The Flying Caravan 7....India To Singapore
Brian writes...."Muscat to Ahmadabad....We were picked up from the hotel at 0700 and taken to the Airport, where the Universal agents took us through Passport Control and Customs etc and out to JXB. The first incident of the day was when I looked for my fuel credit cards in the aircraft and they were not there! I then realized that I had left them in the room safe, back at the hotel! I thought about grabbing a cab to go back and get them, but after discussing this with the agent, he said this would be a major problem, as I had technically left the country and would have to re-enter. We negotiated with the hotel staff to put the cards in a cab, the agent would go out and meet the cab, retrieve the cards and then give them to me! It all ended well, but it cost me rather a large tip, but they arrived safe and sound!"
"We departed Muscat on time and flew out over the Gulf of Oman and The Arabian Sea without incident to Ahmadabad in drizzling rain. Taxiing to parking bay 4, we saw a small army of people waving pink bats to guide us in. The Tower came back to us and said....'Don't park at 4, got to parking bay 1.' The small army proceeded to scramble to bay 1 and stand in front of us again!"
"We received instructions to go to the tower after shut down. This had us concerned for a while, but it turned out that all they wanted, was to know where we could be contacted during the night in case they had to move the aircraft! They could have asked this over the radio I would have thought!"
"The Tower looked a real shambles with wires and aerials hanging off it everywhere! India is a place of triplication....with all of the meaningless paperwork done in triplicate and at least three people to check it. They even had to check the remaining fuel in the tanks so that we could pay tax on it! Luckily, they were nearly empty. After about an hour, we were through these formalities and Universal delivered us to our hotel. We were looking forward to a cold beer, but discovered that alcohol is illegal here, so had to settle for a cold Pepsi."
"The weather clear into Ahmadabad. With Universal's help....a minimum of stress. Many hands make light work and a group of about 10 helped unload and refuel us before delivering us to the hotel. Unfortunately for some, the town is alcohol free and it was Pepsi all round with our meal!!!"
"We have stayed with secondary airports for most of the way, so that we have not had to deal with huge International Airports and their hustle and bustle. For the most part, these have been a very acceptable way of arriving and departing easily."
"India and the high Himalayan mountains painting on the radar. We needed an extra fuel stop to clear India and chose Patna. In hindsight this should have probably been somewhere easier."
"Inbound into Patna. Here we have another story entirely. India really is a complex place and for the most part, their own worst enemy. We were out of there in under an hour and a half, but it could have been a lot easier. In the end, the guy who gave us the most trouble talked as though nothing had happened. I think they have a "control" problem. Next time we know not to get separated from the boys!"
"Checking the fuel left in the tanks.....it pays not to bring too much in with you...on the other hand you need enough!!! Can anyone see the logic in this?"
"Ahmadabad.....we had to check the fuel because we had to pay tax on the fuel left in the tanks....fortunately we only had about 500 lbs left after a five hour flight. $ - ???? who knows.
"The fuel truck belched out black smoke as it drove towards us....."
"Patna posed us a few problems which were of our own making when Lyndal and I became separated from the boys and were given a bit of a 'grilling'. The Universal agent proved to be too efficient and it would have been so much easier had we all gone through Customs together. We didn't repeat this mistake in Chittagong!"
"In the end, our turnaround time in Patna was just over an hour. Can you believe that the guy who gave us so much grief was so nice after the boys had sorted it out??!! It shook our nerves around a bit though!"
"It seems that Patna would be a very interesting place to revisit. The birthplace of Buddhism and close to Tibet there would be many places to explore here. It would be better out of the monsoon season and with time to explore."
"Chittagong was a cultural shock! So many people and a short trip into our hotel turned out to be a long and slow, but thoroughly interesting journey. So many stalls and everyone was out for what looked like market night. The whole of the road was lined with people and stalls. The traffic was chaotic, but thankfully we saw no disasters."
"In this day and age, we can only hope that one day these people will have a much easier lifestyle. They are happy and busy, but lack so many of the amenities that we in the western world take for granted. Not sure if we are any happier though. Their 'footprint' on this earth is so much lighter than ours. Flying into Chittagong proved exciting due to the heavy rain and cloud, and here again, our Garmin proved to be an amazing piece of equipment. The boys were very impressed!
"Checking in to the Peninsula Chittagong."
"Colourful transport abounds! People are happy and busy."
"Pattaya Resort ...we thought we were in heaven!"
"The monsoonal weather painted an interesting picture on the Garmin. The red storm cell bottom left was best avoided."
"They looked all soft and fluffy."
"Down the Malaysian coast...."
"Into Singapore......"
"When we arrived in Singapore we were all ready for a break. The journey from Egypt through to Pattaya had taken us through some very hot areas, 45 degrees plus through Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Muscat was a little cooler, India was in the grips of flooding and Chittagong still in monsoonal conditions.
Singapore for three nights was just what we needed!"
Singapore for three nights was just what we needed!"
Scenic Joy Flight Adelaide
Imagine the joy and sheer romance of a gentle flight at 1,000 feet along the scenic Adelaide south coast with a delicious sunset as your personal backdrop.