Thursday, October 31, 2013

3rd last Day

Thursday, 31st October 2013, 08:44 local time, outside temperature 25 degree C

We have received our departure clearance and we are half an hour early. We knew what to expect this morning and true, a group of headless chicken, handling agents, everybody getting involved in everybody else's task on hand, every sum had to be calculated between 3 and 8 times, they did not get one crew organised. But... eventually we were out of their offices. The first crew, the Redaktions Flugzeug, arrived @ 05:15 and left @ 08h00, it took them three hours to get their invoice sorted because there was a dispute. That is exactly how it works, eventually you pay because you want to leave...

The climb performance is much better today, the 5-10 Degree difference in temperature makes all the difference! First time since a while we are able to fly at a highter altitude. Now the outside temperature is minus 8 deg C. 

Our flight to Kayseri, Turkey will take around 6 hours, we have crossed the border into Iraq, we must under all circumstances avoid flying above Syria or Iran. The view gets better in Iraq and we see lots of agriculture along the river 'Tigris' and it looks as if they channel the water.



Residential areas are huge. We also see a huge huge military base, 2 runways, hangars, monition storages etc. Really huge. We are in contact with Baghdad approach all the way. Winds are good and our flying time has shortened by an hour. Below us high mountains full of sand dunes, around them tracks, but mostly we see flat land. We are getting closer to Kirkuk.

And now we are overflying Mosul. We see freeways with trucks and cars and we see rivers.



We overfly mountainous terrain with huge water reservoirs and a city with stadium, freeways and one big tar-road leading over mountains going north. That must be the road leading into Turkey. This area, the nort-east of Iraq looks really interesting.

We are crossing the border into Turkey and we are talking to Ankara. Mountains around us are to 11 000 feet high and have snow on top. Below us the town 'Siirt', and its airport.


Our aircraft is in top-form, we cruise at a groundspeed of 195nm. We arrive early afternoon and it took us one hour to get organised. As we leave the aircraft we mention to each other how lucky we were on the whole trip with our fuel leek on the left wing. When the plane is not parked dead straight the fuel pours out of the wing. For that purpose Herr Mueller provided us with a special device like a car jack and that device helps us to bring the wings level or rather the aircraft.

We leave for our Hotel.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Leaving the Desert

Muscat, Oman, 
Wed 30. October 2013, 09h15 local time, 32 Degree C, no cloud, sun burning down.

We are on the airfield, standing next to the Mooney, their cowling is off, oil on the tarmac.

When we arrived and they saw us they rushed towards us, their body language showing clearly. Dietmar said, "something is wrong". and than coming closer, as if Dietmar is the expert, "you had a Mooney, maybe you see something". Now all three pilots lying underneath the engine to see where the oil is coming from, no luck, they see nothing.




We have to leave them now, that's always the hardest, to leave them with a problem. We can't do anything, we don't know more than them, we can't really help them. In a last effort I get a whole lot of wet soapy tissues and a dry one for afterwards. They look like mechanics, oil on their faces, arms, white shirts. As we start the engine they are still below their aircraft. We feel sorry for them.

As we taxi we talk about our own take-off, fully loaded, very high temperature, we expect a poor performance take-off. It was ok. Air Traffic Control is again very good, it cannot be better. As we climb higher and get further out we see houses, very far apart and main roads. Otherwise sand and not much else.





We have a four hour flight ahead of us to Kuwait. The outside Temperate is still 20 Degree C at 10,000 ft. Crazy.

We cross the border to United Arab Emirates. Below us Al Ain Airport, nearby we see an oval circle, it looks like a race track. 

We wonder if Car Manufacturers like Mercedes, BMW etc have their test track here in this climate for their test purposes as they have in Upington!?

We approach the coastline, in the distance we see Dubai and the Palm Island. Unfortunately it is very misty and I am sure my pictures will not turn out great.


On our left in the distance we see high rise buildings belonging to Abu Dhabi, again it is too misty for good photos. Below us in the Persian Gulf we see lots of ships, from Cargos to Cruisers and smaller ones too.

We arrive at 13h00, it takes us 3 hours to refuel and clear immigration despite Handling Vultures. It is now 16h00 and we are on our way to the hotel which is beautiful. By the way: not one drop of liquor in the country.







Dry, White and Hot and Air Conditioners everywhere

Tuesday, 29. October 2013

Before breakfast I dared to step out of the hotel. From each side I hear them say, 'Madam, Taxi?' 'No, thanks, I will take a walk.' 'Madam, it is too hot, let me call a air conditioned taxi.' I walk along the road, observe, walk along the beach, feel the water and there is nothing refreshing about the water, the sand reflects more heat and I walk up to the grass where the sprinklers work. I get soaking wet, and I sit  for a while in the shade to dry up until I walk back inside. After all it is too hot to walk outside, it is 09h00.

At 14h30 I take the airconditioned Red Bus for a city tour which is interesting and informative. 











At 17h00  Dietmar, another crew snd myself met in the Old City to walk through the SUQ, a market. This is special because it is situated between old walls and buildings and roof structures, it is genuine.



For supper we met with a TBM and the Mooney crew. In Oman one can only order liquor / alcohol at licensed restaurants or Hotels, as it used to be in RSA. We have our meal in a licensed Hotel. Naturally air-conditioned.


Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Ein anderer Blog auf Deutsch vom Mitflieger Johannes



http://www.360ww.de/

Dieser Blog wird von Johannes's GHOSTWRITER geschrieben...auch mal interessant, wie er die Dinge sieht.
Johannes und Wolf sind unsere Mooney Flieger, die einzigen Avgas Flieger unter uns.

We are losing our patience.

Monday, 28. Oct 2013, 08h03, local time
SA/D 20131028, 04h33

Full Flying Day

Our first destination today is Ahmedabad, a one hour flight. We are flying into Ahmedabad for Immigration Clearance and refuelling and we arrive at 09h10. Now our problem starts: our handling agent awaits us and takes us through domestic arrival procedures, then he takes us through domestic departure procedures and we arrive exactly at the point where we started, a couple of tempers started to rise. (And a couple of fists). What are we doing here? Do you know what you are doing? What is going on? We start walking again, 7 crew and a few handling agents who obviously go through a learning progress on our account. Now we arrive at international departure, the official looks at our passports, finding that we have no Immigration Entry stamp. Now the palaver starts, all Indian heads / handling agents together, their counterpart in Varanasi did not do their job and forgot to have our passport stamped. Now what? The clock is ticking, we still have a 6 hour flight into Muscat ahead of us, if we have to wait any longer, we run into problems getting into Oman.

Eventually the officials agree to stamp us out. Now we think we are ready to go. No way, now we have to go to the tower to do paperwork. Why? What do we pay the agent for? While Dietmar is taken there to get paperwork sorted, I get the plane re-fuelled. By the time he gets back after 55 minutes, once more we think we can leave now. 25 minutes until we get permission to start, to taxi, and now we do stand by for clearance.

Present local time 12h35, nearly 3,5 hours after having arrived.

My consolation, we can turn our watches back by 1.5 hours. We are still waiting, we are No. 2 for departure. One aircraft in front of us and they are waiting for incoming traffic. By the way - during our approach we had water pouring out of the airconditioner opening, this time on my side, and I look for a towel which we have plenty of. But we really thought that problem had fixed itself... I got soaked. What is that now?

Now we take off! 34 Degree C, poor climb performance.

Below us a huge town as far as we can see, which is not that far, but still. We can see thousands of high-rise buildings, and very densly occupied areas.  





As mentioned, even this morning we had no view, the air is misty, but there was no industry in the area nor any fires we could see. We must ask a meteorologist to comment on those weather conditions.

Now that we have reached our altitude we must eat a bit.

We have been in the air 1 1/4 hours and we reach the coastline leaving India and we are above the Arabian Sea.

Still 02h49 until our destination. Only water to see. One would expect to see cargo ships or cruisers coming from the Suez Canal, but we see nothing.

01h18 to go, long day today, in the meantime we saw ONE freight ship. No cloud, no turbulances, very calm flight. We hear the first of our group - the JetProp - is on the ground. During the next 30 minutes four more will touch down, we are the second last.

ATC / Air Traffic Control is very efficient and proffessional, they give precise and clear instructions in comparison to India and partly Bhutan also. India is a nightmare.

Some pics of Oman as we approach.




After landing we refill, secure plane, clear immigration and customs. All works perfect without the Agent Vultures and we call a Taxi for our hotel and then? Not a beer waiting but a journalist from Muscat and he only wants to talk to us because we are still in Uniform; everyone else has showered and changed already, then photos, someone brings us a beer / wine and then we eat. I am so tired, my eye lenses jump out... I go to bed, Dietmar joins the other group for a glass of wine, stays up until a bit later.

We sleep long.... Until 06h45 next day.



Sunday, October 27, 2013

Village versus Devi Garh Palace - Two Worlds

Sunday at the Palace
After a leisurely and tasty breakfast we discussed the following days and flight plans. Just after lunch we heard from the Swiss crew what a short but fantastic walk-about they had in the village surrounding Devi Garh...it would only take 1.5 hours...and it is a must.
We got 5 people together and meeting the guide we walked thru our gate and entered the next.
We also entered another world. Fascinating. The village, readonable clean and orderly, was a massive source of photographic objects. We can not stop looking!!!
Here we are living in obscene luxury, the other side in partly shocking conditions (in our view). And yet did we see unhappy, sour and suffering faces? No No No, we saw welcoming waves, smiling faces, proud gestures to welcome us into their homes, presenting us with their knowledge of all kinds. May it be working on a pottery wheels, plastering a shaped wall, sewing shirts and suits, milling corn and so it goes on.
We are humbled by what we saw today. We did not spend one cent, they wanted nothing. Not even our guide, who is working in the palace, not the people who showed us into their homes. All we could give them are smiles, Thank You's, respect and gratitude in body language.

Herewith pictures of The Palace and Pictures of the 450 year old Village and their people.
The village houses three different cultures, 40% Hindi, 40% what was it now??? and 20%Muslims.
Schools, shops, public places are shared but not temples, moshees etc
30% of peole working in the Palast Hotel were born in the village, our guide too. 
We enjoyed our walk and meeting the people.

Pics village
Pics people
Pics palace

At night we had our third Dinner together as a group and typical indian food was offered. For us coming from South Africa indian cuisine is part of our daily life, for our swiss and german members this is somewhat unusual.
The setting on a terrasse overlooking part of the Alace and the village was stunning, tables laid beautifully and everyone was in a happy mood...until an unexpected and uninvited guest arrived in the middle of it all.
The handling agent, who we had chased away on the evening of arrival, appeared and stated he wanted to collect money NOW from each crew and he came out 38km especially from Udiharpur for that very reason. Most crews said nothing, speechless, shaking their heads, defenitly no money. 
This is a private function and he is not welcomed.
The agent than confirmed verbally what had been put in writing by PuF during the last couple of days anyway. Than he left.
We continued our celebration but soon after went to sleep.


Stay in a Rajasthani Palace built in 1760. Udaipur, INDIA

Friday, 25th until Monday, 28th October

What a beautiful Building, a seven-storey Fort Palace, I have no words to describe it. The palace was bought by an industrial family named PODDARS in 1984, the renovation took 7, yes seven years and a team of 750 people. They turned the palace into an all suite luxury hotel by year 2000. Every room or balcony with day-beds we see is for the use of hotel guests.

Saturday

Pictures will show you, the feeling can not be captured, it has to be experienced. Walking into nooks, balconies, stairways this morning was stunning. It is the beauty of the place which leaves one in awe.




We got together with 3 other crew members, hired a car including driver, and went into town to view the City Palace, buy some spices and we wanted to visit the market. Before we even got near the City Palace, the roads leading into mid-town were blocked, traffic jams, police, people, scooters etc. We told the driver to turn around to go back to the hotel as we did not want to spend the next 4 hours in a car... well, he says "no problem", he will take us to the City Palace in 10 Minutes. The drive began... onto the wrong side of the road, into oncoming traffic, into one-way roads, into oncoming traffic, squeezed passed other motorists, the driver got out of the car when everything was blocked and shouted at the other cars/scooters/pedestrians/horse carts AWAY!!! Imagine that cheek! It worked, he brought us to the Palace... and once more we thanked God for keeping us alive with this mad car driver. But they are all like that, every other group experienced the same.

Once we got to the City Palace, Dietmar organized a guide, an old gentleman who promised to keep our tour to a minimum of 1 hour. One can spend 8 hours easily, but that timeframe we did not have. One hour it was, and I think we had the best guide in the whole country... he explained briefly with humor and he chased us on when we could not take our eyes of what had gripped us. The same with the Gallery, also 1 hour, this time we had an Audio Guide. The City Palace is beautiful, the Crystal Galleries are wonderful and the structure and details are fascinating.






We went into the 'Old Town', one crew bought spices, the other whatever and we got an idea of what it looked and feels like in Mid Town, we all agreed on going back to "our palace" in time for sun set and rest.


As much as we like to see more, everything and engage in different activities, all of us are tired, (some of us have a slight to bad cold), and the next day we planned to stay in.


Saturday, October 26, 2013

Tribute to all of you

Herewith we would like to thank everyone at home who help us keep "Home" going. Heidi and daughters who look after our property, our daughters and their partners who give a hand where necessary.

Thomas and his wonderful team who keep the Banners flying and everything else too...

All our dear friends who write to us, think of us, tell us how much they enjoy reading our Blog and tell us how much they miss it if we have not published it. To friends who are with us in spirit and thoughts. Our family who supports us and think of us. All of you we salute and THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.





Friday, October 25, 2013

Departing from Kingdom of Bhutan

Friday, 25.10.2013, 04h00

we are getting ready to drive to Paro/Bhutan airport 1.5 hours away, we are the first one to depart on this fresh crisp morning. As we arrive we pack, pay at the airport office, clear immigration and leave. And then we wait for clouds to lift. With us wait two airliners, and eventually 9 small aircraft. Eventually at 10h32 we got our departure clearance. Dietmar had been worried all along regarding the climbing ability of our aircraft departing from an altitude of 7300 ft and the high ambient temperature we might experience if we leave later than 09h00. That is one of the reasons why we got up at 04h00 to depart early.

Our departure was terrible. The aircraft did not want to climb, we had the use of 2,000 meters of runway and we battled to come off the ground and gain height. I was terrified, we had mountains around us, instead of the ground going further away it seemed to come closer. Terrain warning signals were going off, eventually, after what seemed a life time, the aircraft started to climb. Very, very slowly we were gaining height. We circled in a narrow valley, to gain altitude. Soon we were able to turn back towards the airport to circle overhead, gaining sufficient height to follow our planned departure route. Then we proceeded visually along valleys to stay clear of mountains. There are no instrument departures out of Paro and the idea is to climb visually until one is high enough to safely enter clouds. That point was soon reached, and the flight was continued in instrument conditions, clouds, rain, slight turbulence, icing conditions. Those conditions lasted until we were close to our 1st  destination for the day, Varanasi in India. In Varanasi we refuelled and cleared immigration.

Arrival at 12h45, local time, 30 Degree C


First Picture India

Departure at 15h00, local time, after a very efficient turn around, we had calculated 2 hours, which is said to be a good time for India. Our next destination for the next three days will be Udaipur. I sincerely hope we have a better and more pleasant departure and flight than we had earlier today.

In the afternoon

The flight started off okay, then into clouds again, then okay, altogether 3.7 hours

then sunset


Runway in sight



Short of landing

After landing we chased away 12 people with one van and one car.  Handling agents, who wanted $850 for carrying luggage into the arrival hall and out on the other side. We got rid of them and carried our bags ourselves. When we entered the arrival hall we saw 2 security guys in army outfits and big guns waiting for us. I thought: Oh my God, what now, stay with us... Avery friendly, "Good Evening, How are you?" from our side brought on a big smile... and we were out... On the road side a Hotel Bus was waiting for us and 50 Minutes later we arrived at our Hotel. We are exhausted, mentally and physically.

Here are the first pictures taken on the following morning:




We stay in a place which use to be a "Palace".


Thursday, October 24, 2013

Kingdom of Bhutan. Bicycle Ride. Surprise and a Dance for All

The Motorcycle was here first, including Prayer Flags. Dietmar is smiling.




We left on "our" bus to drive into the National Park about 60 Minutes away. Already on the way going there I had my doubts  if what we were about to do was a clever thing after all. The road being in a bad confition with lots of potholes, construction work going on, big and small and plenty rockfalls, sand heaps, dips and car/van/trucks cutting corners and overtaking into oncoming traffic. Already yesterday we noticed how the traffic works. For my part, I had to close my eyes because I was not able to look at what was going on, on those roads. But I could also see it working, they sort of glide along each other, mostly with no haste and hooting to warn the other participant. Still, cycling down scared me a bit, and it was not only down, there were a few ups too! 

Arriving at the top we admired the wonderful view over the Himalayian mountain range, the partly snow covered peaks and the endless views. We also viewed 108 Stupas and a Monastery.





After receiving a bike and a helmet, getting the bikes adjusted to size we set off. But not without putting on a fleece and a scarf, it was quite cold.





Cycling down was not as bad as expected, also the traffic seemed to have a break and we all arrived at the Hotel safely. We had two or three uphills, but nothing too hectic. 

On this last day we had another three special activities waiting for us. At 17h00 we had an Archery demonstration booked, and it is customery for  the Hotel to supply tradinional clothes to their guests on their last evening. Dressed that way we would attend the Dancing at 19h00 and the last activity for that day was a supper booked at a very typical restaurant with some of our group members.

At 16h00 a knock on the door. A lady delivering clothes for dressing up. A wonderful colourful set of Shirts, Skirts, jackets for ladies and men. I had no idea how to dress myself, I tried to put the clothes on as best I could but did not manage that well. Best to ask at reception and off I went. While I was walking across the entrance hall a lady stopped me and asked: Please, could she help me dressing correctly? Would I mind if she joins me in my room and we start all over? I did not mind at all, but did mention that my husband would be there too and I was on the way of fetching a male to help my husband... on that she answered, she could do that too, if my husband does not mind. Off we went back to the room and this lady dressed Dietmar first and than myself. When questioned if people can actually manage to dress themselves she told us, it's one of the duties of a wife to help dress her husband, she herself helps her husband to dress. Unmarried men dress themselves - and it shows. The lady turned out to be an assistant to the Royal Couple who had the party the night before. She is also a Local Bhutanese ????? and a Journalist for the royal house. We were very surprised. She took a photo of us, wished us well and we bid her Good Bye.









We had lots of fun taking photos and laughing at each other... all dressed up. We attended the archery demonstration and had lots of fun, too.


At last the Dancing Show and the last dance was for us....


At 19h00 we joined our guide for supper and homebrewed wheat schnapps, very similar to the Korn schnapps we have in Germany.

Good Bye  Royal Bhutan, we adore you!!!!!