocktail bar; but I am drawn to the dessert buffet.

Clockwise from the left: blackberry tart (very nice), chocolate brownie (nice), tiramisu (OK, a little too creamy for my liking), mango glazed mousse (boring), and cashew gateau (dull).

At the allotted time, another porter comes with a wheelchair to collect us for the long trek to our gate. As usual, we board first. There are only eight business class seats on this flight, and as it is considered ‘short haul’, they are not as luxurious as those on the previous flight. They are, however, worlds apart from the British Airways short haul business flight we took in May.

While BA had simply blocked off the middle of three seats, and nothing else (apart from the service, which was excellent) such as extra legroom or wider seats; Etihad has two custom made seats with extra width and a massive amount of legroom. We are impressed.

The crew comes around with orange juice pre-take-off, while also taking the order for our main meal.

It's a much shorter menu for this leg of the journey

One of the passengers, a young girl, discovers that she has left her bag at the gate area, and is somewhat freaking out – understandably. The air steward is very calm and reassuring, telling her that it happens regularly, not to worry, and that she will definitely get it back. He phones through to the gate agent, who comes down and claims that the bag is not there, and rudely admonishes the girl for “being so stupid and leaving it behind”. She naturally loses her rag and freaks out even more. They eventually relent and she is escorted back, where she immediately finds her bag. All is well that ends well, but I do think the gate agent was being unnecessarily disrespectful.

After take-off, champagne is served, and we lament that this could be our last chance to enjoy some alcoholic beverages for the next three weeks, so we want to make the most of it (without going overboard, of course).

Bubbles and warm, salted nuts

Dinner

I choose the vegetarian option, with paneer, muttar, and quinoa kofta, served with peas pulao, tikka masala, and toor dal tarka.

The starter of corn and chickpea chaat with toasted coconut chips is slightly spicy with a good texture. The tikka masala and dhal are both yummy; the rice is... well, rice; and the naan is disappointingly hard. The cardamom milk cake for dessert is nice but too creamy for me (I have a slight dairy intolerance).

David opts for the tandoori lamb chop with saffron rice, garlic naan, and rajma masala.

David's lamb falls off the bone and the accompanying sauce is nice and tasty.

We follow the meal with a cappuccino and a Cointreau for me, and hot chocolate and Baileys for David.

Islamabad Airport

A wheelchair and a very friendly porter awaits me when we arrive at Islamabad. The airport is quite new and very modern. We particularly like the truck art that is displayed on the wall above the luggage carousel. I am hoping to see lots of the traditional huge trucks painted in this way during our journey.

As we exit through security, we can see the area where friends and family are awaiting the arrival of their loved ones. The area behind the barrier is thronging with people, all dressed in white, most carrying garlands of pink flowers while excitedly looking out for familiar faces. The floor is scattered with flower petals, and there is a sweet smell in the air. The atmosphere is electric, full of anticipation, and quite surreal, like something out of a film set! When Asif and Haider (our guide and driver for the duration of the trip) greet us with a flower garland, I ask what is going on.

Asif explains that this evening (or rather morning, it is now 04:00), several flights from Saudi Arabia will be landing, carrying pilgrims who have completed the Umrah (pilgrimage to Mecca which, unlike the Hajj which has a set date every year, can be undertaken at any time of year), and often the whole village will turn up to greet the returning travellers. It is traditional for everyone to wear white for this event. Asif was concerned that we may have found it intimidating – on the contrary, we thought it was quite an extraordinary and delightful scene, something we will not forget in a hurry.

Envoy Continental Hotel

At this time of the day, or rather night, it is a short drive to the hotel. The hotel is bright and modern, with a large, open reception area. Unfortunately, the lift is currently out of order, they are waiting for an engineer to come out first thing in the morning. The semi-circular stairs are not too much of a problem for me, or at least they wouldn’t have been if they’d had some ‘normal’ handrails. The bannisters start at the usual hip-height at the bottom, but get progressively lower as the stairs ascend to the next storey, finishing at ankle level once we arrive at the Mezzanine floor.

We quickly rummage in our bags for the nightwear, and slip into bed almost immediately. It is now 05:10 and we are completely zonked after a long day travelling.

Thank you Undiscovered Destinations for arranging this amazing tour of Northern Pakistan.