After getting a little frustrated trying to figure out how to approach Tibet from Nepal during the first 6 months of my backpacking trip around the world, I’ve come to develop a new and improved route. I had posted my quandary on the RTW branch of the Lonely Planet forum, and received some feedback which sent me in a new direction.
Without further ado…
- New Zealand (fly, Dec 07)
- Australia (fly, Dec-Jan 08)
- Bali, Indonesia (fly, Jan)
- Singapore (fly, Feb)
- Hong Kong (fly, Feb)
- China (overland, Feb-March)
- Tibet (overland, March)
- Nepal (overland, April)
- India (overland, May)
- Thailand (fly, June)
- Cambodia (overland, July)
- Vietnam (overland, July-Aug)
- South Africa (fly via Bangkok, Aug)
The fact that I continue to make major changes to my route with less than 4 months go to underlines my desire to remain flexible. If I had already paid for a ‘Round the World airline ticket and locked in certain cities, I would be hamstrung to them, or paying added fees to make changes.
PS – Counting this week, I have only 3 full weeks of work left before I submit my resignation. The rest of the weeks I have at least one half or full day off, or full-day trainings to attend. I’ve decided to give 4 weeks notice, as I expect the news will come as a BIG surprise to my boss and coworkers. I imagine my last day will feel something like college graduation. I can’t wait!
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Categories: Planning
6 Comments
Love the new plan!! :smile:
Love the new plan!! :smile:
I saw your post over there. Would you mind summing up whats changed?
I can’t believe you are so close!
Hi Cassie –
Good suggestion.
At first, I planned to travel from Bali to Bangkok, and then travel counter-clockwise through Cambodia/Vietnam/China/Tibet/Nepal/India and on to Africa. When I read about the fact that monsoons hit Nepal in Summer months, I realized I needed to ensure I hit Nepal by March/April.
My second route was to try and go from Thailand to Nepal, and then head clockwise to China and SE Asia. Since I ran into warnings about the difficulty of accessing Tibet from Nepal, I came to my third approach (listed in the post).
Words can’t describe my excitement – I have tunnel vision at this point, and celebrate each day that passes!
I saw your post over there. Would you mind summing up whats changed?
I can’t believe you are so close!
Hi Cassie –
Good suggestion.
At first, I planned to travel from Bali to Bangkok, and then travel counter-clockwise through Cambodia/Vietnam/China/Tibet/Nepal/India and on to Africa. When I read about the fact that monsoons hit Nepal in Summer months, I realized I needed to ensure I hit Nepal by March/April.
My second route was to try and go from Thailand to Nepal, and then head clockwise to China and SE Asia. Since I ran into warnings about the difficulty of accessing Tibet from Nepal, I came to my third approach (listed in the post).
Words can’t describe my excitement – I have tunnel vision at this point, and celebrate each day that passes!