22 Colombo - Phuket

7. Feb 2007

A couple of days on the beach in Negombo at the Browns Hotel did good. Having to deal only with the question of whether to swim, in the ocean – or in the pool was neat. And the only hurdle getting to swim in the ocean was the 100 meters over the sandy beach before the refreshing dip in the 27 C water!
 

The air was 32 C and the sun shining from a clear blue sky. Watching the news though told of floods in Djakarta and in Darwin and bush fires in Western Australia…
 

Coming Wednesday morning I was ready for the next long leg to Phuket in Thailand. Getting to the airport at 8.30 it was some time before I got hold of the Ramp manager. When I finally succeeded, it was off to the Air Lanka office to pay the 40 us $ for handling. Then to the airport manager, who sat behind an imposing desk with some 7 different telephones. He wrote out a bill for 20$ for airport fees.
 

Then to the ATC office to file a flight plan, and finally to the Met office, for the latest weather.
 

But then things started to turn for the worse. Waiting for the fuel took ages and when they first arrived they did not bring the actual fuel. They were of again for considerable time, before they came back – this time to get my BP carnet! But after an hour of waiting they were ready to pump fuel from the 2 barrels I purchased. At what price I don’t know….when you use a carnet they cannot inform of the price?
 

After a slow process of getting the 400 litres of Avgas I was ready for departure – but the tower now talked about the need for an India permit. To be honest…I did not even know I was going to pass India FIR, but that was the case…A call to company that handles flight permits was made, and I was told, that they never had experienced such a requirement before.
 

But it was back to the ATC office. After looking on maps – and after a call to the Indian Flight service bureau, where they confirmed the need for a permit, I decided to file a new flight plan taking me south of the India FIR – almost to Banda Aceh on the northern tip of Indonesia. But it only extended the trip with a half hour, and with the wind predicted to be from the west it was ok.
 

Lining up on runway 04, before taking off, I just had to wait for a couple of MIG fighters returning from their daily strafing of Tamils in the north,
 

It was up to 11000 feet and before long the day turned into night. Just as it was a fine view of the sun setting reflected in the scattered cumulus clouds, the night viewed from 11000 feet is a sight with all he stars. I bring a black piece of cloth to cover the glare from screens, to be able to enjoy the view.
 

As I had problems getting my HF radio to work, I submitted position rapport to Colombo by satellite phone.
 

Landing in Phuket was different from other places I had been so far. I had to find my own way from the plane to the terminal and through emigration. It was no problem…..except for the fact, that a couple of plane loads of Koreans had been unloaded just ahead of me, so it was a long wait.