The next flight, to Singapore, would only take just over an hour. That left some time in the morning for a leisurely breakfast, and a little more sightseeing; I elected to take the boat tour that ran back and forth on the diminutive Malacca river. I sat next to a Malaysian family who were surprised to see a westerner, and asked me how I had heard about the tour. Given that it was on Google Maps and close to my…
I took a “Grab” back to the Langkawi airport, where my handling agent Mr Musa was waiting to meet me. He had filed the flight plan I sent him the night before, so all that was left to do was take a quick walk through security (no immigration needed for this next domestic leg), and walk down to the aircraft. With no need to fuel, it didn’t take long to remove the covers and pre-flight the aircraft. I called for…
With Don Mueang airport’s busy schedule, it was important for me to be ready to go in time for my scheduled departure slot at 10:25am. After breakfast at my hotel in Asoke I took a “Grab” (southeast Asia’s version of Uber) to the airport. Things nearly fell apart at that stage as my driver got entirely lost, and spent about 30 minutes driving around trying to find the jet center. Luckily, after arrival, M-Jets were as quick and efficient as…
We were back at Luang Prabang airport by 7am. The agent that we had used for our permit, “Asia Flight Services” (also known as “Indochina Aviation Centre”) had given us a quote in advance that featured a number of very high third party “overtime” charges; such as $500 for Air Navigation overtime. These had seemed odd to me, with nothing mentioned in the AIP, so I had emailed the Laos Department of Civil Aviation to check. They responded, to say…
We left the hotel at 0730, and were back at Nok airfield a little after 0800. There was more activity today; a Light Sport Aircraft had been pulled out to go flying (and then cancelled due to avionic failure), and what looked like a large kite with a couple of seats strapped on was doing circuits to the neighbouring airfield (an aircraft type known as a “Breezy”). I called Chiang Mai Approach to get permission to depart and once again…
Elsa and I had a day in Bangkok to recover from our respective flights before setting off again on the next section of the trip. We spent a quiet and relaxed day visiting the Temple of the Reclining Buddha (which was excellent) and the Siam Museum (which was not). We rounded the day off with a visit to The Animal Cafe, where one can enjoy a light meal in the company of a multitude of cats, chinchillas, a possum, a…
Today would be the final flight of section 2, to my parking place with the Thai Flying Club at Bang Phra airport. The hotel offered a “free shuttle” to the airport which turned out to be a pick-up truck with a rug in the bed for one to sit on. Happily, it wasn’t too far to the airport; and a British family who were also on the “shuttle” decided to all sit together in the back and insisted I take…
I slept in late the next morning (something of a theme on most of the days off from flying!) After rising, I went for a short explore around the local area, including a slightly touristy temple, and the sea front near the hotel (where, Captain Anil had told me, the very first aircraft to land in Sri Lanka had set down). At one end of the large sandy promenade where this airplane had landed sits the Galle Face hotel, an…
It had been three long days. Even though the flight from Bahrain to the UAE had been short, when you add all the time spent in airports at each end, we’d had precious little time for relaxation. We’d therefore be taking a day off in Nagpur, to rest and prepare for the final couple of flights of this part of the journey. That morning we both slept in late, missing breakfast entirely, and met up for an early lunch. The…
Compared to our previous two long-haul adventures the day’s flight was short and easy; a quick run down the gulf to the United Arab Emirates. I had selected the Emirate of Al Ain as it offered the closest airport to the Indian mainland, which would be our subsequent destination. We took a taxi back to the airport and after a short wait the handling agent met us and led us through security. After the experience in Egypt we made sure…