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 America, northern 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:
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)
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
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
F May 21--Nanjing
Sa May 22--Nanjing
M May 24--Qufu
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
Sa June 5--Haerbin
Su June 6--Haerbin
M June 7--Travel to Changchun (Bus or Train)
Tu June 8--Changchun
Th June 10--Shenyang
F June 11--Shenyang
Sa June 12--Shenyang
M June 14--Dandong
Tu June 15--Dandong
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
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.
