Friday, February 26, 2010

2010 Itinerary

I will be leaving May 6 to complete the last part of Around-the-World X, my last trip involving around-the-world air tickets.  Since I bought the ticket in Thailand last year, my time here in San Antonio is just a stop on the total trip.  When I get to Thailand and end the trip this year, I will not buy another around-the-world ticket.  However, I will continue traveling to different places in the world.  I want to concentrate on some of the areas that have not been easy to visit due to routing problems and distance limitations on the ATW tickets--places like Central Americanorthern South America, and sub-Sahara Africa.  Instead of being gone for 4-5 months per year, I will be gone for maybe 2 1/2 to 3 months per trip.  My blog will continue with postings from those travels throughout (around) the world.

 In the meantime, however, I still have to finish the last ATW trip this year.   My friend Wes will be traveling with me again for 3 weeks before he has to return to work.  I have now completed a detailed itinerary that shows where Wes and I will visit together and where I will visit after he leaves. It will get me to Bangkok.  After that, I am not sure where I will travel.  I will visit my travel agency to get an idea of what special tickets may be available.  I may travel around Thailand some, since I have not done much travel there for many years.  I may return to Laos for a while, since I enjoyed my visit there many years ago.  If there is a reasonable-priced ticket, I may return to Sri Lanka to visit parts of the island that were off limits due the war when I was there before.  And if I go to Sri Lanka, I may return to southern India for a visit at the school where I was a volunteer even though it will be during the summer break.  In other words, after I get to Thailand, my travels this year will be rather spontaneous which adds a bit of excitement, I think.  In the meantime, here is the itinerary I have planned for my final travel days using the present ATW ticket:

Th May 6--Depart from US (Fly San Antonio, to Chicago and Chicago to Shanghai)
F May 7--Arrive in Shanghai--Villas 1931 Hotel Shanghai
Sa May 8--Shanghai  (Shanghia Museum, Bund Walking Tour, French Concession, World's Fair and River Tour during the days there)
Su May 9--Shanghai  
M May 10--Shanghai
Tu May 11--Depart for Hangzhou--St. Rich Hotel
W May 12--Hangzhou
Th May 13--Hangzhou--Side trip to Wuzhen
F May 14--Hangzhou--Side Trip to Nanxun
Sa May 15--Depart for Huang Shan  (Tunxi is the town.  Get visitor's permit for Xidi & Hongcun)
Su May 16--Tunxi--Side trip to Yixian (Xidi and Hongcun)
M May 17--Depart for Thankou  (Buy bus ticket for departure on 20th for Nanjing on arrival)
Tu May 18--Hike Huang Shan (Check out of hotel & spend night on summit?)
W May 19--Thankou
Th May 20--Depart for Nanjing--Zhongshan Hotel (3 buses from Thankou--6 hr.)
F May 21--Nanjing
Sa May 22--Nanjing
Su May 23--Depart for Qufu--Queli Hotel
M May 24--Qufu
Tu May 25--Depart for Zhengding (via Shijiazhuang--Xi Mei Business Hotel)
W May 26--Depart for Beijing--Oriental Peace Hotel
Th May 27--Beijing
F May 28--Beijing
Sa May 29--Beijing
Su May 30--Wes Travels to USA
Randy Travels to Hailaer (Sleeper Train 28 hr.)
M May 31--Hailaer
Tu June 1--Hailaer
W June 2--Depart for Manzhouli (Bus or Train)
Th June 3--Manzhouli
F June 4--Travel to Haerbin--Harbin Bremen Inn (Sleeper Train)
Sa June 5--Haerbin
Su June 6--Haerbin
M June 7--Travel to Changchun (Bus or Train)
Tu June 8--Changchun
W June 9--Travel to Shenyang (Bus or Train) Shenyang Ruixin Longyuan Hotel
Th June 10--Shenyang
F June 11--Shenyang
Sa June 12--Shenyang
Su June 13--Travel to Dandong (Bus?) Dandong International Hotel
M June 14--Dandong
Tu June 15--Dandong
W June 16--Travel to Dalian Bohai Pearl Hotel
Th June 17--Dalian
F June 18--Dalian
Sa June 19--Travel to Yantai (Night Slow Boat?  Check on new train/ferry route)
Su June 20--Yantai
M June 21--Travel to Qingdao Gold Lampstand Garden Holiday Hotel
Tu June 22--Qingdao
W June 23--Qingdao
Th June 24--Travel to Beijing (10 hr. by express train/13 hr. by night bus)
F June 25--Beijing  (Side trip to Changde?)
Sa June 26--Travel to Hong Kong
Su  June 27--Hong Kong
M June 28--Hong Kong
Tu June 29--Hong Kong
W June 30--Travel to Bangkok

Interesting Note:  I have had problems connecting to websites in China in the past.  Even my hometown newspaper, the Commerce Journal, is blocked by the government; I guess the reason is that they think it sounds like a capitalist publication.  Anyway, I have changed the settings on my blog to allow me to make entries by sending an e-mail.  That should resolve the problem of whether Blogger will be blocked or not.  I have never had a problem accessing my Yahoo e-mail in China, so I hope that all my entries will be posted regularly.  This entry is being sent to Blogger as a test to see if it works or if I need to investigate the process further.

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