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Philippe Urban - Philouplaine - Andras Meridian Virtual Airlines


Philouplaine

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Way to go Philippe! Keep going! Wonder what happened to the lady that was flying the other Dove? last we heard of her was in Mumbai, indulging in too much curry? Hope she is okay, almost all those who travel to India end up with digestive system problems.

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Hello lads, many thanks for your kind words!

I'm writing slowly, fighting with time ... but the flights go on.

especially if at the end of that adventure there is an open bar !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best,

Philippe

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Next day of travel ... the Ninth one ..

 

 

Day Nine: Wednesday Oct 11th

Le Vietnam

 

 

 

Ninth day of travel: from Singapore  to Hanoi, Oman, via Kerteh, Ho Chi Minh City and Hue.

 

 

I will follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world. Mr. Fogg and his servant embarked on the steamer Rangoon at Calcutta, the steamer stopped a few hours at Singapore. Then, they went up the South China Sea to Hong-Kong. So do we! We and our two honorable travelers will spend the eleventh night of the journey in Hanoi, Vietnam midway between Singapore and Hong-Kong.

 

Flightpath followed on Wed. Oct. 11:

 

 

 

October 11 - Leg 32 – Singapore-Kerteh

WSSS-WMKE

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

It’s 5:20 AM, at gate 208, Singapore-Changi international airport. Our “honorable passengers” have just boarded and we’re ready to begin our first flight of the day, to Kerteh, Malaysia. This flight begins the second third of our round-the-world journey. The Phileas Fogg and Passepartout of 1872 left Singapore aboard the steamer Rangoon at 11 AM on October the 31st. Our passengers of today are almost twenty days ahead of the 1872 schedule! This dist leg for today is a short flight of about 190 nm.

 

Climbing out of runway 2C with a view over the city of Singapore.

 

Three minutes later, heading north we entered the Malaysian airspace. We see the Strait of Johor that separates the Singapore island from the mainland. On our right, we see the Malaysian city of Pasir Gudang.

 

From our cruise altitude (8,000 feet) we have a view over the Tenasserim Range in the distance with the huge Taman Negara National Park in the background. The biodiversity of this park is one of the largest in the world.

 

On our left, at the mouth of the Kuantan River, the city and harbor of Kuantan, the largest city of the east coast of Malaysia. When Phileas Fogg knew we were close to Kuanatan, he becomes slightly sad and quieter than usual, if possible. The Englishman he is knew perfectly that, on 10 December 1941, the sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse took place off the coast of Kuantan.

 

Final approach for Rwy 34 at Kerteh. On our right, we can see the first slopes of the Labuhan hill that forms here a peninsula well known for its spots rich in sea turtles. In the distance, just ahead, is the Mount Bauk surrounded by a forest reserve.

 

At parking 2, Kerteh airport after a flight from Singapore of slightly more than one hour.

 

 

 

October 11 - Leg 33 – Kerteh-Ho Chi Minh City

WMKE-VVTS

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

At 7:25 AM, we begin our second leg for today, this time we go to Vietnam by crossing the Gulf of Thailand. This is a long flight of about 425 nm, probably about 2h30min of flight for our twin-engined Dove.

 

Two minutes later, after a U-turn and heading north, we fly by Kerteh airport that we just left a few minutes ago.

 

At 9,000 feet, we approach the large Malaysian city of Kota Bharu, the capital city of this state, that lies along the banks of the Kelantan River. In the distance, there is a series of small lagunas that can be seen. This is the border of Malaysia with Thailand, making Kota Bharu a border city.

 

Twenty minutes later, we cross the Gulf of Thailand at 9,000 feet. In fact, we are following more or less the geographical line that separates the Gulf of Thailand, on our left, from the South China Sea, on our right.

 

Twenty-two minutes later, heading northeast, we see the coast of Vietnam and the Cape Cà Mau, the southernmost point of Vietnam.

 

View from Mr Fogg’s seat, the numerous parts of the southern branch of the Mekong River.

 

And, twelve minutes later, while we have begun our descent, we pass the main branch, the Mekong River itself.

 

Approach to runway 25L over the city of Saigon.

 

At gate 22, Tan Son Nhất interntational airport of Ho Chi Minh City after an almost three-hour flight from Kerteh across the Gulf of Thailand. Vietnam, though being at east of Malaysia, is one-hour behind. It should be 11:35 AM for Malaysia, but only 10:35 AM, local time.

 

 

 

October 11 - Leg 34 – Ho Chi Minh City-Hue

VVTS-VVPB

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

Departing Tan Son Nat international airport at about 11:20 AM and flying northeastward with a last view on the city and its harbor and on the airport. This third flight of the day is leading us to Hue, at about 340 nm.

 

While the Dove is climbing out of the airport, Mr. Fogg looks at Ho Chi Minh City. He reads in his Bradshaw’s and Wiki’s Continental and General Guide: “Ho Chi Minh City, also informally known by its former name as Saigon, is the largest city in Vietnam by population. This city had many names, each dependent of a colonial power. When it was part of theKhmer Empire, It was known as Prey Nokor prior to annexation by the Vietnamese in the 17th century. Under the name Saigon, it was the capital of the French colony of Cochinchina and later of the independent republic of South Vietnam during the American days of the War of Vietnam. On 2 July 1976, Saigon was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City after revolutionary leader Hồ Chí Minh, although the name Saigon is still widely used. The metropolitan area, which consists of the Ho Chi Minh City and surrounding towns, is populated by about 10 million peoplecmaking it the most populous metropolitan area in Vietnam.”

 

Half an hour later, we fly over the Buon Kuop Resevoir with a view on its dam that overlooks the deep gorge of the Srepok river that runs through the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

 

View from 9,000 feet of Buon Ma Thuot, the capital city of the Central Highlands.

 

At 6,000 feet heading north, we are descending to Hue airport. We just passed over the part of the Annamite Range that extends to the sea, with Cape Chon May in the distance.

 

Long finale for runway 28 visual approach.

 

Parked on the grass at Hue-PhuBai airport after a 2h13min flight from Ho Chi Minh City.

 

 

 

October 11 - Leg 35 – Hue-Hanoi

VVPB-VVNB

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

Departing Hue at about 2:30 PM with a view on the city and its series of lagoon that were simply called “Lagunes de l’Est” in the French colonial times. We took off bound to Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. This is a 290 nm-long flight.

 

Or flight follows a direct line between Hue and Hanoi, more or less, so we fly most part of the time over the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin, keeping in sight on the horizon of the Vietnam coast.

 

View of the city of Ninh Binh in the Red River delta, a resort on the Gulf of Tonkin for Hanoi people.

 

Some mountains in the vicinity of Hanoi.

 

Finale for runway 11L

 

Parked at dusk at gate Alpha-1 at Hanoi – No Bai international airport after a flight of about 2 hours from Hue. It’s time to reach our hotel in Hanoi.

 

 

P. Fogg, esq., wrote in his diary: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout simply wrote: À suivre!

 

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Next day of travel ... the Tenth one ...

 

 

 

Day Ten: Thursday Oct 12th

La Chine

 

 

 

 

Tenth day of travel: from Hanoi to Taipei, Taiwan, via Haikou, Hong Kong and Xiamen.

 

 

I will follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world. Mr. Fogg and his servant debarked from the steamer Rangoon at Hong Kong. Then, they got separated, due to Mr Fix activities. Mr Fogg could not embark on the Carnatic on time for going to Yokohama and take there the steamer heading to San Francisco. To go to Shanghai, Phileas Fogg and Mrs. Aouda took a small sailboat, the Tankadere which was a neat little craft of twenty tons, “as gracefully built as if she were a racing yacht” as stated by Jules Verne. Jean Passepartout embarked  aboard the Carnatic heading for Yokohama in one of the three cabins engaged by Mr. Fogg. They both, separately, sailed thru the Strait of Formosa, and one for Shanghai, the second to Yokohama. So do we! We and our two honorable travelers of today will spend the tenth night of the journey in Taipei, Taiwan.

 

 

Flightpath followed on Thur. Oct. 12:

 

 

 

 

October 12 - Leg 36 – Hanoi-Haikou

VVNB-ZJHK

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

 

It’s 6:30AM, sunrise over Hanoi-No Bai international airport. Our “honorable passengers” have just boarded and we’re ready to begin our flight to China. This is a flight of about 253 nm.

 

 

 

Sun rising … over the Red River. We are at our cursing altitude (7,000 feet) heading east-south-east. Hanoi is just on our right, out of sight.

 

 

 

View from 7,000 feet of the Red River delta. The city under us is Haiphong. This huge seaport was founded by the French in 1887 becoming the main French naval base in the area.

 

 

 

Five minutes later, while we were heading southeast, we have a view over the Ha Long Bay on our left. This Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and popular travel destination in Vietnam that features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various shapes and sizes.

 

 

 

Karsts islets and islands in Ha Long Bay.

 

 

 

Ten minutes later, we fly over the isolated island of Bach Long Vi (in Vietnamese) or Fushui (in Chinese), located in the Gulf of Tonkin about halfway between Haiphong and Hainan Island. In Vietnamese, "Bạch Long Vĩ" means "The Tail of the White Dragon". According to a legend, when the Vietnamese were fighting Chinese invaders, they were helped by a family of dragons (no Kalheesi here). Due to that help, the people kept their land safe and formed what later became the country of Vietnam. After that, the dragon family decided to live on Earth. This island is the place where the dragon's children wriggled their tails violently.

 

 

 

The Hainan Island coastline is in sight.

 

 

 

Finale for runway 09 at Haikou airport … in the mist.

 

 

 

Parked at gate 9 at Haikou-Meilan airport after a flight of about 1h40min from Hanoi. Hainan is one hour behind Hanoi, so it’s 9:15 AM here. All we can see is Chinese birds everywhere.

 

 

 

 

 

October 12 - Leg 37 – Haikou-Hong Kong

ZJHK-VHHH

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

 

At 10 AM, we begin our second leg for today, this time we go to Hong Kong, the seaport at which the Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout of 1872 landed aboard the steamer Rangoon. This is a flight of about 260 nm, probably about 2h of flight for our twin-engined Dove.

 

 

 

We approach the body of water that separates Hainan island from continental China. This is the Qiongzhou Strait, also called the Hainan Strait. In the other side, this is the Leizhou Peninsula. The strait connects the Gulf of Tonkin in the west to the South China Sea on the east. The strait is on average 30 km wide.

 

 

 

Forty-five minutes later, we approach the Pearl River huge delta, also known as the Golden gate of Canton, on east bank of it is located Hong Kong.

 

 

 

Heading northeast at 7,000 feet, we view on our left the city of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong island, the Victoria harbor, where the steamer Rangoon arrived, and Kowloon Bay on which is located the former Hong Kong airport.

 

 

 

Finale for runway 25R and view of the Tsing-Ma bridge that links the new Hong Kong airport on Lantau Island to Hong Kong city.

 

 

 

Short finale for Rwy 25R. On the left, we see a huge white and yellow building. This is the AsiaWorld-Expo, one of the two major convention and exhibition facilities in Hong Kong. It was opened on 21 December 2005.

 

 

 

Parked at a small remote parking, gate Victor-135 at Hong Kong - Chek Lap Kok international airport, a thriving airport one of the busiest in the world, after a 1h50min flight from Haikou. Jules Verne wrote about Hong Kong: “Hong Kong is an island which came into the possession of the English by the Treaty of Nankin, after the war of 1842; and the colonising genius of the English has created upon it an important city and an excellent port. The island is situated at the mouth of the Canton River, and is separated by about sixty miles from the Portuguese town of Macao, on the opposite coast of the large estuary. Hong Kong has beaten Macao in the struggle for the Chinese trade, and now the greater part of the transportation of Chinese goods finds its depot at the former place. Docks, hospitals, wharves, a Gothic cathedral, a government house, macadamised streets, give to Hong Kong the appearance of a town in Kent or Surrey transferred by some strange magic to the antipodes.” All is said about Hong Kong in 1872.

 

 

 

 

 

October 12 - Leg 38 – Hong Kong-Xiamen

VHHH-ZSAM

 

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

 

At gate V135 of Chek Lap Kok airport, it’s about 1 PM and our honorable passengers boarded the plane so we’re ready for the third flight of the day bound to the famous Chinese harbor of Xiamen. Here, in Hong Kong and due to what did Mr Fix, Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout got separated but managed to reach Japan on their owns. Jean Passepartout boarded the steamer Carnatic that was linking Hong Kong to Yokohama, while Phileas Fogg and Mrs. Aouda reached Shanghai aboard the small Tankadere sailboat to embark the steamer General Grant that was linking Shanghai to san Francisco via Yokohama. Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout arrived at Hong Kong on Wednesday November 6th at 1 PM. Phileas Fogg left Hong Kong on Thursday November 7th at 3:10 PM. The Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout of today left Hong Kong airport on Thursday October 12th at 1 PM, they are thus 19 days and two hours ahead of the 1872 travelers. 

 

 

 

Takingoff from runway 25L.

 

 

 

Heading due east at 9,000 feet over the Kowloon Bay with a view on Hong Kong skyline thru the window of Mr Phileas Fogg's seat.

 

 

 

Thirty minutes later, we fly over the city of Shantou on the Ron River. The bridge is that of the National Road 324 that links Fuzhou to Kunming in Yunnan and is 2,712-km long.

 

 

 

Approaching the Xiamen Bay, with the Mount Zhaizi ahead.

 

 

 

Finale for runway 05 with continental China on our left and the Xiamen Island with Xiamen seaport on our right, with a nice view on the Haicang suspension bridge ahead.

 

 

 

Short finale for runway 05.

 

 

 

Parked at gate 36 at Xiamen-Gaoqi international airport after a 1h45min flight from Hong Kong. It’s about 3 PM.

 

 

 

 

 

October 12 - Leg 39 – Xiamen-Taipei

ZSAM-RCTP

 

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

 

Departing Xiamen at about 3:30 PM and flying eastward with a last view on the city and its airport. This last leg of the day is bound to Taipei on Formosa Island at some 190 nm, this should be a flight of about one hour and a half.

 

 

 

We just reached our cruise altitude (7,000 ffet for this flight), with a view of Xiamen island, Xiamen Bay , and, in foreground, the Lieyu Island separated from Xiamen Island by a strait named the Xiamen East Side Waterway. The interesting point here is that Xiamen Island is part of the People’s republic of China, while Lieyu Island is part of the Nationalist Republic of China, i.e. Taiwan. The East Side Waterway is thus a very dangerous zone of war.

 

 

 

View from 7,000 feet of the Pescadores archipelago, locally known as Penghu. These are the main islands in the Strait of Formosa, belonging to the Republic of China (Taiwan).

 

 

 

Heading northeast at dusk, we follow the west coast of Taiwan near Hsinchu. We can view the long bridge of the Formosa Freeway, which runs north-south following Taiwan west coast.

 

 

 

View of Taipei from Mr Phileas Fogg seat window. The city lies around the Tamsui River in its chest of hills all around.

 

 

 

Taipei skyline at dusk.

 

 

 

Finale for runway 24.

 

 

 

Parked at gate Alpha-8 at Taipei-Tao Yuan international airport after a one hour and thirty minutes flight from Xiamen. It’s about 5:30 PM and it’s time, for us, to go to our hotel in Taipei for the night.

 

 

 

P. Fogg, esq., wrote in his diary: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout simply wrote: À suivre!

 

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Many thanx Kalizzi !!!!!

Let's go on ...

 

Next day of travel ... the Eleventh one ...

 

 

Day Eleven: Friday Oct 13rd

Le Japon

 

 

 

 

Eleventh day of travel: from Taipei to Hiroshima, Japan, via Shanghai, Jeju and Nagasaki.

 

I will follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world. Mr. Fogg and his servant were sailing to Japan separately. Mr Fogg and Mrs. Aouda embarked the steamer General Grant at Shanghai, heading to Yokohama. Jean Passepartout was aboard the steamer Carnatic, alone. They were going to Yokohama, the Tokyo harbor, so do we! We and our two honorable travelers of today will spend the eleventh night of the journey in Hiroshima, Japan.

 

Flightpath followed on Fri. Oct. 13:

 

 

 

October 13 - Leg 40 – Taipei-Shanghai

RCTP-ZSPD

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

 

It’s 6:25 AM, at gate Alpha-8 at Taipei-TaoYuan airport. Our “honorable passengers” have just boarded and we’re ready to begin our flights of today to Japan. The destination of this first flight, the 40th leg of the journey since London, is Shanghai, the most populous city in the world with a population of more than 24 million as of 2015. With its vast suburbs, the population amounts to a mere 71 millions inhabitants. This will be a rather long flight of about 375 nm, certainly more than two hours for our twin-engined Dove.

 

Sunrise over Taipei airport… while taxiing to the active runway.

 

At our cruise altitude (7,000 feet for this 40th flight of our round-the-world journey) with the estuary of the Tamsui River on our right and, in the distance, the city of Taipei.

 

We are crossing the sea between the northernmost point of Taiwan and the continental China with the South China Sea on our left and the East China Sea on our right.

 

We have reached continental China and we are heading north-north-east at 7,000 feet. From his seat, Mr Fogg see the estuary of the Ou River, the Oujiang, while the plane is exactly at the vertical of the Chinese city of Wenzhou. The city, except for the Ou River, is completely surrounded by mountainous areas. In his Bradshaw’s and Wiki’s Continental and General Guide, Phileas Fogg reads about the city and the Ou River: “Wenzhou is the only city in China designed by the founder of Fengshui philosophical system Guo Pu. Nowadays, the local Wenzhounese people usually see Guo Pu as the architect and founder of their city. The locals changed the original name of the mountain West Guo Mountain that overlooks the city, into into Guo Gong Mountain. Guo Pu was usually standing on that mountain to observe the city as it was built. At the bottom of Guo Gong Mountain, a temple was also built and named Guo Gong Temple.”

 

We fly over the Yandang Mountains, with some of the most famous cliffs in China and special wooden ways hanging right at the middle of high cliffs!

 

View of the Sanmen Bay. while we fly over the Tianhe Ecology Scenic Area, a mountainous area that is sparsely inhabited since the ancient times.  This area takes the cultural essence of Taoism and is featured by green mountains and water, exotic peaks and stones, flowing streams and numerous waterfalls, primitive forests.

 

We cross the Hangzhou Bay which is located south of the peninsula on which Shanghai is built. The Hangzhou Bay Bridge, the second longest in the world with its 22 miles, is beneath us. In 2008, when the bridge opened, it cut the trip between Zhejiang, on the south bank of the Bay and Shanghai from about 300 miles down to a mere 50 miles!

 

View of Shanghai city from 7,000 feet with the Huangpu River that flows though it and, in the distance, the huge Yangtze River which is, with its 6 400 km, the world’s longest river.

 

At 2,000 feet, in the approach circuit to Shanghai airport, we fly over the Southern Channel of the Yangtze.

 

Finale for runway 17R over Xinlongcun, a suburb of Shanghai.

 

Parked at gate 84 at Shanghai-Pudong airport after a 2h20min flight from Taipei. It’s about 9 AM.

 

 

 

 

October 13 - Leg 41 – Shanghai-Jeju

ZSPD-RKPC

 

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

At 9:50 AM, we begin our second leg for today, this time we go to Jeju Island, an important Korean resort island in the Korea Strait. This is a flight of about 290 nm, probably about 2 hours of flight. The Phileas Fogg of 1872 jumped from the sailboat Tankadere to the steamer General Grant in the Yangtse estuary at some nautical miles from Shanghai without being able to visit the Chinese huge city. The same occurs for the Phileas Fogg of today, he made a short stopover at Pudong airport without going to visit Shanghai.

 

Holding and number 2 for runway 34L while an Air China 747 is landing.

 

We reached our cruise altitude, heading northeast, with the large estuary of the Yangtse River, the longest in Asia, on our left. We will now cross the sea between Shanghai and the south of the Korean Peninsula with, on our left, the Yellow Sea and, on our right, the East China Sea.

 

And thirty-five minutes later, we are at the southwest coast of Jeju island with the massive dome of the Sanbangsan mount just beneath us.

 

Finale for runway 07 at Jeju airport.

 

Parked at gate 29 at a remote area of Jeju international airport, Jeju Island, South Korea. In the background, we see the regular symmetrical slopes of the Hallasan peak, the highest mountain in South Korea. This is an extinct volcano of Jeju island. The flight from Shanghai was a bit more than 1 h 30 min. Jeju Island is one hour behind China, it is thus about 1 PM, local time. And we’re just for a 45-min stopover here. Too bad, we will not have the time to visit the famous Loveland museum at Jeju …

 

 

 

 

October 13 - Leg 42 – Jeju-Nagasaki

RKPC-RJFU

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

At 2 PM, we are taxiing to the active runway with a lot of Korean Air birds around. This third flight of the day is for Nagasaki. This is a short flight of some 176 nm, about one hour of flight ahead.

 

Takingoff from runway 25.

 

View of the Hallasan Mountains (6,400 ft), the shield volcano on center of Jeju. It is the highest mountain in South Korea. This mountain is considered as sacred and is worshipped by people because they think that gods and spirits live on it. The crater of the mountain hosts a crater lake. According to a legend, time to time, a magical white deer drinks the water here.

 

Thirty minutes later we are approaching the Gôto archipelago, which lies southwest of Kyushu main island.

 

And twelve minutes later, we approach the south coast of Kyushu Island, the southernmost of the three main islands composing Japan.

 

View of Nagasaki in the middle of a mountainous circus while we are descending.

 

At 3,000 feet, view from Mr. Phileas Fogg's seat over Tachimaba Bay, with, on the other side the Shimabara Bay. Nagasaki is on our left.

 

Finale for runway 32 with an approach over Omura Bay, and the cities of Isahaya and Omura on our right.

 

Parked at gate Golf-5 at Nagasaki-Omura airport after a flight of one hour and fifteen minutes from Jeju Island. On the top of the terminal, you can see the sacred bell that rings every 9th of August in memory of the atomic blast of 1945. In Jules Verne’s book, the steamer General Grant made a fast stopover at Nagasaki with Mr Phileas Fogg, Mrs. Aouda and Mr. Fix aboard before joining Yokohama harbor. The author did not write a word about it.

 

 

 

 

October 13 - Leg 43 – Nagasaki-Hiroshima

RJFU-RJOA

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

Departing Nagsaki at about 4 PM with a last view on the lawn-written “Nagasaki” on the airport ground. This is the last flight of the day; we are going to Hiroshima, from an atomized city to the other. This is short flight of 160 nm, about one hour for our Dove.

 

We are flying over the Tara Mountains, the tallest of Kyushu Island, and approaching Ariake Sea, an internal sea around which Kyushu Island is wrapped.

 

Ten minutes later, we fly by the city of Kurume, Kyushu island, along the Chikugo River.

 

Twenty minutes later, we are halfway between Kyushu Island (we can see its coast behind us) and Hondo or Honshu Island, the largest island of Japan. The body of water we are flying over is the Seto Inland Sea, the famous landmark of Japanese archipelago that stretches from Kanmon Strait the opens on the Sea of Japan at south, to Osaka bay at north. This part of the Japanese inland sea is called Suo-Nada.

 

From 7,000 feet, view of the old city of Iwakuni, and on the island in the delta of the Imazu River, the airport seen is the US Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni (RJOI), the main base of US Marine airpower in Southeast and East Asia. The city of Iwakuni is well known in Japan for its castle, the stronghold of the Kikkawa clan, and for the famous Kintai bridge, the symbol of western Honshu, which was built in 1673 by Hiroyoshi Kikkawa. Initially, only samurais were allowed to cross the bridge that was forbidden to other people. Our plane is about to fly over the part of the Seto Inland Sea which is called Aki-Nada Sea.

 

The Iwakuni castle

 

The Kintai bridge at Iwakuni, symbol of Western Honshu

 

At 6,300 feet, descending to the approach circuit of our destination airport, view of the seaport of Hiroshima which lies at the end of a narrow bay and which is surrounded by mountains. On August 6th 1945, these mountains amplified the effect of the atomic blast tremendously.

 

Finale for runway 10 at dusk.

 

Parked cold and dark for the night at gate Golf-5, Hiroshima-Mihara airport after a flight of just less than one hour from Nagasaki. It’s time for us to go to our hotel for the eleventh night of our round-the-world journey.

 

P. Fogg, esq., wrote in his diary: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout simply wrote: À suivre!

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Next day of travel ... the Twelfth one ...

 

 

Day Twelve: Saturday Oct 14th

To Sakhalin Island

 

 

 

 

Twelfth day of travel: from Hiroshima to Yuzhno Sakhalinsk, Russia, via Tokyo, Sendai and Sapporo.

 

I will follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world. Mr. Fogg, his servant and Mrs. Aouda boarded the steamer General Grant at Yokohama, today a part of the Great Tokyo harbor, heading to San Francisco. So wo we! We and our two honorable travelers of today will spend the twelfth night of the journey in the Russian island of Sakhalin, at Yuzhno Sakhalinsk. We will ‘cross’ the Pacific Ocean with our tiny twin-engine Dove by getting around it following a Northern passage.

 

Flightpath followed on Sat. Oct. 14:

 

 

 

 

October 14 - Leg 44 – Hiroshima-Tokyo Haneda

RJOA-RJTT

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

 

It’s 6 AM, sunrise over Hiroshima. Our “honorable passengers” have just boarded and we’re ready to begin our flight north. The destination of this leg is Tokyo. Yokohama, the destination of the steamers General Grant (with Mrs Phileas Fogg and Fix and Mrs. Aouda aboard) from Shanghai and Caranatic (with Passeparout aboard) from Hong Kong, is a seaport on the Tokyo Bay, just south and contiguous with the Tokyo harbor. The two make a giant seaport. This is a rather long flight of 365 nm, about two hours for our two-engined Dove.

 

Climbing to our cruise altitude (9,000 ft) and heading east, with a nice view of the rising sun over the Empire of the Rising Sun … the inland sea (this part is named Huchi-Nada sea) and the big island of Shikoku on the right at the background.

 

View of Fukuyama and the southwestern part of Hondo, it is here the Peninsula of Chugoku.

 

View from Mr Fogg’s seat: the mountainous and rather empty eastern part of Shikoku Island.

 

Ten minutes later, we fly over the Osaka Bay and the air traffic intensifies …

 

Mr Phileas Fogg from his seat overlooks the Kansai international airport (RJBB).

 

View over Osaka from 9,000 feet heading east. Osaka has a long tradition of trading and is the second largest city of Japan and one of the most populated in the world with about twenty millions inhabitants.

 

Ten minutes later, we fly over the Ise Bay and we see ahead Chubu Centrair Japan airport (RJGG) built on an artificial island. Nagoya is on our left (out of sight) and, as indicated by the name of the airport, we are in the center of the Japanese archipelago.

 

Fifteen minutes later, we have the Fujiyama Mount in sight, among clouds. We are approaching the Suruga Bay, and the mountains beneath are part of the Minami Alps.

 

View of Mount Fuji and its 12,388 feet, a famous landmark of Japan.

 

We have begun our descent to our destination airport. Ahead is the Sagami River and the city of Atsugi and, on our left, the big city of Sagamihara. In the distance, this is the Tokyo Bay.

 

In long finale for runway 05. On our left, the harbor of Yokohama and the Yokohama Bay bridge. Here, our travelers of 1872 reached land one aboard the Carnatic and the others aboard the General Grant, before leaving for San Francisco.

 

After landing, while taxiing to the gate, a nice Air France triple-7 among Japanese birds. Air France is one the rare European airlines to serve Tokyo-Haneda daily together with Narita, also daily. Haneda is much more convenient to visit Tokyo since it is on the edge of the city whereas Narita is some 40 miles from Tokyo.

 

Parked at gate 57 at Tokyo-Haneda airport after a 1h40min flight from Hiroshima. We were lucky to get very strong tailwinds during the whole flight. Our ground speed on average was 250 knots, which is a lot for our tiny De Havilland Dove!

 

 

 

 

October 14 - Leg 45 – Tokyo-Sendai

RJTT-RJSS

 

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

At 8:50 AM, we begin our second leg for today and the weather suddenly changed to clouds and rain. This flight is for Sendai and is rather a short one, only 165 nm so about one hour of flight for us. We are soon beginning to taxi to the active runway. We are approaching the northern countries because on this morning the temperature is a chilly and wet 5°C only, here in Tokyo. The Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout of 1872 leaved Yokohama on board of the steamer General Grant for San Francisco on Thursday November the 14th at 6:30 PM. Our honorable passengers are leaving Haneda airport, in the vicinity of Yokohama harbor, on October the 14th at almost 9 AM. They are one full month ahead of the 1872 travelers.

 

Takingoff from runway 22 with a view of the high buildings of Shinjuku in the distance.

 

At our cruise altitude for this flight (9,000 feet) heading northeast, we have the Arakawa River on our left and the huge city of Tokyo with its Taito and Adachi suburbs.

 

Forty minutes later, we fly over the east coast of Honshu with a view, in the distance on our left, of the Ryohaku Mountains with the Mount Dainichi.

 

We have begun our descent to our destination over the well-known Matsushima Bay that is one of the Three Views of Japan.

 

View of one of the island of Matsushima Archipelago, typical of Japan.

 

Finale for runway 27 in rain and mist.

 

Parked at gate 10 at Sendai-Natori airport after a 1h8min flight from Tokyo. The clouds and rain disappeared and a beautiful sun shines now, even if the outside temperature is rather low (about 3°C only).

 

 

 

 

October 14 - Leg 46 – Sendai-Sapporo

RJSS-RJCC

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

Departing Sendai at 11 AM from runway 27 for our third flight of the day, for Sapporo on Hokkaido Island, the northernmost of all Japan. This is a rather long flight of about 290 nm.

 

Four minutes after takeoff and heading north-east-north, we fly over Sendai while climbing to our cruise altitude (9,000 feet).

 

Forty minutes later, we are flying over the part of the Pacific Ocean between Honshu Island from Hokkaido Island. On our left, we can see the Tsugaru Strait that separates Honshu from Hokkaido and linking the Pacific Ocean to the Japan Sea. At the background at right we see the Mount Yotei and its 6,000 feet.

 

The coastline of Hokkaido and the seaport of Tomakomai.

 

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View of the Lake Shikotsu, one of the deepest lakes in Japan with an average depth of 260 m. This is a caldera lake in Chitose, Hokkaidō. Due to the small surface area to depth ratio, the water temperature remains quite constant throughout the year, making it the northernmost ice-free lake in Japan. It is surrounded by three active volcanoes, and is believe to mark the place where a giant volcano one stood some 50 000 years ago.

 

Finale for runway 18L.

 

Parked at gate 19 of New Chitose international airport after a flight of almost two hours from Sendai.

 

 

 

 

October 14 - Leg 47 – Sapporo-Yuzhno Sakhalinsk

RJCC-UHSS

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

Departing New Chitose airport at about 2 PM and flying north with a last view on the airport.

 

A few minutes later, heading northeast at 9,000 feet, we are flying over the mountainous north of Hokkaido Island.

 

Flying over the north-east coast of Hokkaido with a view on the city of Mombetsu.

 

Heading north-north-east, we cross the La Pérouse Strait, or Sōya Strait (for Japanese) that divides the Russian island of Sakhalin from the Japanese island of Hokkaidō, and connecting the Sea of Japan on the west with the Sea of Okhotsk on the east. The strait is named after the French explorer Jean-François de Galaup, earl of Lapérouse, who explored the channel in 1787.

 

Thirty-five minutes after leaving the north coast of Hokkaido, we fly over the south coast of Sakhalin Island. We are flying over the seaport of Korsakov (which was named Otomari when this part of Sakhalin Island was Japanese).

 

The seaport of Korsakov

 

Finale for runway 01 in a mid-October snowfall … we are quite far now from the tropical countries we visited a few days ago! And we still have to go further north.

 

Parked at gate Golf-1 at Yuzhno Sakhalinsk- Khomutovo airport, after a 1h40min flight from Sapporo. It is now about 3:45PM but the night falls quite rapidly in these latitudes. It’s time to go to our hotel for this twelfth night of our journey.

 

P. Fogg, esq., wrote in his diary: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout simply wrote: À suivre!

 

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I agree!  This is one of the better diaries I've read.  Having said that as today is the 128th day into the 80 day rally and this "entrant" is now at Day 12, I wonder will this ever end!!??  I'm not great in math, but according to my calculator which says this entrant is averaging .09375 days per RW day so at this rate I see no way this 80 day rally can end in 2018!

 

 

Isn't it time someone decided that 128 days into a 80 day even and still only having flown only 12 days is a little excessive!!!!????

 

I'm all for spirit, and all of that.  But after 128 days and an entrant is only on day 12 of a 80 day rally isn't it about time to decide this rally is over!!  I mean after 128 days traveling only 12 days many or most of us could have hand painted the scenery!!

 

Rupert

 

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Dear Rupert,

Ah this is one possibility, I agree with that ... the problem is not to make the flights .. I'm almost arrived at destination ... but the problem is to find time to write the diary ...

Of course, if "someone " decides its all over,

OK so be it!

But I'd liike to go on with that .. It's fun after all, just fun, not strict and constraint accordance to some rules? No ?

What do you think?

Oh I coudl post this diary in another forum ... why not ???

Anyway, thanks for sharing your  thoughts both good and critical with me!

All the best, Rupert!

Hauts les coeurs! B)

Philippe

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I don't see why we can't keep going just for fun. Surely it's not hurting anyone? I fell behind very early on due to personal circumstances, but I still want to finish the tour, even if I'm late. I'm currently parked up in Denver, so I still have another 5 or 6 flights to do yet. But why should I stop? Rupert, if you don't like people running late, or it somehow offends you, you always have the option to put these people on your "ignore" list :) 

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Actually Neal,

 

I have no problem at all  with anyone continuing their flight!  I am enjoying reading your adventures just as I did during the scheduled 80 days.  After all, It wasn't exactly a race!  Having said that, unless my memory fails me, we understood that people or someone would vote and recognize entrants based upon the age classification of their aircraft.  So at least by the end of January 2018, I expected people with wonderful trips like Lambert in Bi-Planes and Kalizzi would  be recognized for their efforts.

 

I enjoy the flights regardless of when they are completed!  But I think we shouldn't hold off the recognition portion of the rally till sometime in 2019!  

 

No offense intended!!  I really have enjoyed this event!!;)

 

Rupert

 

 

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Guyz, don't worry!No offense, really !

We're just putting clear what we think and expect. I perfectly well understand the point of view of Rupert.

I don't think I will complete this diary in 2019 Rupert !!! -_-

Hopefully !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Surely  I'll need some further weeks ... months ????????

But I'm planning to arrive at London in two weeks from now....

Again, just writing the diary will need some extra time, for sure.

We'll see.

Rupert and nealmac a great thanx for your comments.

Dear nealmac, since we follow each other since .. well ... 2015, right?

I do like to read yoru diary and your Singapore Airlines 747 flights.

Philippe

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Next day of travel ... the Thirteenth one ...

 

 

Day Thirteen: Sunday Oct 15th

To Dalni Vostok

 

 

 

 

Thirteenth day of travel: from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Magadan, via Nikholaievsk-on Amur, and Okhotsk.

 

I follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world. Mr. Fogg, his servant and Mrs. Aouda boarded the steamer General Grant at Yokohama heading to San Francisco. So do we! Our two honorable travelers of today will spend the thirteenth night of the journey in the Russian Far-East, the Pacific coast of Siberia, at Magadan. We are ‘crossing’ the Pacific Ocean with our tiny twin-engine Dove by following a Northern passage. Only three (long) flights for today!

 

Flightpath followed on Sun. Oct. 15:

 

 

 

 

 

October 15 - Leg 48 – Yuzhno Sakhalinsk-Nikholaievsk on Amur

UHSS-UHNN

 

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

It’s 6:30 AM, a gloomy early morning of mid-October at Khomutovo  airport. Our “honorable passengers” have just boarded and we’re ready to begin our flights further north. The destination of this leg is Nikholayevsk-on-Amur a city close to the estuary of the Amur River in the Pacific Ocean. This is a long flight of about 380 nm, about two hours for our tiny Dove.

 

Climbing out of runway 19 to our cruise altitude (9,000 ft) in the middle of a snowstorm.

 

Two minutes later, still climbing with no visibility … fortunately, the air traffic is almost nonexistent here.

 

Four minutes after takingoff, and between two clouds, we fly over the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk … at 5,000 feet and heading north-north-west.

 

Ten minutes later, still heading northwest, we approach the western coast of Sakhalin Island, with the seaport of Chekhovo ahead of us.

 

After crossing the Strait of Tartary, we approach the Russian coast of the Maritimes Provinces, those oblasts that lie along Pacific Ocean. On our left, in the distance, the typical circle Tchikatcheva Bay can be seen.

 

We approach the point at which the north part of Sakhalin Island is the closest to the continent. This is the Nevelskogo Strait, with the typical Nevelskogo Bay. During a long time, after La Pérouse journey in the region in 1787, this part was unknown to explorers due to its shallow waters. The strait was discovered by Russians in mid 19th century, and kept for almost half a century as a military secret.

 

We began our descent and at 3,000 feet, we approach the vast estuary of Amur River.

 

Finale for runway 29, we fly over the city of Nikolaevsk.

 

Short finale. It’s mid-October but this is not a lot snowy around.

 

Parked at one of the aprons at Nikolaevsk airport after a flight of almost 2 hours and 30 min from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. It’s 9 AM passed, and despite the sunny sky it’s a chilly -10°C outside!

 

 

 

 

October 15 - Leg 49 – Nikholaievsk on Amur -Okhotsk

UHNN-UHOO

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

At 10 AM, we begin our second leg for today, this time we go to Okhotsk. This is again a long flight of about 380 nm, probably about 2h30min for our twin-engined Dove. The weather is quite nice, but the temperatures are well below 0°C.

 

Takingoff from runway 29, with the Amur River and its estuary in the background.

 

Heading north and at our cruise altitude (7,000 feet) we are approaching the coast over a snow-covered area.

 

Heading north at 7,000 feet we are crossing the Sea of Okhtosk. Mr. Phileas Fogg in his Bradshaw’s and Wikish’s Continental and General Guide reads about this sea that it is “a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, enclosed between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaido to the south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west”.

 

One hour later, we have begun our approach to Okshotsk and we cross the Siberian coast of the Sea of Okhtosk with the active runway in sight. We are further north and despite being mid-October, everything is white around.

 

Parked at gate 1 at Okhotsk regional airport after a flight of slightly more than 2 hours from Nikolaevsk. The Russians first reached the Pacific coast here in 1639. In 1647 the small village of Okhotsk was erected and a stronghold was built here in 1649. Okhotsk became a seaport by the will of Peter the Great in 1714. And in 1731, and for the 150 following years, Okhotsk became the home of the Russian Pacific fleet.

 

 

 

 

October 15 - Leg 50 – Okhotsk-Magadan

UHOO-UHMM

 

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

Departing Okhotsk at 1 PM and flying eastward with a last view on the airport. The destination of this last flight of the day is Magadan, the main city of the east of the Russian Far-East. This is flight of about 240 nm.

 

At (almost) our cruise altitude (9,000 feet for this flight), with a last view of the Okhostly Bay, the sort of lagoon we can see behind us. This is where Okhtosk seaport stands.

 

Heading due east, we fly along the coast with a nice view on the mountain ranges that spans this desert area.

 

Forty minutes after takeoff, we approach the large Taui Bay with Magadan, our destination, on the opposite side of the bay. Taui Bay was frequented by American, French, and Russian whaleships hunting bowhead and gray whales between 1849 and 1885, with as many as thirty ships in the bay at the same time, all whaling. A sight that the Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout of 1872 could have seen.

 

Fifteen minutes later, we are at 4,000 feet descending to the approach circuit. We fly over the Arman River. In the distance, we can see the heights of the Poluostrov Peninsula.

 

Short finale for runway 10.

 

Taxiing to the gate along an apron full of typical Russian birds.

 

Parked at gate 18 at Magadan-Sokol airport after a 1h20min flight from Okhotsk. It’s 3:30 PM and despite a clear blue sky, it’s a cold 0°C outside and the night is now coming fast. It is time for us to go to our hotel for the thirteenth night of our round-the-world journey. This is a view of the excellent freeware for UHMM at dalcontrol-dot-ru.

 

View of Magadan

 

View of the Magadan Monument. From late 1920s to early 1950s, Magadan was the entry port for prisoners to reach the numerous Gulags of the area. This monument, named the Mask of Sorrow (Maska Skorbi in Russian), commemorates the many prisoners who suffered and died in the region.The statue, created by the sculptor Ernst Neizvestny, was unveiled on June 1996 and is 15 metres high. It stands atop a hill overlooking Magadan.

 

P. Fogg, esq., wrote in his diary: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout simply wrote: À suivre!

 

 

 

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Philouplaine,

 

I love your diary!!  You put so many things in there I'd never heard of!!  I really enjoy every posting you make!!  But as I told Neal, and I'm probably the only one to say it because I'm certainly not a serious competitor, and those who are might worry about losing votes.  IMHO those many people pilots who finished the event on time should be recognized as they flew by the rules.  Having said that: PLEASE CONTINUE YOUR TRIP!! IT IS VERY ENJOYABLE.

 

Rupert 

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Hi Rupert,

Again a great thanks for your comments, I do appreciate them. Truly.

Positive and critical at the same time. I like that.

I fully agree with you about recognizing the many pilots  who finished "in time" the journey. That is a great idea and a right and fair one I think.

I am clearly not in that case!!!

Just continuing to describe my trip in this diary, as long as I could do so.

Cheers,

Philippe

 

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Next day of travel ... the fourteenth one ...

 

Day Fourteen: Monday Oct 16h

The international Date Line

 

 

 

 

Fourteenth day of travel: from Magadan to Shemya, USA, via Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski.

 

I will follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world. They are crossing the Pacific Ocean. So do we! We and our two honorable travelers of today are crossing the Pacific Ocean thru the north passage. We will spend the fourteenth night of the journey in Eareckson Air Station, Shemya Island, USA.

 

Flightpath followed on Mon. Oct. 16:

 

 

 

 

 

October 16 - Leg 51 – Magadan-Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski

UHMM-UHPP

 

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

It’s 7:15 AM, sunrise over Magadan-Sokol airport. Our “honorable passengers” have just boarded and we’re ready to begin our flight to the Aleutian Islands. The destination of this first leg of the day is Petropavlovsk-Kamchatchsky, hence the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula. This is a quite long flight of about 470 nm, not far from three hours for our twin Dove.

 

Taxiing to the active runway with a view on a nice soviet-era tower building.

 

Climbing out of runway 10 with a nice view over the airport aprons.

 

At our cruise altitude (9,000 feet) and heading southeast, with a view on the Okhotsk Sea, with the Lanyokava River and the Olskaya lagoon. On the other side of the bay is the Poluostrov peninsula. Kamchatka is on the other side at some 300 km.

 

View from Mr. Phileas Fogg’s seat, with Magadan in the distance.

 

Forty minutes later, we have crossed the Sea of Okhtosk and are approaching the west coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula.

 

Twenty minutes later, we fly over the west plains, with a view, in the distance, over the Ichinsky stratovolcano, one of the largest in Central Kamchatka. At 11,800 feet it is the highest peak of the central range of the peninsula. If not the highest of the volcanoes in Kamchatka, it is the biggest in volume (about 450 km3).

 

Heading south at 9,000 feet, we fly over the Sredinny Range, the central range of the peninsula.

 

Ten minutes later, we approach the east coast of the peninsula, with the bay on which Petropavlovsk is built. We can view on the left the huge volcanoes that overlook Petropavlovsk.

 

Flying west over the Avacha Bay, and a scenic view on the city Petropavlovsk, with some cruising ships moored and, in the background, the imposing Koriaksky stratovolcano.

 

Finale for runway 34 at Petropavlovsk.

 

Parked at gate Golf-1 at Petropavlovsk Kamchatsky – Yelizovo airport after a flight of 2 hours 40 min from Magadan. This big Russian city is located at about 4,200 miles from Moscow, some 200 miles more than Vladivostok. It is 10:15 AM and the outside temperature is a freezing -23°C with a clear sunny sky.

 

View of Petropavlovsk

 

 

 

 

October 16 - Leg 52 – Petropavlovsk-Shemya Island

UHPP-PASY

 

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

At 11 AM, we begin our second and last flight for today, this time we go to Eareckson Air station on Shemya Island, USA. This is a very long flight of about 560 nm, probably about three hours of flight for our twin-engined Dove. Petropavlovsk was founded by Danish navigator Vitus Bering in the service of the Russian Navy. Bering reached Avacha Bay in late 1740 and as superior, named the new settlement "Petropavlovsk" (Peter and Paul) after his two ships, the St. Peter and the St. Paul.

 

Yelizovo airport is a bit strange because the taxiway is rather far aprt the terminal and apron and the taxiway linking both is among a forest. A nice road, with the huge stratovolcanoes in the background: the Koryaksky (3,456 m) and locally called the Koriaka, and, at right, the Avachinsky (2,741 m). Both volcanoes erupted on December 2008 the last time, their proximity to the city make them very dangerous.

 

Heading due east we pass 5,500 feet climbing to our cruise altitude (today 7,000 feet), we have a last sight on Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and the Avacha Bay.

 

This route makes us fly very close to the two main volcanoes overlooking Petropavlovsk. The Koriaka at the background and the Avachinsky just on our left.

 

Twelve minutes later, we have a last view on the Petropavoloskii volcanoes in the distance and, on our left, the Zhupanovsky massif which is in fact nothing less than four merged stratovolcanoes as high as 9,600 feet. This ‘multiplexed ‘volcano remained silent for centuries and became suddenly active on 2013.

 

At 7,000 feet heading east, we are crossing in misty weather the North Pacific Ocean.

 

And after a long flight in the mist over nothing to see else the Ocean, we are on finale for runway28 at Eareckson Air Station, with still a low visibility.

 

And finally, the runway is in sight.

 

Parked at parking 4 after a flight of almost 3 hours from Petropavlovsk. It’s 3:15 PM, time for us to go to our hotel for the night. We have during this flight cross the International Date Line. So, we departed Petropavlovsk at almost 11 AM on October the 16th, and we are here a few hours later on Shemya Island but October the 15th! This is the big advantage to travel eastward. Shemya or Simiya is a small island in the Near Islands archipelago of the Aleutian Islands archipelago southwest of Alaska located at some 1,200 miles of Anchorage. The Russian vessel Saint Peter and Paul wrecked at Shemya in 1762. Most of the crew survived. A United States Air Force radar, surveillance, and weather station and aircraft refueling station, including a 10,000 ft long runway, opened on Shemya in 1943. The United States Air Force flew intercontinental ballistic missile tracking flights from this island near the Soviet Union, especially the Kamchatka Peninsula, during the height of the Cold War. The station was renamed the Eareckson Air Station in 1993 In 1956, Northwest Airlines leased Shemya Island from the U.S. government to use it as a refueling station on their North Pacific route. According to Northwest's website, that made them "the first airline to operate its own airport”.

 

P. Fogg, esq., wrote in his diary: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout simply wrote: À suivre!

 

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I will say I'm really enjoying the latest entry in the Around The World In Eighty Days Rally.  Having said that, since this is according to this diary "Day 14" and  was posted 55 days after Mr Fogg would have lost the bet, I have to wonder is there no one at Aerosoft who abides by any rules!!??

 

All of us including Phillippe Urban entered knowing we should finish within the 80 day limit,  Yet there is no official response as to whether any limit or any rule applies!!??  If Aerosoft is so loose with rules and promises I can't see why anyone would deal with them or buy their products!

 

Though I'm pretty sure this won't be posted, I believe it is true!!

 

Rupert

 

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Hi Philippe,

keep on flying! :goodluck_s:

Don't worry about some nasty comments of people who obviously don't know about sense of delight. Why should we always be so strict in our lives? This is our hobby we fully enjoy! We don't step down to the basement if we want to laugh.:lolsign_s:

Why should someone blame Aerosoft for offering us this platform and this challenge? By the way I didn't read expressivley whether they meant real time or sim-time. :D Even though they meant real time why not have someone show the remarkable endurance finishing the race in a lovely small Dove. I would rather call this Olympic Spirit than breaking the rules!

Philippe, I'm watching your nice reports and I'm waiting for you at the bar til 21-Dec-2017 simtime!:cheers_s:

Gernot

 

   
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Next day of travel ... the fifteenth one ...

 

 

Day Fifteen: Monday Oct 16th … still

Aleutian islands

 

 

 

Fifteen day of travel: from Shemya to Kodiak, Alaska, via Adak, Dutch Harbor, and Cold Bay.

 

I will follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world in 1872. Mr. Fogg, his servant, Mrs. Aouda and the inspector Fix crossed the Pacific Ocean aboard the steamer General Grant. We cross the Pacific Ocean thru the North Route. We and our honorable travelers of today will spend the fifteenth night of the journey in Kodiak, Alaska. Since we have crossed the International Date Line eastward, this is still Monday Oct. 16th.

 

Flightpath followed on the second Mon. Oct. 16:

 

 

 

 

October 16 - Leg 53 – Shemya-Adak

PASY-PADK

 

It’s 6:25 AM, sunrise over Shemya Island. Our “honorable passengers” have boarded and we’re ready to begin our today flights eastward thru Aleutian islands. The destination of this first leg of the day is Adak Island. This is a rather long flight of about 343 nm.

 

Climbing to our cruise altitude (9,000 ft), with a last view over Shemya Island and its airport.

 

One hour later, we fly over Semisopochnoi Island, one of the Rat Islands. This small island is entirely a volcano with a 6-km wide caldera. It is a subaerial volcano, i.e. it stands up directly from the sea floor and it’s not a small one, its diameter on the sea floor is about 30 km. The island is uninhabited. We are just 12 nm of the 180° of longitude? We will thus soon enter the Western hemisphere. We will be exactly at the opposite of the Greenwich Prime Meridian, hence our honorable passengers will have traveled exactly halfway.

 

About twenty minutes later, the Andreanof archipelago is in sight. On our right, the Kanaga Island with its symmetrical volcano, Mount Kanaga (1,307 m). In the background, we can see the west coast of Adak island, our destination.

 

Long finale for runway 23. On our right is Mount Adagdak, an extinct volcano presenting a caldera of a one-giant stratovolcano that stood there.

 

Parked at parking 16 at Adak airport after a two-hours flight from Shemya. Adak's airport is one of the largest and most sophisticated airports in the Aleutian Islands with two long runways. Built by the U.S. Navy for conducting antisubmarine warfare operations against submarines and surveillance of naval surface vessels of the former Soviet Union.

 

 

 

 

October 16 - Leg 54 – Adak-Dutch Harbor

PADK-PADU

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

At 9:20 AM, we begin our second leg for today, this time we go to Dutch Harbor, on Amaknak Island, a borough of Unalaska. This is a long flight of about 390 nm, probably more than 2h of flight for our twin-engined Dove. In the background, the uninhabited Great Sitkin Island can be seen. The island is dominated by the Great Sitkin Volcano which rises to a height of 5,710 feet (1,740 m).

 

After a U-turn, we fly over the airport we just left.

 

Heading northeast, we fly close to the Great Sitkin volcano.

 

Flying at 9,000 feet over the Bering Sea.

 

Thirty minutes later, we see the Fox Islands where our destination airport is located. We see on our right, first Ummak island with its twin summits? First Mount Vsevidof, a dormant stratovolcano (1,872 m), last eruption on 1957. Then Mount Recheshnoi (1,933 m), an extinct volcano (no known eruption in indian Aleut records). This volcano is certainly dormant since it hosts on its slope a geyser fields. The flat island in the background is our destination: Unalaska Island.

 

The rugged approach of Dutch Harbor airport. The airport is located on our left, on the tiny island we can see on the opposite end of the island we are flying over.

 

The approach is very unusual and uneasy here. The visual approach to runway 30 brings us in this position, with the active runway two miles or so on our right. The city we can see is Unalaska, and, the other island (tiny) is Amaknak Island on which Dutch Harbor is built.

 

After a descent dive, we are aligned and at the correct altitude to land on runway 30 on Amaknak Island.

 

Parked at parking 19 at Dutch Harbor-Unalaska airport after a 2h10min flight from Adak. View of Moun Amaknak and a crane of Dutch Harbor just behind us. It’s almost noon and time to have a lunch … the outside temperature is a chilling -2°C with a clear blue sky.

 

 

 

 

October 16 - Leg 55 – Dutch Harbor-Cold Bay

PADU-PACD

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

Departing Dutch Harbor airport past noon and waiting for the PenAir flight to King Salmon to takeoff. Our third flight of the day is to Cold Bay. This is a rather short flight of about 160 nm, about one hour.

 

Ten minutes later, heading northeast at our cruise altitude (7,000 feet for this flight) with a view on Akutan Island and its caldera, Mount Akutan, which is an active stratovolcano.

 

Twenty minutes later, we are getting close to our destination. On our right is the Unimak Island, the easternmost island in the Aleutians and, with an area of 4,070 square kilometres, the ninth largest island in the United States. This island is a remarkable spot with its typical series of three lined stratovolcanoes. The first one, the westernmost, is Mount Shishladin (9,400 feet high) and the highest peak in all the Aleutian Islands and a very active volcano.

 

Finale for runway 14 at Cold Bay. The airport is located on a bank of the Cold Bay, Pacific ocean.

 

Parked at parking 3 at Cold Bay airport after a 1h3min flight from Dutch Harbor. It’s soon 3 PM here and outside temperature is -5°C, and it’s just mid-october!  We have a nice view on Frosty Peak.

 

 

 

 

 

October 16 - Leg 56 – Cold Bay-Kodiak

PACD-PADQ

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

Departing Cold Bay at about 3:30 PM and flying eastward with a last view on the airport. This last flight of the day is to Kodiak airport on Kodiak Island. This is a rather long leg of 370 nm.

 

At our cruise altitude (9,000 feet) and heading north-east, we have a last look on the Cold Bay that opens on Pacific Ocean and, on our left, the series of lagoons with the Izembek Lagoon in the distance and the Macffet Lagoon immediately on our right. The tip of the Alaska Peninsula is presenting a lot of ponds and lakes.

 

From his window, Mr. Fogg contemplates the Pavlof Sisters, with Mount Pavlof (2,284 m) at the westernmost position and the Pavlof Sister (2,055 m) close to it. Mount Pavlof is one of the most active stratovolcano in the US. The Pavlof sister, though being close to the former one, is a dormant stratovolcano. Its last eruption dates back 1784, when Berign was exploring this area of the world.

 

Thirty minutes later, we just flew over Port Heiden. On our right, is the huge 10-km wide caldera of Mount Aniakchak. The pre-existing giant volcano collapsed in a major eruption forming the caldera around 1650 BC. The area around the volcano is the Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve, maintained by the National Park Service.

 

At 9,000 feet over the Shelikof Strait that separates the mainland coastal strip from Kodiak Island and is about 150 statute miles (240 kilometers) long. This is sunset, we will probably land at our destination airport at night.

 

Fifteen minutes later, the sun is disappearing behind the horizon, and we are at some 50 km from our destination. On the horizon, we see the coastline of the mainland. The Shelikof Strait is a narrow one.

 

Finale for runway 25 at night.

 

A few seconds before landing on runway 25.

 

Parked at gate Golf-2 at Kodiak-Benny Benson airport after a 2h17min flight from Cold Bay. John Ben "Benny" Benson, Jr. (1913 –1972) designed the flag of Alaska. Benny was 13 when he won a contest in 1927 to design the flag for the Territory of Alaska, which became a U.S. state in 1959. It’s time for us to go to our hotel for this fifteenth night of our journey.

 

 

P. Fogg, esq., wrote in his diary: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout simply wrote: À suivre!

 

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Next day of travel ... the sixteenth one ...

 

 

Day Sixteen: Tuesday Oct 17th

British Columbia

 

 

 

 

Sixteenth day of travel: from Kodiak to Prince Rupert, Canada, via Anchorage, Yakutat and Juneau.

 

I will follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world in 1872. Mr. Fogg, his servant, Mrs. Aouda and the inspector Fix crossed the Pacific Ocean aboard the steamer General Grant. We cross the Pacific Ocean thru the North Route, and we are becoming to go south to San Francisco. We and our honorable travelers of today will spend the sixteenth night of the journey in Prince Rupert, Canada.

 

Flightpath followed on Tues. Oct. 17:

 

 

 

 

 

October 17 - Leg 57 – Kodiak-Anchorage

PADQ-PANC

 

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

It’s 7:25 AM, sunrise over Kodiak. Our “honorable passengers” have just boarded and we’re ready to begin our flight to Anchorage. This is a rather short flight of about 220 nm.

 

Climbing out runway 25 with a nice high relief immediately in the vicinity of the airport.

 

Heading northeast and climbing to our cruise altitude. View of the Buskin Lake and the surrounding mountains of Kodiak Island.

 

 

Heading north and at 7,000 feet, we approach Afognak Island, one of the Kodiak archipelago.

 

East Amatuli Island and its rough relief. The Alaskan coastline is seen in the background.

 

View of the Kensai Peninsula with Homer airport below (PAHO), the city of Homer and the Homer Pit that extends from the land and that partly closes the Kachemak Bay (on our right).

 

Twenty-five minutes later, we approach Anchorage hidden under low clouds.

 

A few seconds before landing, runway 06R at Anchorage with a very low visibility.

 

Parked at gate Alpha-8 at Anchorage-Ted Stevens airport after a 1h20min flight from Kodiak. It’s past 9 AM and we will soon depart for the second leg of the day.

 

 

 

 

October 17 - Leg 58 – Anchorage-Yakutat

PANC-PAYA

 

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

At 9:55 AM, the mist disappeared and the sun shines with a freezing -11°C though! We begin our second leg for today, this time we go to Yakutat, Alaska. This is a flight of about 318 nm, probably about 2 hours of flight for our twin-engined Dove.

 

But, while taxiing to the active runway, the mist came back as thick as before.

 

Climbing to our cruise altitude over the south suburb of Anchorage under a nice and early layer of snow. We follow the Turnagain Arm that we see on our right.

 

Fifteen minutes later and heading due east, we approach the other side of the Kensai Peninsula. Ahead is Perry Island with the Port Wells inlet at left and Prince-William Bay on the other side.

 

 

 

From his window, Mr. Phileas Fogg looks the magnificent Tebenkof Glacier. He reads in his Bradshaw’s and Wikish’s Continental and General Guide: “Tebenkof Glacier is named for Mikhail Dimitrivich Tebenkof, Governor of the Russian Alaska from 1845 through 1850. He was the first cartographer to publish charts of the waters of the North Pacific all the way from the Western Aleutians down to Fort Ross, California.”

 

Twenty minutes later, at 9,000 feet we fly over the Copper River Delta. In the distance, we can see the great Sheridan Glacier.

 

We have in sight the Bering Glacier system that gives birth in the plain at the Vitus Lake. A lot of glaciers descend very close to the coast in this area of the Alaskan Wrangell Coastal Range.

 

Thirty-five minutes later, we are on finale for runway 11 and we fly over Yakutat and its harbor.

 

Parked at parking 8 at Yakutat airport after a 1h50min flight from Anchorage. Again a clear blue sky but a freezing -13°C outside.

 

 

 

 

October 17 - Leg 59 – Yakutat-Juneau

PAYA-PAJN

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

Departing Yakutat at about 1 PM and flying south with a last view on the airport. This third flight of the day is for Juneau, the capital city of the State of Alaska. This is a short flight of about 180 nm.

 

At our cruise altitude (9,000 feet) we have a view on the Yakutat Bay and the Russell Fjord in the distance behind us. Just behind us, we see the Dangerous River and its estuary, which is partly closed by the Blacksand Spit.

 

Ten minutes later, we fly by the infamous Lituya Bay, the small fjord that we can see on our left. the place is overlooked by Mount La Perouse (3,183 m). This small fjord was discovered by the French explorer Jean-Francois de La Perouse who named it Port-des-Francais. This bay is well known for having been hit by a megatsunami in 1958. The 1958 Lituya Bay megatsunami occurred on July 9 at 22:15:58, following an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8. The earthquake triggered a rockslide of 30 million cubic to fall from several hundred metres into the narrow inlet of Lituya Bay. The impact was heard 50 miles away, and the sudden displacement of water resulted in a megatsunami that washed out trees to a maximum elevation of 520 metres (1,710 ft). This is the most significant megatsunami and the largest known in modern times.

 

Twenty minutes later and heading east, we are flying over Chichagof Island and we approach the Icy Strait. Juneau is straight ahead on the over side of the distant Admiralty Island that is at the opposite of the Icy Strait.

 

Heading north, on our left is the Douglas Island and between this island and the continent lies the Gastineau Channel that is leading directly to Juneau, in the distance.

 

Finale for runway 26.

 

Parked at gate 1 at Juneau airport after a 1h20min flight from Yakutat. It’s about 2:30 PM here and, as it was all the day, a clear bluesky and a freezing -10°C outside!

 

 

 

 

October 17 - Leg 60 – Juneau-Prince Rupert

PAJN-CYPR

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

The 60th leg since we departed London City airport sixteen days ago. Departing Juneau at about 3 PM. This last flight of the day is for Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada. This is a rather long flight of about 280 nm.

 

Takingoff from runway 26.

 

Forty minutes later, we fly over the Clarence Strait between the continent, on our left, and Prince-of-Wales Island on our right.

 

On our left, the Alaskan seaport of Ketchikan and its airport. The city and the aiport are both located on opposite sides of the Tongass Narrows.

 

Finale for runway13.

 

Parked at gate 2 at Prince Rupert airport after a 1h50min flight from Juneau. It’s time for us to go to our hotel for this sixteenth night of our journey.

 

 

P. Fogg, esq., wrote in his diary: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout simply wrote: À suivre!

 

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Next day of travel ... the 17th one ...

 

 

Day Seventeenth: Wednesday Oct 18th

To Oregon

 

 

 

Seventeenth day of travel: from Prince Rupert to Medford, USA, via Vancouver and Portland.

 

 

I will follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world in 1872. Mr. Fogg, his servant, Mrs. Aouda and the inspector Fix crossed the Pacific Ocean aboard the steamer General Grant. We cross the Pacific Ocean thru the North Route, and we are going south now to San Francisco. We and our honorable travelers of today will spend the seventeenth night of the journey in Medford, Oregon.

 

Flightpath followed on Wed. Oct. 18:

 

 

 

 

 

October 18 - Leg 61 – Prince Rupert-Vancouver

CYPR-CYVR

 

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

It’s 7:50 AM, at parking 2 at Prince Rupert airport, British Columbia. Our “honorable passengers” have just boarded and we’re ready to begin our first flight of the day. The destination of this leg is Vancouver, the big city of West Canada. This is a long flight of about 405 nm.

 

Climbing to our cruise altitude (9,000 ft) and heading southeast with sun rising over he north part of the Hecate Strait. This area is the Haida Gwaii, the land of the Haida Nation, formerly named Queen Charlotte Islands.

 

One hour later, we fly over the waters of the Queen Charlotte Sound with the continent on our left and, just ahead the north coast of Vancouver Island. We approach the Queen Charlotte Strait that separates the continent from the north part of Vancouver Island.

 

Ten minutes later, following the north coast of Vancouver Island, we fly over the city of Port McNeil. The primary activity of the city is logging, about 10 % of all British Columbia timer is originating from Port McNeil and Vancouver Island forests. This huge island is 460 km (in length, and 100 kilometres in width at its widest point. With its 12,500 square miles, Vancouver Island is the largest island on the West Coast of North America.

 

Thirty minutes later, heading east, we are flying over the north part of the Georgia Strait with just below us Texada Island and on our left, the Malaspina Strait that separates the mainland from Texada Island, the largest island in the Georgia Strait.

 

At 4,500 feet, we have begun our descent to our destination. We are following the Sunshine Coast over the coastal city of Gibsons. This city is a popular retirement destination, and has also attracted many artists and musicians, as well as professionals who commute daily by ferry into nearby Vancouver (a 40-min ride).

 

Finale for runway 08L.

 

Parked at gate Alpha-1, Vancouver airport, after a 2h30min flight from Prince Rupert. This gate, despite its nice name, is on a very remote apron.

 

 

 

 

October 18 - Leg 62 – Vancouver-Portland

CYVR-KPDX

 

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

At 11:25 AM, we begin our second leg for today, this time we go to USA, and more precisely to Portland, the largest city in Oregon. The mist over Vancouver airport has disappeared, but it’s still rather cold outside with a low 4°C. This is a flight of about 227 nm, probably about 1h30min for our twin-engined Dove.

 

Holding for runway 26L while a 767 freighter of ABX Air, formerly Airborne Express. This is a cargo airline headquartered at Wilmington Air Park near the City of Wilmington, Ohio.

 

While climbing to our cruise altitude, we are flying eastward with, on our left, a nice view over Vancouver downtown and the airport on Sea Island.

 

Twenty minutes later, heading south, we approach the seaport of Port Townsend, Washington State, which is located at the northeast tip of the Olympic Peninsula with the Puget Sound ahead. Port Townsend is also called the "City of Dreams" because of the early speculation that the city would be the largest harbor on the west coast of the United States.

 

Flying over Kistap Peninsula and roughly following the Hood Canal.

 

Approaching at 7,000 feet the big city of Olympia, the capital city of Washington State.

 

View of Mount Adams (12,300 feet) in the distance. Mount Adams, known by some Native American tribes as Klickitat, is a stratovolcano in the Cascade Range, a member of famous the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It is located in a remote wilderness. Although it has not erupted in more than a thousand years, it is not considered extinct. It is the second-highest mountain in the U.S. state of Washington, after Mount Rainier. Mount Adams' asymmetrical and broad body rises 1.5 miles above the Cascade crest.

 

Following southward the Columbia River with the Sturgeon and Vancouver lakes in the distance with Portland located nearby these lakes.

 

Ten minutes later, we have begun our descent to our destination. We fly eastward in the approach circuit to runway 28R with a nice view on Mount Hood in the background. Mount Hood is a dormant stratovolcano since its last eruption in 1866.

 

Taking the localizer, we fly westward following the Columbia River which marks the border between Washington State (at north) and Oregon (at south). Behind us, the Columbia River enters its Gorge.

 

Finale for runway 28R with a nice view on the Glenn Jackson Memorial Bridge that spans the Columbia River between Portland and Vancouver, Washington, on the other bank of the Columbia. It is part of the Interstate 205. The island on our right is Government Island.

 

Parked at gate Delta-13 at Portland International airport after a 1h22min flight from Vancouver. We view the Columbia River that runs along the airport. It’s past 2 PM and the outside temperature is a small 1°C with a nice sunny weather.

 

 

 

 

October 18 - Leg 63 – Portland-Medford

KPDX-KMFR

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

Departing Portland at about 3 PM from runway 28R and flying westward with a last view on the airport terminal and the Portland suburb of Gresham. This last leg of the day is leading us to Medford, Oregon. This is a flight of about 190 nm.

 

At 5,000 feet climbing to our cruise altitude and heading due south, with a view on the Willamette River and Portland downtown. In the distance, we see the Columbia River turns northward with its numerous lakes.

 

From the window of Mr. Fogg’s seat, view on the Willamette River and its valley between the cascade Range and the Oregon Coast Range that is seen here. The city that Mr. Fogg looks at is Wilsonville. The bridge that crosses the Willamette at Wilsonville is a part of the Interstate 5 and is named Boone Bridge in memory of the Boone Ferry that operated here from 1847 to 1954 when Bonne Bridge opened.

 

The straight line of the Interstate 5 in the Willamette Valley, Oregon.

 

View from 9,000 feet of Eugene, second largest city in Oregon; on the banks of the Willamette River.

 

Fifteen minutes later, we have begun our descent to our destination over the Cascade Range mountains and valleys. We see in the distance the Rogue Valley where Medford is located.

 

Twenty minutes later, we are on finale for runway 14 with a view on the Rogue River just beneath us and on the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in the background.

 

Parked at parking 19 at Medford-Rogue Valley airport after a 1h15min flight from Portland. It’s about 4:30 PM and time for us to go to our hotel in Medford for the seventeenth night of this journey.

 

P. Fogg, esq., wrote in his diary: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout simply wrote: À suivre!

 

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