Baums Away!

[baumsawayblog]

The Russia Experience

Russia is a country that we really just used as a way back home. We had to stop for fuel somewhere after Japan and the eastern Kamchatka Peninsula provided a convenient path between Sapporo, Japan and Anchorage, Alaska. The map below shows the flight plan from Petropavlovsk to Anadyr Russia. This worked out well with 3 to 3.5 hour flight legs from Sapporo to Petropavlovsk, Petropavlovsk to Anadyr, and Anadyr to Anchorage. 

There was a lot of consternation over getting into and out of Russia. Our fearless leader, Guillaume from Air Journey has done it before and it has not always gone smoothly. The Russian immigration and customs officers can be tough and they definitely don’t have a sense of humor. Fortunately, in our case, things went as smoothly as could be expected. 

Landing in Petropavlovsk, we were immediately greeted by the authorities. They weren’t armed but apparently they have been on past Air Journey Round the World trips. I won’t say they were friendly but they weren’t nasty either. They wanted to see our paperwork and to search the airplanes. We opened up all the doors and luggage compartments and they looked through things, including boarding the plane for a closer inspection. Fortunately, they didn’t open any bags or packages so the process didn’t take too long. 

Deb befriended the customs officer that was working on our plane. When she first approached him, she asked, “How do you say hello in Russian?”. He responded with, “Hello, I am a Russian police officer.” Gulp. He was actually friendly and very curious about our trip. I wasn’t sure if it was genuine or if he was just extracting information. In the end, Deb struck up quite a conversation with him and he really wanted to know where Americans invest their money. She tried to explain the stock market with some limited success. He seemed to think that the only place to invest is in gold and silver...

When we left the US in May, we carried a box of 24 Red Sox baseball caps with us to be used as gifts for friendly, helpful airport personnel. We gave them out to various fuel delivery, customs, and guide people along the way. At one point on the ramp in Petropavlovsk, I saw Deb handing her police officer friend one of the caps as a gift. He seemed to really love it but all I could think of was my wife being locked up abroad for bribing a Russian police officer. 

Lizzy also managed to have some fun with another officer. She can befriend anyone it seems. How she got away with wearing this guy’s hat and taking a photo is without explanation. I’m just glad she did!

We spent the night in the “nicest hotel in Petropavlovsk”. The bar in that city is not very high, that’s for sure. The hotel wasn’t bad but no where near the level of accommodations to which we’d become accustomed. 

We also dined in the “nicest restaurant in Petropavlovsk”. Same story. Acceptable but definitely not “Wow” (at least not in my humble opinion). Needless to say, we did have some fun together there. That’s a common theme with this group. It’s been an absolute blast. 

We departed Petropavlovsk the next morning. After some waiting, document reviewing, and more waiting, they let us go. 3 hours later we were landing in Anadyr. The Kamchatka Peninsula is an active volcanic area and one of the volcanoes has been erupting. This didn’t cause us any trouble as we were able to climb above the ash cloud long before we reached the volcano. However, the landscape made the views absolutely stunning on this flight. 

Anadyr was just a fuel stop. We wanted to land, get fuel, and get out of dodge. G set our expectations pretty low for this stop. What should take just a few minutes per airplane he suggested could take several hours. It turned out to be more efficient than we expected. We still experienced plenty of paperwork, passport, and visa review as well as our fair share of being told to wait but overall, it was not a bad experience. 

I did think it was funny that the officers insisted on photographing the inside of our planes. Two different guys took lots of pictures of the cabin, cockpit, and luggage compartments. To me, it seemed like a complete CYA act. I’m guessing that if something did go wrong with us / our flights, these officers would have to answer to the higher ups and the photos just might somehow prove that they actually did their jobs. I’ll never know and I don’t care. They can have all the photos of my plane that they want so long as they let me out of the country. Which they did. 3.5 hours later we landed in the USA at Anchorage. I nearly kissed the ground when I got out of the plane. 

[baumsawayblog]

The Sprint Home

We are both blogging on the Tumblr site (here for Jim's blog and here for Deb's blog) which can be accessed via our website. We're regularly updating the blog sites so please keep coming back.

The Sprint Home

Now we are in Anchorage, Alaska having passed through Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and Russia since our last update. At this point, we’ve passed the northernmost part of our trip in Anadyr, Russia at 64.5° north latitude and we are basically sprinting toward home.

Our last long stay was in Kyoto, Japan. It's a beautiful city to "sort of" end the trip on. There's still a long way to go but all of us started feeling like we were nearly home as we departed for the sprint through Russia and Alaska to Seattle, the official ending point.

See the Tracking Page

Baum, James Baum. From Russia with Love

We flew from Sapporo, Japan to Petropavlovsk, on the Kamchatka peninsula. Our plan was to get through Russia as quickly as possible. We all had visas to enter the country but the officials checked us out thoroughly. They searched our planes on landing and took plenty of time processing our entry. Next stop was Anadyr for a fuel stop where they photographed the interior of our planes. Finally we got to Anchorage. It sure felt good to be back in the USA!

Kyoto - a Favorite

We absolutely loved Kyoto, Japan. The history, art, culture, and general "vibe" were just so appealing. We dined with Geishas, explored the Bamboo Forest, toured the city, and watched the Gion Festival parade. It was a completely enthralling experience.

We went from Kyoto to Nagoya and back one afternoon using the Shinkansen train. There we saw the Grand Sumo Tournament. We had very little idea what was going on or which wrestler to cheer for but it was an incredible experience. Those guys weigh in at 350 - 450 lbs. A Sumu wrestler commits to a strict lifestyle and consumes 20,000 calories per day!

Taipei, Taiwan

We visited Taipei for 2 nights. It was supposed to have been 3 nights but typhoon Maria decided otherwise. After a one day delay, we visited the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. We also went to the National Palace Museum, where many of the best Chinese artifacts were relocated to protect them from the Chinese civil war that followed WWII.

Anchorage, Alaska

Our short time in Anchorage has been really enjoyable. There's plenty of time to explore the city and surroundings since it's light from 4 am until 1 am. We walked the city in the wee morning hours since we couldn't sleep. This was our second Friday this week thanks to the International Date Line. We got 20 hours younger in an instant crossing navigation waypoint ABINA between Russia and Alaska.

The Portage Glacier was 3 miles longer in 1911 and the lake didn't exist. This glacier has been receding for well over 100 years. Now, there's a boat tour to take you out to one of the only glaciers that's still underwater. 50 years ago, the Burns and Shakespeare glaciers were all connected to the Portage. The boat tour with Portage Glacier Company is well worth the $34 ticket price.

We are almost home! Tomorrow we leave for Seattle where we will visit a winery and the Boeing Factory. Sunday night is our last dinner as a group and Monday we all head in our separate directions. We'll send one final update email after the trip with a summary of the highlights. Thank you for reading!

See our Website

All our TBM's back in the USA!

[baumsawayblog]

Flying to Cam Ranh, Vietnam

We arrived in Cam Ranh, Vietnam on July 1 from Kota Kinabalu Malaysia. We were not in Malaysia long having been delayed a day by the volcano out of Bali. That’s one of the big things with this trip. You must be able to take things in stride. We missed a day in Malaysia and the orangutans were not there. Oh well. No big deal. Roll with it. 

When we arrived, it was hot. Damn hot. We have definitely been experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures. The mercury has been in the high 30′s Celsius  and even low 40′s. That’s high 90′s to low 100′s Fahrenheit. So yes, hot, damn hot. In fact, at altitude where it’s normally very cold, we were experiencing temperatures that were +20°C above the standard temperature for our altitude. That’s pretty unusual. Planet warming? No doubt in my mind but be your own judge. 

The flight from Malaysia to Cam Ranh was the first flight where we had any real issues. Up to this point, other than a delay due to the volcano in Indonesia, everything had gone smoothly. This one was a bit different. We had 6 TBM’s flying the route over the South China Sea. We usually depart about 10 - 15 minutes apart (for air traffic control spacing) and then we communicate with one another over an air to air frequency. On this flight, we had two concerning communications. 

The first, was a report of severe turbulence from the aircraft in the lead. That was N910XX, flown by Don Caruth and G. Cathy was seated in the back seat. We were all at Flight Level 290 (that’s 29,000ft) and over water. There were significant thunderstorm build-ups all over the place. This is generally not an issue because we are typically in the clear and able to navigate around the storms both visually and with the radar. On this flight, there was a section of the route where we were IMC for for about 75 miles at 290. IMC means “Instrument Meteorological Conditions”. Basically, we were in the clouds and had no visibility for this part of the route. So the only way to circumnavigate the weather was with the on-board weather radar. In the (out of focus) photo below, you can see the return from the radar and the insane returns from the Stormscope (lighting detection) during this part of the flight. There’s not much on the radar but the little cell just ahead of the aircraft (yellow blob on the screen on the right) is what caused all the commotion. 

After Don, Cathy, and G passed through the area shown on the screen above, we got a very calm call on our air to air frequency from G, warning us of some moderate, occasional severe turbulence. Now for a non-pilot, severe turbulence sounds pretty bad. But for a pilot, severe turbulence is just one level below the maximum turbulence category, extreme. It is defined as turbulence that can lead to momentary loss of aircraft control. Being out of control, even momentarily, over the South China Sea in a small plane in Singaporian airspace is not my idea of a good time. N910XX experienced a loss in altitude of 400 ft in mere seconds and things got tossed around the cabin pretty well. Fortunately, no one was hurt, the plane was not damaged, and they were able to warn the rest of us so we could deviate around the problem area.

The other issue we experienced on this flight was an inflight depressurization. Dirk Folens flies a beautiful TBM 850. He joined our our group in Greece from his home in Ireland. On this particular flight, Anais was flying with Dirk so she could get to Cam Ranh with a bit less hassle than flying commercially. Normally Anais will fly ahead via commercial flight to make sure everything is all set with our hotel upon our arrival. However, it’s just not easy to get to Cam Ranh from Kota Kinabalu so Dirk offered her a ride. She’s not regretting that decision as she got to see a real pro in action during an emergency. 

Flying along our route (before that nasty weather) at flight level 290, Dirk noticed that the cabin altitude was climbing and the aircraft’s “EDM” immediately kicked in. EDM is a TBM safety feature that causes the airplane to automatically make a 90° turn and descend to 15,000′ if the computer senses that the cabin pressurization is decreasing. This is a big deal since at FL 310, a pilot can have as little as 1 minute of “useful consciousness” if the cabin completely depressurizes. After that, the pilot will lose the ability to make rational decisions and will ultimately pass out. So TBM has this nice safety feature to protect pilots and passengers in the event of loss of pressure. Dirk handled the emergency like a pro, donning his oxygen mask (Anais donned hers too) and descending to a safe altitude. He found that he had to complete the flight at Flight Level 180 but that produced a safe cabin altitude. 

Although there is still some debate as to the cause of Dirk’s depressurization event, it has not happened again. Dirk and Anais’ presence of mind and good decision making turned a potentially dangerous event into nothing more than a nuisance for this flight. The really good thing for them was that they ended up below the nasty turbulence causing weather above and had a reasonably smooth ride the whole way. 

Dirk left our group in Hanoi to head home to Ireland. We tried to convince him to do the entire ‘round the world with us but we were unsuccessful. His wonderful wife, Brona, was with us from Dubai through Bali. She missed all the excitement flying to Cam Ranh and she may not actually know about the depressurization problem. Sorry if I let the cat out of the bag, Dirk....

[baumsawayblog]

Some photos from our time in Kyoto.

[baumsawayblog]

A series of photos from our visit to Cam Ranh, Vietnam. We had a great tour of the area, exploring the Cham history and culture. 

[baumsawayblog]

The “Hanoi Hilton”

Photo by thalling55 - The "Hanoi Hilton", CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3002201

We just left Hanoi, Vietnam. This is a major city filled with hustle and bustle and home to nearly 8 million people. It’s also home to the famous Hoa Lo Prison. This prison was built by the French in 1889 and used to house Vietnamese political prisoners. At that time, Vietnam was under French control as part of French Indochina. This prison, known as Maison Centrale by the French, was used primarily to imprison revolutionary Vietnamese; those individuals who were seeking an independent Vietnam. It was built to house 600 prisoners (after an expansion) yet by 1954 it held more than 2000 inmates. 

The prison conditions were horrific. In addition to the overcrowding, inmates were beaten, tortured, and kept in shackles most of the time. Extensive stays in solitary confinement with minimal light and no sanitary facilities was used to “break the will” of the prisoner. The French used the guillotine to behead those prisoners that were sentenced to death and then displayed the severed heads for the others to see. One translation of Hoa Lo is “hell’s hole” The sub-human conditions and visibility of this prison made it a symbol of colonialist exploitation. 

Numerous inmates from the prison went on to become leaders in the North Vietnamese effort to create an independent Vietnam, ultimately leading to the “American War” as it’s known in Vietnam. The familiar name to most Americans is, of course, the Vietnam War. During this war, the Hoa Lo Prison became one of the prisons used to house American pilots that were shot down by the North Vietnamese. The Americans sarcastically named this place the “Hanoi Hilton”. “Welcome to the Hanoi Hilton” was a message often secretly sent to incoming prisoners from their imprisoned American comrades. In fact, this is the prison that housed Senator John McCain for some of his time as a POW. 

One of the most remarkable things I noticed in this prison was the level of propaganda around the “American War”. I’d encourage you to read any American POW’s account of how they were treated in Vietnam during this war. Those first hand accounts are utterly horrifying with stories of torture, starvation, and isolation yet the signage and photographs displayed in today’s Hoa Lo Prison suggest just the opposite. Claims of treating the Americans better than the other prisoners, allowing them to raise chickens, providing medical care, and allowing the privileges of participating in recreational activities gives one the sense that the Vietnamese are still trying to convince the rest of the world that they followed the Geneva Convention during this time.

This place is worth a visit if you find yourself in Hanoi. Very interesting and it can be seen in about 1 1/2 hours. 

[baumsawayblog]

Purnama, the day of the full moon, is a very special day to the Balinese people. We were in Bali for a couple of days leading up to the big celebration and everywhere we went, people were talking about and preparing for the celebration. The Balinese prepare the temples with brightly colored decorations and families prepare their offerings. As we talked to different people from different villages, we came to realize that each village has many of its own traditions for the celebrations. They all did have many things in common. 

At the time of the ceremony, the Balinese women carry the offerings to the temple on their heads. During the ceremony there are prayers and traditional Balinese dance. The offerings are blessed and it is believed that the Gods take the “essence” of the offering, leaving behind what they don’t need. After the ceremony, the offerings return home with the families where they enjoy the feast.

We feel quite lucky to have been able to experience the Purnama celebration. It’s an important part of Balinese culture and they were kind enough to allow us to witness the events.  

[baumsawayblog]

After the Volcano

We made it out of Bali! The volcanic eruptions dissipated and the Indonesian authorities reopened the airport late in the day on 6/29 (the day we were supposed to leave). It worked out great as we spent an extra night in Bali at a different hotel closer to the airport. The Four Seasons at Jimbaran Bay was gorgeous and frankly, way better than the place we stayed in Malaysia. Only having one night in Malaysia worked out just fine. 

There are volcanoes erupting frequently in this part of the world. The one that delayed us is Mt. Agung. It’s the one that experienced a major eruption in 1963, an eruption billed as one of the most catastrophic volcanic events in Indonesian history. That blow killed nearly 2000 people. Agung became fairly active again in 2017 and in September and some 40,000 people from the area immediately around the volcano were evacuated on fears of another major eruption. Since that time, the eruption that we experienced is the first time the airport has been closed due to volcanic activity since November of last year. Lucky us. 

After that night at the beautiful hotel, our flights the next morning went normally except that we were vectored to the east to avoid the remaining plume of ash emanating from Agung. The views of the volcano were breathtaking as we got to fly within just a few miles of the crater. 

The flight from Bali to Kota Kinabalu Malaysia was about 3 hours. It was a lovely flight mostly over the 3rd largest island in the world, Borneo. It is home to part of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. 3/4′s of it is Indonesia. During our flight, I zoomed out the navigation display to look at where we were on the globe. I continually find it to be an amazing sight, looking at a map showing China, Taiwan, Bhutan, Indonesia, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and India all surrounding our location. Usually I see Canada, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. 

Deb and I had the pleasure or bringing Anais with us on this flight. She usually flies ahead to make sure everything goes smoothly for her clients when they arrive but occasionally it just takes too long to get to some of these destinations commercially so she flies with one of us. It’s amazing what she does. Every time we arrive in a country, we have a welcome letter from Anais explaining everything that’s happening during our time in that location. She makes absolutely sure that we are getting the best service from the hotels and other service providers. Needless to say, all of us on the trip are very grateful for her presence and efforts. 

Landing at the Kota Kinabalu airport in Malaysia was a piece of cake. We were welcomed by handler, who rushed us right through the entry process. By the time I handed the guy my passport, he told me we were already cleared through customs. I guess these pilot uniforms really do work!

Deb and I were really looking forward to seeing the orangutans in Kota Kinabalu. Apparently the Air Journeys trips have made this stop before and have been rewarded with a great experience meeting and interacting with these animals. The Bornean species of orangutan is critically endangered and it turns out that since the last Air Journey stop in Kota Kinabalu, the animals have been moved to another sanctuary on the island. Unfortunately, that sanctuary is quite from from the hotel we used so we weren’t able to see them. 

We did have have some help from our instrument rated stuffed orangutan, George, on the flight to Vietnam, however.....

[baumsawayblog]

Love to fly with you via your site!

Clearly all of your stories and pics to date are fantastic. Keep those posts and pics coming - can't wait to hear the stories 'live' when you're back -  xo

[baumsawayblog]

Level Orange

“If you’ve got time to spare, travel by air.” 

I’ve had departures delayed for many reasons over the years. Low ceilings, icing, thunderstorms, hail, tornadoes, illness, mechanical problems, and even a stuck hanger door have been responsible for delays in my flight plans. Today, however, I’m experiencing a new one. We have an active volcano problem. Agung, a volcano here in Bail, has been continuously erupting for the past couple of days. It’s a “level orange” situation. As you might assume, “orange” is better than “red” However the next level of severity up from orange is red. So we are on the edge. No one believes that we are in any danger so it’s really just an inconvenience at this point. 

This morning, they closed the airport due to volcanic ash in the air. Apparently, the ash is not making it to the ground at the airport (good for the planes) but the authorities have deemed the concentration of ash in the air around the airport to be unsafe for aircraft engines. According to Pratt and Whitney, the manufacturer of the engine in our TBM, ANY amount of ash is unsafe and can cause current and future (very expensive) maintenance problems. OK -- we are grounded for now. 

Last night, I got my first ever “Volcano Briefing”. As a long-time pilot, I’ve gotten thousands of weather briefings over the years and I’ve seen all sorts of weirdness in the weather. That said, I’ve never had a volcano briefing before. Honestly, I think it’s pretty cool but then I’m always up for a good crisis. 

So, here we sit. Stuck in Bali. Deb and I have been stuck in worse places. The weather is beautiful here at the hotel so our group are happily waiting this out. Absolute best case, they will re-open the airport today and we can leave this afternoon. That’s pretty unlikely so maybe we will leave tomorrow morning for Malaysia. Or maybe not. It’s all part of the adventure.  

This reminds me of the slogan that Tough Mudder uses, “When’s the last time you did something for the first time?” Well, that would be today....

[baumsawayblog]

More photos from Thailand and Laos. 

[baumsawayblog]

Photos from Thailand and Laos.

[baumsawayblog]

Exploring Southeast Asia

Time is flying by! Since my last post, we’ve experienced many of the wonders of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, and now Indonesia. We’ve been privileged enough to be staying in many of the Aman Resorts. These places are beautiful, generally set in remote, quiet locations with very few rooms so they always feel special. The first Aman we stayed at was in Greece (Amanzoe), in Laos it was Amantaka, in Cambodia it was Amansara, and in Borobudur it was Amanjiwo. We are loving the Aman experience!

We had the kids (Morgan and Grayson) with us in Thailand so we had lots of fun with them. This included an up close and personal experience with the elephants (as mentioned in a previous post). We were able to handle these animals with their trainers. No fences, no chains. Just us, the trainers, and the elephants. We went for rides (”bareback” and in chairs - the chairs are way more comfortable), we washed them in the river, and they even painted for us with their trunks. Did you know that Asian elephants have over 100,000 muscles in their trunks? Makes for a serious elephant kiss!

So much of Thailand is about the food and spice. We were able to visit the local market and take a Thai cooking class from the hotel restaurant chef. Check out Deb’s post on it here. 

We found lots to do in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. Racing through the jungle on ATV’s, enjoying a river boat ride, visiting the ancient caves in Laos where the Lao people have worshipped since the 8th century, and visiting temples. Lots of temples. I think I will do a post just on the temples we saw. 

Learning about the history of these countries was most fascinating. Did you know that Laos is the most bombed country per capita in history? During the Secret War between 1964 and 1973, the US dropped a plane load of bombs every 8 minutes, 24 hours a day, for NINE YEARS. That’s more then 2 million tons or ordinance. The Lao people are living with the aftermath of this to this day, with more than 70 million unexploded bombs still scattered throughout the country. Amazingly, the Lao people were very receptive to us as Americans, in spite of the history. 

[baumsawayblog]

Into Asia

We flew our own airplane into Asia. 

I just had to say that. It’s so astonishing to me. The group of us often comment after a flight on having just landed our airplanes in Thailand, or Jordan, or India, or UAE, or Laos, or where ever. The comment is usually followed by a “Cheers” and a drink as we all contemplate the remarkable accomplishment. I never would have imagined that someday we’d be flying a small plane around the world. I feel like the luckiest guy on the planet. 

I’m writing this update from Luang Prabang, Laos. It’s about 90℉ and 80% humidity outside so writing a blog post seems like a good way to stay inside during the afternoon heat. Since my last update, we’ve spent time in Agra, India, Chiang Mai, Thailand, and, as I mentioned, we’re now in Luang Prabang. I continue to be amazed by the change in landscape, weather, and culture as we take relatively short flights from one place to another. After 2½ hours in the TBM from Kolkata India to Chiang Mai Thailand, we seemed to be in a completely differently world. Suddenly everything was lush green, we felt humidity again (it was pretty dry in India during our time there), the people spoke a different language and had very different customs and foods. On landing, we noted how friendly the Thai people were, even the handlers at the airport. Things just felt somehow more relaxed than India. Obviously we are all aware of these regional differences but to experience the world in this way, experiencing one culture after another in fairly rapid succession, has been such a fascinating way to gain perspective into the people and places of this planet. 

[baumsawayblog]

Meet the RTW Adventurers

We are traveling with a terrific group of people and I thought I would introduce them here. We are traveling around the world with a group of TBM owners. There are 6 TBM aircraft on the journey, including one TBM 850, one TBM 900, 2 TBM 910′s, and 2 TBM 930′s. Everyone gets along great and we’re are all enjoying seeing the world together. 

Here’s the group at our recent elephant outing in Thailand (no, not the ones on the elephants). The elephant experience people dress the tourists up like this and I’m sure they get a great laugh after we leave. They seemed to take more pictures than we did. 

Now before anyone gets all upset about these sorts of places being cruel to the elephants, Anais from Air Journey does extensive research before booking an experience like this. She confirmed that the place we used for our elephant outing treats the animals humanely. What we witnessed during our time there certainly supports her finding. 

So, from left to right, Lizzy McPhillips, Tijl Vuyk, Anais Pouille, Brona Folens, Morgan Baum, Dirk Folens (looking to his right), Grayson Baum, Don Caruth, Jim Baum, Cathy Caruth, Guillaume Fabry, Danielle Cornille, Anna Buzzi, Paulo Buzzi, Deb Baum, Howard Janzen. 

Lizzy and Tijl are married and are from the UK. They live outside of London and fly a TBM 910. 

Anais is with Air Journey and is the travel organizer extraordinaire. She takes care of many of the logistics associated with pulling off a trip like this, dealing with all the hotels, outing providers, transportation providers, restaurants, visas, passports, and so on. She’s amazing and definitely someone you want looking after you in a foreign country!

Dirk and Brona Folens are from Ireland and they fly a TBM 850. They live outside Dublin. 

Morgan and Grayson Baum are our kids and they joined us on the journey from Dubai through Chiang Mai, Thailand. 

Don and Cathy Caruth are from Fredericksburg, TX and they fly a TBM 910.

Guillaume (”G”) is with Air Journey and is our pilot guide. He’s amazing, dealing with all our international flight plans, overflight permits, landing permits, local handlers, weather, etc. G provides us not only with a fantastic briefing the night before a flight, but also endless entertainment. We are all incredibly appreciative of everything G and Anais do. 

Danielle is a contract pilot from South Africa. She’s flying with Tijl and Lizzy so there’s a second pilot on board. She’s got more flying experience than most of us and has been a delight to have as part of our group. 

Anna and Paulo are from Switzerland. They fly a TBM 930.

Howard is from Denver, CO. Howard flies the TBM 900 and is somehow the fastest plane of the lot. We all think he got some secret airplane upgrade for serving as the president of the TBM Owners and Pilots Association.

We couldn’t have picked a better group to fly with around the world. This is especially nice since none of us really knew one another before the trip (and I’m sure everyone was a bit nervous). Now we are inviting each other to our homes after the trip. It’s wonderful when people click this way. 

[baumsawayblog]

We spent 2 nights in Agra, India at the Oberoi Hotel. Lovely hotel with views of the Taj Mahal. Deb and I were thrilled to have our kids with us for this part of the journey. Clearly the highlight of this stop was the Taj. This marble covered structure is a remarkable testament to the architectural capabilities of the Mughal people built by an emperor to entomb his deceased wife. The structure, completed in 1643 is a showcase of architectural wonders. The foundation, built on a grid of footings that extend down below the level of the adjacent river, were designed to support the massive weight of the building, even in an earthquake. The minarets (the four towers around the main structure) provide a sense of scale to the eye and were placed so that they lean away from the main tomb. The leaning creates a visual effect making the observer believe all the minarets are perfectly vertical. It also has the benefit of making these towers fall outward, away from the main structure, in the event of an earthquake. The entrance to the garden area around the main structure is designed so that the structure appears to get larger and larger as you walk away from it. They say that when you leave, you take the Taj with you. 

The Shah that built the Taj for his wife was removed from power by his son and subsequently imprisoned at the nearby Agra Fort. Apparently his son retained some sense of affection for his father when he ordered him placed in a cell that overlooked the Taj Mahal, allowing him to view his masterpiece until the day he died. 

We also made a visit to the local market in Agra. This is a very different experience than visiting the Taj. The Taj is very “touristy”, hosting up to 40,000 visitors per day. The local market however is really for locals and we loved the experience. We went to see the Indian spices for sale and got to see the spice and a whole lot more. The place was alive with activity, motor bikes, tuk tuks, people, animals, and commerce were everywhere. Several in our group purchased spices and all of us enjoyed seeing how the market works. It certainly seemed like westerners were not common in this part of town as we got lots of looks. While some had trouble communicating with us, we mostly felt very welcome.

Ever since we left Europe, we’ve been trying to look like professional pilots and flight crews by wearing our uniforms and displaying our pilot credentials. All the countries around the world outside of North America and Europe are not accustomed to general aviation and by looking like professional pilots, they seem to find it a little easier to figure out how to deal with us. I do find it funny that before we can board our own aircraft, we are put through the same security check that everyone else goes through. Electronics out of the bags, bags through the x-ray machine, and the pilots and crew scanned by the metal detector makes it clear just how little these countries deal with general aviation aircraft, crew, and passengers. You definitely don’t want to have a small pocket knife in your pocket. They will confiscate it. Guess they figure you might stab yourself or try to hijack the plane. The Indians however, took this to a whole new level. Departing India, we actually needed boarding passes to board our own airplanes! You can see them in the photo above. Very official looking. 

[baumsawayblog]