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Monday, January 17, 2011

Oh the joys of planning a trip!

I now have a new obsession, as soon as I have a minute to spare I am reading and researching for mine and Oliver's upcoming adventure.

I am so sad that we will soon be leaving Korea but I am thrilled at the prospects of backpacking around South East Asia.

As we start to look at the finer details of our trip we have come to some stark realisations. One, China is huge! Two, travelling between countries can sometimes pose a couple of challenges. Three, small things you have to get and do before you leave can really add up.

Our initial plan was to get a ferry to China, go to Mongolia and then work our way down to Malaysia. We were sure that 53 days would be more than enough time to make this a reality.

Unfortunately, friends that have done similar trips gave us some bad news saying that train journeys can sometimes take days and that you don't want to spend under 10 days in any of the countries because you are simply doing the country an injustice.

In addition to that, getting to Mongolia was going to cost us the same amount of money as doing the trip in Mongolia. Yikes.....Just to get from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar and back would cost us each roughly 500USD (possibly more)...dry mouth.....

So after much thought and many tears we have decided that Mongolia will need to be dropped from the list. Noooooooo!

Yip, it is just a little too far out of the way and will cost us just a little too much!

Sniff sniff weep weep!

Nonetheless, we still have an epic journey planned:
  • Ferry to China
  • China for 12 days
  • Vietnam for 12 days
  • Cambodia for 12 days
  • Thailand for 10 days
  • Malaysia 7 days
This is our rough plan but who knows it could change while we are out and about exploring! We might even consider venturing into Loas!

Now with almost four months to go until we set get on the Ferry we have a lot to do and buy!

We will keep you updated on our progress and frustrations

4 comments:

  1. It sucks that you have to adjust your trip but it is far better to make the most of a few countries than it is to visit many places just to tick them off the list!

    You will just have to plan to come back to Asia and visit mongolia another time!

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  2. Thanks Oliver! I know you know what you are talking about seeing as you have travlled half of the world already! Heehe!

    Yip, it gives us an excuse to do teh Trans Siberian Express to its fullest later on as oppossed to something squeezed in now!

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  3. So exciting that you guys are getting to the reality of your trip! As always, looking forward to reading about it and seeing it unfold. Missing you guys (and my own blog which has been put aside with insane work hours)
    Big Hugs!

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  4. Hey renate!!

    Yip Reality has hit...hahaha

    We have been following your epic journey via your photos on Facebook!!! Looks like you guys are going to have pretty decorated ppassport once your done!!

    Thanks for the support Renate!

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