Itinerary

This itinerary page is unchanged and was written before we set off in June 2008, and was our wish list, outline plan and educated guesswork as to where we would be. You can see our actual route here.

Our itinerary is quite fluid. We have booked the flights in a way that forces us to do long segments on the ground. We have lists of things to do when we're in places, but are not booking much up in advance. If you read any of the below and think we need a few pointers then get in touch.

We actually booked the flights through STA Travel who are able to do the "round the world" tickets in this way, which works out as a really good deal. The only extra flight we booked was the Hanoi-Kathmandu leg, which didn't fit within the rules of the round the world ticket.

You will see some bits have a lot more detail than others. We hope to pick up a lot of local tips on the way and stay a little bit off the beaten track. We'll see how we go.

We'd love to see a few friendly faces as we go, let us know if you think you might be anywhere near us and I'm sure we can meet for a few beers in some exotic location. If we get details of confirmed dates of places where we'll have an extended stay then we'll post it and maybe arrangements can be made...

Namibia Fish River Canyon Trek

14 May 2008 - 29 May 2008

2 relaxing days at a game lodge followed by 2 strenuous weeks trekking through the various terrains of Namibia:

• Naukluft Mountains
• Soussuvlei Sand Dunes
• Namib Desert
• Fish River Canyon

South America

9 June 2008 - 8 September 2008

We fly in to Lima on the 9 June and are staying for just a couple of nights in a guest house in the Barranco area. This is the only accomodation we have booked in the whole of South America. We fly out of Santiago on 8 September after doing a sort of reverse "C" around the continent taking in something like the following, in more or less this order:

Peru

• Arrive Lima on 9 June 2008
• Ica
• Ballestas Islands
• Pisco
• Nazca
• Arequipa
• Colca Canyon
• Lake Titicaca

Bolivia

• La Paz
• Cochabamba
• Potosi
• Santa Cruz
• Sucre
• Uyuni salt flats

Chile

• San Pedro de Atacma
• Atacama Desert

Argentina

• Cafayate
• Salta
• Jujuy
• Tilcara
• Cross the Chaco

Paraguay / Brazil (in the end we did not cross into Paraguay or Brazil, and did Iguazu from the Argentine side only)

• Asuncion
• Iguazu Falls

Argentina

• Rosario
• Buenos Aires
• The Pampa
• Cordoba
• Mendoza (wine wine wine)

Chile

• Crossing the Andes from Mendoza
• Wine wine wine!!
• Santiago
• Depart Santiago on 8 September 2008

Australasia

8 September 2008 - 1 December 2008

It seems a strange thing to say, but New Zealand was actually a bit of a afterthought. When we were in STA Travel the agent said that the flight from Santiago to Sydney bounces in Auckland and that we could stop there for free. After all the planning, we weren't ready for this spanner in the works, but also weren't going to pass up the opportunity. We arbitrarily decided to stay there for 2 weeks - probably not enough...

New Zealand

• Auckland on 8 September 2008
• North Island
• South Island
• Depart Auckland on 22 September 2008

Australia

• Arrive Sydney on 22 September 2008
• See Dave's sister in Sydney + chill out for a week or so
• Travel up the east coast
• Fly Cairns to Alice Springs
• Uluru
• Train Alice Springs to Darwin
• West Coast highway to Perth
• Depart Perth on 1 December 2008

South East Asia

1 December 2008 - 24 February 2009

Starting at the bottom tip of the Malay Peninsula, we'll work our way north through the beach and then east through the Killing Fields and Mekong Delta, and then up through old Indo-China to Hanoi. To be honest, we're a bit more on the back foot in South East Asia, and have just got bit and bobs from people and books. Any good tips are welcome.

Singapore

• Arrive Singapore on 1 December 2008

Malaysia

• Melaka
• Kuala Lumpur
• Cameron Highlands
• Pinang

Thailand

• Phuket
• Khao Sok National Park
• Bangkok
• River Kwai
• Ayuthaya
• Khorat

Cambodia

• Angkor Wat
• Battambang
• Kampong Chnang
• Phnom Penh

Vietnam

• Enter Vietnam on 26 January 2009 (VISA date set)
• Mekong Delta
• Ho Chi Minh
• Dalat
• Nha Trang
• Hoi An
• Hue
• Vinh
• Ninh Bin
• Halong Bay
• Sapa
• Hanoi
• Depart Hanoi on 24 February 2009

Asia

24 February - 25 March 2009

We're flying into Kathmandu a couple of days before the rest of the trek group for the Annapurna Circuit arrives for some rest, then we head up to the hills (quite big ones) for nearly a month. After Nepal we have our last 6 weeks on the road (and hopefully the rails) in India. We'll be starting up north and focusing our effort there, but depending on how easy it it to move around quickly we'll see how far we get. Then it's back home into Heathrow T5. Looking forward to seeing how it compares to the third world.

Nepal

• Arrive Kathmandu on 25 February 2009
• Chill out in Kathmandu
• Annapurna Circuit trek across Thorung La Pass to Birethanti
• Pokhara
• Back to Kathmandu for land journey to India (around 25 March 2009)

India

• Enter India via bus from Nepal (around 25 March 2009)
• Varanasi
• Agra & Taj Mahal
• Jaipur
• Delhi
• Depart Delhi for London on 9 May 2009