All your take: how presidents travel

All your take: how presidents travel

What they take with them to overseas trips by world leaders? Besides the guards, and favourite food in the list can be even personal toilets and replacement of the elevators.

The heads of all States, at least occasionally, but going out of their residences, for overseas visits and personal meetings with subordinate people. Many of them take with him a large entourage of people, things and vehicles. So how are traveling the world leaders?

Air Force One, security and ketchup

To be the leader of the most influential and rich country in the world is not easy. Have to pay for it a permanent stay in a tight security zone, the so — called “bubble”.

The presidential “bubble” costs the taxpayers at 180 thousand dollars per hour. “The leader of the free world” travels to the famous presidential plane (actually two of them) the Air Force One. It can comfortably hold up to 100 people: 76 passengers and 26 crew members.

Presidential apartments are located in the nose of the aircraft. There are two sofas, which can easily turn into beds, and blinds, lowerable window with a simple press of a button.

In those days, when the owner of the aircraft and the White house was Barack Obama, the presidential Suite was equipped with a special gaming console for his daughters.

The entire top of Air Force One, so to speak, attic, jammed inside the equipment for safety. This includes anti-radar devices, sensors to detect cyber attacks and missiles with infrared seeker.

The aircraft can refuel in the air, however, this procedure is considered too dangerous to perform it with the President on Board. In that case, if Air Force One flies the Vice President, the danger is no longer considered so.

While the main thrust of the presidential liner is on safety and comfort, but not luxury.

For the current President of the “first Board” is a clear deterioration in flight conditions after his private jet where the bathroom is made of marble and all the furniture is decorated with gilt monograms with the name “trump”.

During the first foreign visit of the President of trump in Saudi Arabia — the owners made more of an effort to make it feel like home. The official lunch was served his favorite meal: steak with ketchup.

They say that just in case a spare bottle of ketchup was traveling with the President.

Salman bin Abdul-Aziz al Saud, two elevators and a couple of limousines

The king of Saudi Arabia can travel the way you want. First, because the autocrat, and secondly, because his country has oil and therefore money.

Earlier this year he traveled to Indonesia with nine-day visit, taking the 506 tons of Luggage, including two 600-h “Mercedes” and a couple of personal elevators.

The king was also accompanied by more than 600 people of the entourage — alone of the princes of the blood were 25 people.

However, for the oil-rich Kingdom this is not news. In September 2015, the king withdrew entirely all 222 rooms at the Washington hotel Four Seasons. Those guests who previously booked their rooms at this upscale hotel was the apology relocated to a nearby hotel of the same class.

For the arrival of His Majesty the owners of the Four Seasons, rolled out the carpet, even in the underground garage. The furnishings of the hotel glittered with gold. Gold was decorated with mirrors, tables, lamps and even the hangers for hats.

A month before the US visit, the king went to the French Riviera in the close company of 1000 selected guests. In their exclusive use was provided by Grand beach, released at this time from other vacationers.

Colonel Gaddafi: the virgin and the tent of the Bedouin

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi ruled Libya for 42 years.

In Tripoli, he lived in a well guarded complex, equipped with a network of tunnels dug in case of a sudden escape. As

we know this precaution the Libyan dictator did not help.

However, abroad, he took a luxurious version of a Bedouin tent, which was spread in many world capitals. The tent was so heavy that I had to carry on a separate cargo plane. For completeness, the Libyan dictator sometimes tied outside a couple captured with the camels.

Personal guard of Colonel, which he also carried with him, consisted of 40 well trained bodyguards, or rather, the bodyguard. Their Gaddafi was taken personally. When applying for the service of women of the vow of chastity. All paramilitary virgin graduated from a women’s military Academy. The service ladies were to appear in the makeup and combat boots with high heels.

There is evidence that the passion of Muammar Gaddafi to the tent was connected with the fact that the Colonel did not trust the elevators and was afraid of heights. All his life he tried to do so, to not have to climb more than 35 steps.

As Kim carry: train, plane and car with toilet

The more closed the country, the less we know about how to move inside and outside of it.

About the private life of leaders of North Korea we do not know almost nothing.

But it is safe to say that Kim Jong-Il, dad of the current ruler, hated flying and preferred the train. Given that he almost did not go anywhere, except Russia and China, this method of movement was enough.

His son and successor dynasty Kim Jong-UN sometimes travels on a specially equipped Il-62, which Western journalists, parodying the name of the aircraft of the American President ‘s Air Force One (“air force one”), called Un Air Force (“air force UN”).

A source in the South Korean government claims that the younger Kim loves to take the helm, despite the fact that to fly a plane they had never been taught.

Last year in the Western media leaked information that when Kim Jong-UN travels the country to teach farmers to plant rice, the soldiers — to shoot, and fishermen to fish, it is always accompanied by the car with its personal toilet.

Most of them can’t use one, and the punishment for disobedience provided by the most that neither is severe.

If leaders need to use the special, it occurs in the setting of severe secret because, in the past, the North Korean authorities claimed that the leader of the country has the divine authority and the toilet, in principle, to anything.

Pope Francis: a mini-Vatican Breviary and a book to read

When abroad, the Pope travels with a small entourage, consisting of officials of the Vatican and staff of the Pontifical press office. The company has received informal name “mini-Vatican”.

Of course, you have to take and security. During his visit to the US in 2015, the security service of Vatican has long agreed on all the details of the upcoming visit with our American colleagues.

In addition, given that Pope Francis speaks English not as well as in other known languages, while in USA it was accompanied by a translator, a Catholic priest from Gibraltar Gerard miles.

Dad, of course, is the head of all Catholics, but traveling without much pomp. Special aircraft, for example, it does not. For travel of the Pope the Vatican buys the Italian airlines Alitalia is the most common airliner in which you fly in fact dad, his aides and journalists. The only sign that is on Board the Pontiff, are caps on the chairs with the papal coat of arms.

Of course, journalists have long dubbed the plane flies daddy, “the Pastor number one”.

And even Pope Francis himself always carries his small traveling bag. In it, he carries a razor, the liturgical book with the texts of prayers called the Breviary, a notebook with a schedule of upcoming meetings and a book to read.

Yana Litvinova

Bi-bi-si, London

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